Guide summary

Make sure all your ads are legal, decent, honest and truthful. Keep proof for any claims you make, show prices clearly including VAT, and use #ad for paid or gifted products. If you sell alcohol, follow the minimum pricing rules for Scotland (65p per unit), Wales (50p) and check England/Northern Ireland have no minimum.

Check the CAP Code before any ad or marketing
Keep evidence for every claim you make
Show prices clearly – include VAT for consumers
Use #ad, #advert or 'advertisement' for paid content
Make comparisons with competitors fair and factual
Disclose any gifted items or free products you promote
Follow alcohol minimum pricing per UK nation
Scotland: minimum 65p per unit of alcohol
Wales: minimum 50p per unit of alcohol
England and Northern Ireland: no minimum unit price

All advertising and marketing must be legal, decent, honest, and truthful. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) enforces these rules for most forms of advertising in the UK.

Marketing and advertising law

Legal requirements for marketing your business.

Accuracy: All claims must be truthful and evidence must be available to back them up.
Price information: Prices must be clear. Include VAT if selling to consumers.
Comparisons: Comparisons with competitors are permitted but must be fair and factual.
Endorsements: Paid partnerships and gifted items must be clearly disclosed.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) enforces advertising rules. Breaking the rules can lead to ads being banned and reputational damage.

Alcohol advertising and minimum pricing

If you advertise or sell alcohol, you must comply with additional regulations that vary significantly across the UK nations. Alcohol minimum unit pricing also differs by location.

Check the CAP Code

The UK Code of Advertising applies to most marketing communications.
Keep evidence

Hold proof for any claims you make in advertisements.
Disclose commercial relationships

Use #ad, #advert, or 'advertisement' for paid content. Avoid ambiguous terms.
Check minimum pricing if selling alcohol

Scotland (65p), Wales (50p), England/NI (none). Ensure compliant pricing if applicable.

Requirement · Technology & Digital

Website and digital accessibility requirements

Under the Equality Act 2010, all UK businesses must make 'reasonable adjustments' to ensure websites, apps, and digital services are accessible to people with disabilities. This is an anticipatory duty - you must proactively identify and remove barriers before disabled users encounter them.

What you must do

Follow Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 Level AA - the recognised standard for compliance
Ensure your site works with assistive technologies (screen readers, screen magnifiers, speech recognition)
Provide text alternatives for images, keyboard navigation, sufficient colour contrast (4.5:1 minimum for text)
Make content understandable and navigation consistent
Ensure forms have clear labels and helpful error messages

Public sector organisations

Have additional legal obligations under the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018:

Mandatory WCAG 2.2 AA compliance (became legal standard October 2023, public sector monitoring from October 2024)
Legally required accessibility statement explaining compliance status
Monitored by Government Digital Service (GDS)

Accessibility statements (best practice)

While not legally required for private sector, publishing an accessibility statement demonstrates:

Your commitment to accessibility
Known issues and workarounds
How users can report accessibility problems
Your improvement roadmap

Business case

£274 billion: Annual spending power of disabled consumers and families ('Purple Pound') - DWP 2020 estimate
£17.1 billion: Lost annually by UK businesses from disabled customers abandoning inaccessible websites (Click-Away Pound Survey 2019 - latest available data)
1 in 4 UK residents have a disability (25% of population - 16.8 million people). For working-age adults (16-64), it's 1 in 5 (20%)

Applies to: All UK businesses with websites or digital services (regardless of size or sector). Public sector organisations have stricter requirements with mandatory compliance monitoring. Applies whether services are free or paid.

Enforcement:

Enforced by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). Disabled users can file discrimination claims if they encounter accessibility barriers.

Consequences of non-compliance:

Compensation payments: £3,000+ typical settlements for discrimination claims
Court orders: Requiring accessibility improvements
Legal costs
Reputational damage

Public sector bodies may also be publicly named by GDS for non-compliance with accessibility statements.

Accessibility requirements for websites and apps (GOV.UK)

Marketing and advertising: the law (opens in a new tab)

Legal basis

Primary legislation and key regulations

DMCCA 2024 Primary 2024 · united_kingdom Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 SI 2003 · UK-wide

Browse UK legislation legislation.gov.uk

Official guidance

ASA advertising codes (opens in a new tab)

www.asa.org.uk

Minimum unit pricing guidance (gov.wales) (opens in a new tab)

www.gov.wales

Minimum unit pricing guidance (mygov.scot) (opens in a new tab)

www.mygov.scot

Accessibility requirements for public sector websites and apps (opens in a new tab)

GOV.UK

Direct marketing and data protection (opens in a new tab)

ICO

Marketing and data protection in detail (opens in a new tab)

ICO

Making marketing work for you and your customers (opens in a new tab)

ICO

Direct marketing advice generator (opens in a new tab)

ICO

Fines and why they happen (opens in a new tab)

ICO

Profiling (opens in a new tab)

ICO

Marketing and advertising law

Alcohol advertising and minimum pricing

Check the CAP Code

Keep evidence

Disclose commercial relationships

Check minimum pricing if selling alcohol

Legal basis

Official guidance

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