An accessibility statement is a dated, public promise about your website: what standard you aim at, how far you have got, what is still broken, how somebody tells you about a problem, and when you will look again. It is the cheapest thing on any remediation plan and the most often skipped, usually because the site is not perfect yet. That is exactly backwards: the statement is more credible with known issues listed than without. On the worked example 34 open issues closed at four a month means the next six-month review still carries ten, and that is a publishable number.
The six things a statement has to say
The standard and level you aim at, the date it was last reviewed, the scope it covers, the known issues and when they will be fixed, a feedback channel with a response time you will actually meet, and the third-party components you do not control. Six paragraphs. Anything longer is being written for a lawyer rather than for the person who could not use your booking form.
Why the known issues make it stronger
A statement claiming full conformance on a site with 34 open issues is a claim somebody can disprove in an afternoon, and disproving it is what turns a complaint into a case. A statement that lists the issues and a closing rate is a record of a programme in progress, which is the thing regulators and courts have consistently treated more kindly.
The promise you have to keep
If the statement says five working days, that is 40 working hours and it binds you. On the worked example two enquiries a month at half an hour each is 12 hours a year of somebody's time, which is small, and missing the published response time is the one part of a statement that is trivially checkable from outside.
Questions people ask about accessibility statement
Where should the statement live?
A stable URL linked from the footer of every page, which is where people and reviewers look for it.
How often should it be reviewed?
Every six months for most sites, twelve at the outside. The sheet prints how many issues will still be open at that review so the date is one you can meet.
Do we need a statement if we have no issues?
Yes. It tells people how to reach you when they find one, which they will.