RE: Directives, policies, laws, and regulations that reference WCAG 2.1 I

In the UK we have an exact equivalent of the ADA, it's the Equality Act
2010. Like the ADA it did not initially mention websites, but that was
solved early on by associated regulations that specified that websites were
also covered. Also like the ADA there is no financial penalty specified for
non-compliance. I think that is why so few cases have been started.

Two cases went to court many years ago, where the RNIB (Royal National
Institute for the Blind) supported the plaintiffs. Private settlements,
including remediation of the websites, were obtained on both occasions. (On
the third occasion the defendant company, an airline, went bust before the
case got to court.)

I think what we need here is for lawyers to take the initiative in the same
way that lawyers have in the US. We have a thriving "No win no fee" legal
industry in the UK, but they concentrate at the moment on accident claims.
If they were to interest themselves in website accessibility claims under
the Equality Act, we would have an immediate improvement in the websites of
private companies. It is a sad fact but true, that only the threat of
immediate litigation and/or penalties is sufficient to force businesses to
do the right thing in any aspect of life.