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Digital accessibility in Turkey: what corporate websites should prepare for
A practical guide for organisations in Turkey preparing for digital accessibility expectations and WCAG 2.2 alignment.
Direct answer
In Turkey, digital accessibility is moving from a best-practice UX topic to a formal governance concern for many public-facing digital services. Corporate websites and mobile applications should now be evaluated not only for visual quality and performance, but also for accessibility signals, WCAG 2.2 alignment, update governance and whether accessibility is embedded into design and development workflows. This guide is not legal advice and does not provide compliance certification.
Why this matters now in Turkey
On 21 June 2025, Presidential Circular no. 2025/10 on the accessibility of websites and mobile applications was published. It sets out the aim of making websites and mobile applications accessible in line with WCAG 2.2 — covering public institutions as well as certain private-law legal entities whose digital services are frequently used by citizens.
Public announcements from TİHEK and related bodies refer to a one-year alignment period for several institution categories, and a two-year period for e-commerce service providers under Law no. 6563 on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce. A monitoring commission and an accessibility logo are also referenced in general terms; the operating detail of both is still settling, so organisations should follow the official announcements rather than second-hand summaries.
The practical reading for corporate teams is simpler than the legal reading: accessibility is a lifecycle issue. Templates, components, editorial habits and QA decide the outcome. Treating it as a post-launch remediation project reliably produces the most expensive version of the work.
Which organisations should pay attention?
- public institutions and municipalities
- universities and public economic enterprises
- banks and finance-sector services
- private hospitals and private education institutions
- transport and travel services, including A-group agencies
- telecom operators and other high-subscriber digital services
- e-commerce service providers
- holding and group companies with public-facing subsidiary sites
Scope questions are legal questions. The list above reflects the categories named in public announcements and is provided as orientation, not as a determination of whether a given organisation falls within scope.
What WCAG 2.2 alignment means in practical website work
01
Semantic structure and headings
A single, ordered heading outline per template, real landmarks instead of styled divs, and lists and tables that carry their own meaning without visual context.
02
Keyboard navigation and focus visibility
Every interactive element reachable and operable by keyboard, in a predictable order, with a focus indicator that stays visible against every background it appears on.
03
Contrast and readability
Text and essential interface elements that hold their contrast in real templates — including text over imagery, disabled states and secondary labels.
04
Forms and error messages
Programmatically associated labels, instructions that appear before the field, and errors that name the field and the correction rather than colouring a border.
05
Alternative text and media
Meaningful alternatives for informative images, decorative images marked as such, and captions or transcripts where video and audio carry information.
06
Mobile and responsive accessibility
Reflow without horizontal scrolling, target sizes that tolerate imprecise input, and orientation and zoom that are not locked by the layout.
07
Dynamic components, menus, modals and accordions
Expected keyboard patterns, managed focus on open and close, and state changes announced rather than implied by animation alone.
08
Cookie banners and consent flows
Consent surfaces are often the first interactive element on a page. They need reachable controls, a trapped-but-escapable focus model and readable category descriptions.
09
Documents and PDFs
Investor, tariff and policy documents published only as untagged PDFs remain unreadable for many assistive technologies and unreadable for machines.
Accessibility widgets are not enough
An overlay or widget may support some users, but it does not replace accessible design, semantic HTML, keyboard support, content structure, QA and manual review. Most overlays sit above the markup they are meant to correct, so the underlying structure — the part assistive technology actually reads — is unchanged.
Treat widgets as supplementary, not as a compliance strategy.
How corporate teams should prepare
- Inventory public websites and mobile applications, including subsidiary and campaign properties.
- Map applicable exposure and the user journeys that carry the most real-world consequence.
- Run both automated and manual accessibility checks; automation alone finds a minority of issues.
- Prioritise high-traffic and transactional flows over marketing pages.
- Fix templates and shared components before attempting page-by-page corrections.
- Embed accessibility criteria into design, development and QA workflows and acceptance rules.
- Document findings, decisions and a remediation roadmap, with owners and dates.
What Enterprise Web Index Turkey observes
01
Heading hierarchy
Whether templates expose one ordered outline or a visual hierarchy with no structural equivalent.
02
Landmarks and semantic HTML
Presence of header, nav, main and footer regions that let a screen-reader user skip to content.
03
Focus visibility
Whether a keyboard user can always see where they are, including on custom controls.
04
Form labels and errors
Associated labels and text-based error messaging on key contact and application forms.
05
Contrast signals
Observable contrast on primary text, navigation and calls to action across main templates.
06
Keyboard traps
Components — typically modals, carousels and consent layers — that keyboard focus can enter but not leave.
07
Cookie banner interaction patterns
Reachability, choice symmetry and whether the banner blocks access to content for non-mouse users.
08
Mobile accessibility signals
Reflow, zoom behaviour and target sizing on the mobile rendering of key templates.
09
Accessibility statement presence
Whether the organisation publishes a statement, contact route and known-limitations note.
10
Evidence of ongoing governance
Signals that accessibility is maintained over time rather than addressed once at launch.
Important disclaimer
Enterprise Web Index Turkey provides preliminary observations based on publicly observable accessibility signals. Scores and reviews are not legal opinions, official audits, WCAG certifications or compliance certificates. Organisations should seek formal legal, technical and accessibility audit support for binding assessments.
Sources and further reading
Request an Accessibility & Inclusive Experience Check
A structural review of headings, landmarks, contrast, focus states and keyboard reachability on your key templates.
Request accessibility checkRelated index dimensions
D2 · 10%
UX & Content Clarity
D4 · 15%
Accessibility & Inclusive Experience
D5 · 10%
Cookie & Privacy Experience
This guide is educational and based on publicly observable enterprise web patterns. See the methodology.