Five Website Compliance Risks Your Organisation Can’t Afford to Ignore 

Most organisations invest considerable time and money into their website – tracking traffic, optimising user journeys and refining content to improve engagement. However, one area that is often overlooked is website compliance.

As websites become increasingly central to how organisations communicate, market their services and collect information, they’re also becoming subject to greater legal and regulatory scrutiny.

Requirements around data protection, accessibility, consumer information and transparency continue to evolve, whilst many websites change without anyone stepping back to assess whether they still meet those expectations.

The result is that compliance gaps can emerge gradually over time, often without anyone realising.

Here are five common website compliance risks organisations should be thinking about and why they matter.

Why website compliance is becoming a board-level issue

For many organisations, a website is no longer just a marketing tool. It’s a data collection point, a customer service channel, a sales platform, and a reflection of how an organisation approaches transparency and governance.

Website compliance isn’t just a legal issue – it can influence customer trust, brand reputation and user experience.

The challenge is that responsibility for the website often sits across multiple teams; marketing manages content, developers manage functionality, and legal teams may only become involved when a specific issue arises.

The result is that website compliance can easily become overlooked, despite the fact that the risks extend far beyond legal obligations and can affect reputation, customer confidence and wider business objectives.

Risk one: your cookie banner may not be compliant

Under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and Data Protection Act 2018, organisations must be transparent about how they collect and use personal data, including through certain cookies and tracking technologies.

Although most websites do have some form of cookie consent mechanism, having a cookie banner and having a compliant cookie consent process are not necessarily the same thing.

Some common issues include:

• unclear consent options
• cookies being set before consent is obtained
• limited information about how tracking technologies are used
• whether users can reject cookies as easily as they could accept them.

Many organisations implement cookie banners when they launch their website or have a website rebrand. However, they often rely on website developers to provide appropriate cookie banners and do not review these to check the cookie banners are in fact compliant. Cookie compliance is the organisation’s responsibility, not the website developers!

The Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”), the UK’s regulator for data protection, has made cookie compliance a major enforcement priority over the last few years, with a particular focus on ensuring users have a genuine choice about online tracking and advertising cookies. Initially, the ICO reviewed the UK’s top 100 websites in 2023 and expanded this to the top 200 websites in 2024. In January 2025, the ICO announced it was extending its review programme to the UK’s top 1,000 websites as part of its Online Tracking Strategy 2025. The regulator said it wanted to ensure people have “meaningful choice” over how they are tracked online and highlighted concerns about harms arising from profiling and targeted advertising.

As expectations and guidance continue to develop, it’s worth checking whether your approach still reflects current requirements and best practice. A confusing consent mechanism can undermine trust long before any legal questions arise.

Risk two: missing or inadequate privacy information

A privacy notice is a fundamental transparency requirement under UK data protection law, and website visitors expect organisations to be open about how their data is collected, stored and shared.

Poor privacy information can undermine trust, even when data handling practices themselves are reasonable.

Privacy notices are usually created when a website launches but then they are quickly forgotten. As businesses adopt new systems, launch marketing campaigns, introduce online forms and expand digital services, the privacy notice remains largely unchanged.

If these become outdated or incomplete, organisations may find themselves creating unnecessary risk and confusion. Regular reviews are often one of the simplest ways to ensure website content keeps pace with operational changes.

Risk three: website accessibility issues could be limiting engagement

The Equality Act 2010 places obligations on organisations to avoid discrimination against disabled people. However, beyond any legal consideration, website accessibility has become an increasingly important part of delivering a positive user experience for everyone.

An inaccessible website can create unnecessary barriers for individuals trying to access information, complete tasks or engage with services.

Common issues include:

• missing text descriptions for images
• poor colour contrast
• unclear link labelling
• inaccessible forms
• barriers to keyboard navigation
• moving content that cannot be disabled

If users cannot easily access information or complete tasks online, the impact extends far beyond compliance – it can affect engagement, reputation and trust.

Risk four: missing or outdated legal information on your website

The legal information required on a website will vary depending on the type of organisation and the services it provides. However, company registration details, contact information and transparency disclosures are frequently expected requirements.

Although websites regularly evolve through content updates, new services and additional functionality, the supporting legal content does not always keep pace. Missing or out-of-date information can lead to compliance concerns, customer confusion, governance issues, and reduced trust and credibility.

Reviewing these areas regularly can help ensure that important information remains accurate, accessible and aligned with current business activities.

Risk five: website compliance has no clear owner

This is perhaps the most common issue of all.

Website compliance rarely sits neatly within one team. Instead, responsibility is often spread across marketing, digital, compliance, governance, and legal functions.

Although a collaborative approach has clear advantages, it can also create blind spots. While everyone is focused on their own area, nobody may be assessing how the website performs as a whole from a compliance perspective.

Many organisations also assume their website platform or developer has addressed compliance requirements. However, developer expertise and legal compliance expertise are not necessarily the same thing.

This is why website compliance should not be treated as a one-off exercise completed during a redesign. It should be viewed as an ongoing governance responsibility.

Why website compliance is so important

Website compliance is unlikely to become less important in the years ahead. In fact, the opposite is true. As websites become more sophisticated, organisations are collecting more data, introducing new functionality and creating increasingly personalised user experiences.

At the same time, customer expectations around transparency, accessibility and privacy continue to grow, whilst regulators are paying closer attention to the digital experiences that organisations provide.

The challenge is that websites rarely stand still. New content is added, systems are integrated, campaigns are launched, and functionality evolves. Over time, even well-managed websites can drift away from current legal and regulatory expectations without anyone noticing.

That’s why regular website compliance reviews are becoming increasingly valuable. Not because every website is non-compliant, but because assumptions can be risky. Taking a proactive approach can help create visibility, reduce uncertainty and provide confidence that your website is supporting, rather than undermining, your wider business objectives.

How do you know if your website is compliant?

Most organisations are not deliberately ignoring compliance; they simply don’t know where to look.

A useful starting point is to ask a few straightforward questions:

• when was your privacy notice last reviewed?
• has your cookie consent model been assessed recently?
• have website accessibility checks been carried out within the last 12 months?
• are your website terms and legal notices still accurate?
• have new website features introduced additional compliance obligations?
• who owns website compliance within your organisation?

If several of those questions are difficult to answer, it may be worth carrying out a website compliance review – not because something is necessarily wrong, but because certainty is usually better than assumption.

Don’t wait for a complaint to discover a compliance issue

Website compliance risks are often hidden in plain sight.

A problem may not become visible until a customer raises a concern, a regulator asks questions or a user encounters difficulties accessing information. By then, organisations are often reacting to an issue rather than managing it proactively.

The reality is that most organisations don’t need more complexity. They need a clearer understanding of where potential risks exist, which issues matter most and what action should be prioritised.

That’s why we developed SiteComply.

SiteComply is an independent, lawyer-led website compliance audit and review designed to help organisations understand their website’s legal and regulatory position.

Looking across areas such as privacy, cookies, accessibility, consumer information and governance, it provides a practical assessment of where risks may exist and where improvements could be made.

Because website compliance shouldn’t be about ticking boxes. It should be about creating confidence.

Confidence that your website reflects the standards you expect from the rest of your organisation.

Confidence that customers can trust the information you provide.

And confidence that potential issues are being identified before they become bigger problems.

If your organisation has not reviewed its website compliance recently, now may be the right time to gain a clearer understanding of where you stand and whether any risks need addressing. To find out more about SiteComply and how it can support your organisation, speak to Selina or Charlotte.

This content is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. It is not intended to address the circumstances of any individual or entity, nor should it be relied upon as a substitute for specific advice from a qualified solicitor. The information reflects the legal position as at the date specified and may be subject to change. If you require advice on a specific matter, please contact us directly.