If you have been asked to prove your website or documents are “DDA compliant”, you may have gone looking for a DDA certificate. Here is the short answer: there is no such thing. No government body in Australia certifies a website, app, document or building as DDA compliant, and there is no official DDA badge or logo.
This guide explains why, what the law actually expects, and what you can get instead that will stand up when someone asks for evidence.
What the DDA actually says
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth), usually called the DDA, makes it unlawful to discriminate against people with disability in many areas of life. One of those areas is providing goods, services and facilities. If your website, online form, app or documents are how people get your services, they are covered.
The DDA does not include a technical standard for websites or documents. It does not mention WCAG, colour contrast or screen readers. It sets out the principle: people with disability must not be treated less favourably, or be put at a disadvantage by a requirement they cannot meet.
For a fuller overview, read our plain-English guide to the Disability Discrimination Act.
Why there is no DDA certificate
The DDA is a complaints-based law. Nobody inspects your website or approves it in advance. Whether you have met your obligations is only tested if someone makes a complaint.
- A person who has been treated unfairly can complain to the Australian Human Rights Commission.
- The Commission tries to resolve the complaint through conciliation, usually a confidential discussion between both sides.
- If it cannot be resolved, the person can take the matter to the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.
Because compliance is decided case by case, nobody can issue a certificate that guarantees you will never have a complaint upheld. Not the Commission, not a consultant and not a software company.
What the Human Rights Commission says about websites
The Australian Human Rights Commission publishes Guidelines on equal access to digital goods and services. The current version was released in 2025 and replaced the Commission’s older advisory notes on web access.
The guidelines say organisations should conform with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 at a minimum of Level AA. They also say PDFs should meet the PDF/UA standard, and that the Australian Standard AS EN 301 549 should be used when buying technology.
Two things are worth knowing:
- The guidelines are not legally binding. They help you understand your obligations, but following them does not automatically protect you from a finding of discrimination.
- The Commission does not certify, audit or approve websites against them.
Australian Government agencies also have the Digital Service Standard, which expects their services to meet the current version of WCAG.
The case that started it all
In 2000, Bruce Maguire, who is blind, complained that the Sydney Olympics website could not be used with a screen reader. Images had no text descriptions and he could not reach the event schedule or results.
The Commission found the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games had unlawfully discriminated against him under the DDA. It ordered the website to be fixed and awarded him $20,000 in damages. It is still the best-known Australian example of the DDA applying to a website.
What you can actually get instead
There is no certificate, but there is solid evidence you can produce. Together, these show you have taken reasonable steps:
- An accessibility audit. A person tests your website or documents against WCAG 2.2 Level AA and gives you a report of every issue, where it is and how to fix it. See our sample audit report.
- A statement of conformance. After the issues are fixed and retested, you receive a signed statement saying which pages or documents were tested, against which standard, and when. It is a record of a point in time, not a lifetime guarantee.
- An accessibility statement on your website. A public page explaining the standard you aim for, any known problems and how people can contact you if they have trouble.
- A Disability Action Plan. Under the DDA, organisations can write an action plan and lodge it with the Australian Human Rights Commission. The Commission does not approve or certify plans, but a lodged plan can be taken into account if a complaint is made.
Red flags when someone offers “DDA certification”
Be careful with any product or service that offers:
- a certificate, badge or seal saying your site is “DDA certified” or “fully compliant”
- compliance from an automated scan alone, with no person testing the site
- an overlay or widget that claims to make your website compliant instantly
- no written report showing what was tested, how and when
Automated tools are useful, but they find only some problems. Our article on free accessibility testing tools explains what they miss.
What a DDA compliance audit should include
When people search for a “DDA compliance audit”, what they need is an accessibility audit against WCAG. A good one includes:
- a clear scope: which pages, forms, documents and key tasks were tested
- testing by a person, not just a tool, against WCAG 2.2 Level AA
- keyboard-only testing, and testing with screen readers such as JAWS, NVDA and VoiceOver
- checks of zoom, colour contrast, forms and error messages
- your PDFs and Word documents, if people need them to use your service
- a plain-English report with each issue ranked by priority, plus how to fix it
- a retest after fixes, and a statement of conformance when the tested pages pass
Find out more about our website accessibility audits.
Common questions
Is WCAG a legal requirement in Australia?
Not by name for most organisations. The DDA requires you not to discriminate, and the Human Rights Commission recommends WCAG 2.2 Level AA as the minimum way to show your website is accessible.
Does the DDA apply to small businesses?
Yes. There is no exemption based on the size of a business. The law does consider unjustifiable hardship, which takes into account things like cost and an organisation’s resources, but this is decided case by case.
Does the DDA cover PDFs and other documents?
Yes, if people need those documents to use your services. A form, brochure or policy that only comes as an inaccessible PDF can be a barrier in the same way an inaccessible web page can. Our PDF remediation service fixes existing documents.
Can a website be compliant once and stay compliant?
No. Every new page, document, plugin or design change can introduce new problems. Regular checks and training for the people who publish content keep it accessible over time.
Want evidence you can rely on?
We test your website and documents by hand against WCAG 2.2 Level AA, explain what to fix in plain English, retest your fixes and give you a statement of conformance. Contact us about an audit.
This article is general information, not legal advice. If you need advice about your obligations under the DDA, speak to a lawyer.