Preparing an accessibility statement yourself is possible. There is no requirement that an external party must write the text or that a certificate must be involved. What matters is that the statement is an honest representation of the current situation: which parts of the website or app comply with WCAG 2.1 level AA, which do not, and why. You can compile that content yourself, as long as it is based on an assessment you can also demonstrate.
The core of the question is not about who types the text, but what comes before it. A statement is essentially a summary of an assessment. Preparing that summary yourself is usually the simplest part; the assessment itself — knowing what barriers exist and how serious they are — requires more time and more specific knowledge than most business owners can spare.
What the statement must cover
An accessibility statement typically describes the scope (which website, which app, which parts), the standard used, the findings, and a plan to address remaining barriers. Supervisory authorities in each country specify the format required, and that format varies. For the exact requirements in your country, the text from your supervisory authority itself is the most reliable source; we track these differences in the country-specific sections within a subscription.
What the statement is not: an intention statement or marketing text. Supervisory authorities look at how closely the content reflects the actual state of the website. A statement claiming everything complies when that has not been verified is a greater risk than a statement that honestly describes which parts have not yet been assessed.
What you can reasonably do yourself
Drafting the statement itself, maintaining a list of known barriers, and creating a timeline for improvements are tasks that an office manager or director can complete with half a day of time, provided the underlying data is already available. A scope check and quick scan give you an initial indication of where you stand, and you can work through those in a few questions yourself. Tracking changes — a new checkout step, an updated form — is also something that can be well organized internally, as long as someone is responsible for it.
Where doing it yourself becomes harder
It becomes more difficult with parts that an automated scan cannot fully assess: keyboard-only navigation through a complete checkout flow, screen reader announcements when an error message appears, the logical focus order in a form. These are things that must be tested manually and require knowledge of the underlying technology. If you want to do this yourself, you need to account for a learning curve that often does not justify the time investment for a one-time statement.
Additionally, there is the risk of a statement becoming outdated faster than the website itself. After every change to the checkout process, login environment, or product offering, the basis of the statement theoretically changes as well. Tracking this is precisely the part where many companies lose oversight, simply because there is no set moment when someone remembers to do it.
Where automation does and does not help
A scan like axessia.eu's tests some requirements automatically and prioritizes results in plain language, but it does not cover everything: aspects such as the logic of a screen reader experience or the meaning of alternative text remain elements that must be assessed manually, and we mention this in every report. What a scan does do well is quickly reveal where the greatest risks lie, so you don't have to guess blindly which part deserves priority. More about the methodology and where the information comes from can be found on the page about our approach.
If you decide to write the declaration yourself, it is advisable to record the supporting evidence — the scan, the findings, the improvement plan — separately, apart from the declaration itself. This way you can show a regulator or customer where the text is based on if they ask. Answers to frequently asked questions about this, such as what exactly must be documented, can be found on the page with frequently asked questions.
Whether you do it yourself or outsource it ultimately depends on how much time and knowledge are available internally, and how complex your site or app is. For a simple informational website, doing it yourself is often feasible; for a web shop with a checkout process and a customer account, the required time quickly increases. An overview of what a full implementation costs, including the declaration and improvement plan, can be found on the page with pricing.
Would you first like to know where you stand before deciding between doing it yourself and outsourcing? The free quick-scan provides an initial picture of the most important issues, and the knowledge base helps you organize the next steps.