Understanding Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and How to Achieve Compliance
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) represent the internationally recognized standard for creating inclusive digital experiences. These guidelines help make websites and digital content accessible to people with disabilities. As technology evolves, WCAG undergoes regular updates by the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) in collaboration with disability community working groups. The most recent version is WCAG 2.2. When an organization achieves "WCAG 2.2 compliance," they have successfully implemented design principles that provide exceptional accessibility to their web content.
It's important to distinguish between "guidelines" and "laws." Guidelines are recommendations or best practices designed to help organizations achieve specific standards or goals. They are not legally binding by themselves, and organizations are not required to follow them—hence we speak of "conforming" to guidelines. Laws, on the other hand, are binding rules established by governments or legal authorities, and we "comply" with laws.
While WCAG guidelines are not legally binding in themselves, they are widely recognized as the international standard for web accessibility. Many laws and regulations reference WCAG as the benchmark for legal compliance. This is why people commonly use "WCAG compliance" as a synonym for "WCAG conformance."
WCAG contains technical instructions and success criteria for website owners, designers, and developers. These criteria help optimize websites to accommodate specific needs, including assistive technology, screen readers, keyboard-only navigation, and more.
The WCAG 2.2 guidelines require websites to include the following essential elements:
Strong contrast between text and background colors
Descriptive alt text for all graphics and images
Closed captions and transcriptions for video content
Form labels for all input fields
Appropriate descriptive tags for all navigation links and buttons
Nearly all digital accessibility regulations worldwide are based explicitly or implicitly on WCAG principles.
Organizations and their design teams should be familiar with the WCAG 2.2 guidelines and continually monitor web content to ensure it meets requirements.
There are three commonly cited reasons to strive for WCAG compliance:
Making websites accessible means removing barriers and including people with disabilities related to vision, motor skills, and neurodiversity.
Creating WCAG-compliant content results in better user experience, increased traffic, more conversions, and improved SEO.
WCAG is the basis for nearly all digital accessibility regulations worldwide, helping avoid legal liabilities.
Making websites accessible means removing barriers users face when navigating content. Expanding access means including people with disabilities related to vision, hand motor skills, and neurodiversity. Accessibility also refers to providing access to content from a variety of devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and assistive technology.
Disabilities impact everyone. More than 1 billion people worldwide have a disability. This doesn't include the countless others who may experience changes in their ability to perform everyday tasks due to age, injury, illness, and even situational limitations.
Creating content that adheres to WCAG principles and success criteria results in a well-structured and streamlined website that works for more people. This means a better user experience, more traffic, more conversions, increased sales, fewer abandoned carts, less churn, and a lower bounce rate.
For example, WCAG requires alternative and descriptive text for all non-text content. For an e-Commerce website, coding alt text tags and including transcripts for product marketing material will ensure people who have vision disabilities can buy things from your website. Additionally, keywords used in alternative text and transcripts can help improve your SEO.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the basis for nearly all digital accessibility regulations worldwide. Organizations that fail to comply with digital accessibility laws expose themselves to significant liabilities, including fines and civil lawsuits.
In the U.S., WCAG 2.0 compliance is explicitly required for government agencies and federal contractors under Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. According to many court rulings and the outcomes of U.S. Department of Justice actions, private U.S. businesses and organizations are also subject to website accessibility laws under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Based on numerous consent orders and settlement agreements, the ADA implicitly requires these private entities to meet WCAG standards.
European Union: WCAG 2.1 Level AA is required under EN 301 549
Ontario, Canada: The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) requires WCAG 2.0 Level AA compliance
Australia: The Web Accessibility National Transition Strategy requires all government agencies comply with WCAG. Private organizations are recommended to apply the WCAG to meet requirements under the Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)
Israel: The Israel Standard (IS) 5568 applies to most businesses and requires them to adhere to WCAG standards
With so many laws and regulations pointing directly to the WCAG, conforming with the guidelines means complying with the related law.
To understand what "WCAG 2.2 AA" or "WCAG 2.2 AAA" mean, we need to break down the terminology.
WCAG is a set of guidelines that has been published and maintained by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for nearly 30 years and has undergone a number of revisions since WCAG 1.0, which is now obsolete. The WCAG guidelines are created with input from a diverse, global group of member organizations, academics, W3C staff, and the general public.
WCAG 1.0
May 1999
(Obsolete)
WCAG 2.0
Dec 2008
WCAG 2.1
June 2018
WCAG 2.2
Oct 2023
Latest
WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 are the most commonly referenced versions by laws and international regulations. WCAG 2.1 added 17 new success criteria. WCAG 2.2 expands on 2.1 further with more criteria around mobile interface accessibility, as well as a focus on people with cognitive or learning disabilities and users with low vision. WCAG 2.2 guidelines are the latest update for WCAG standards as of October 2023.
This latest update builds off several pillars of accessible web design that seek to help developers create content that is inclusive for people with visual, hearing, motor, and cognitive impairments. The Working Group responsible for WCAG continues to develop the standard, and WCAG 3.0 is already being drafted.
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) has three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. These levels define accessibility standards for web content. Each level has specific criteria that need to be met to ensure better accessibility for people with disabilities. The higher the level, the more inclusive and accessible the content becomes.
The basic level of accessibility. It includes guidelines that address the most fundamental barriers for users with disabilities.
Example: Providing alternative text for images so that screen readers can read aloud what the image is about.
An intermediate level of accessibility, more comprehensive than Level A. Includes all Level A requirements and additional criteria.
Example: Providing audio descriptions for videos to make them accessible to people who are blind or low vision.
The highest level of accessibility. Provides the best possible experience for users with disabilities. Includes all Level A and AA requirements.
Example: Providing text transcripts, audio descriptions, sign language interpretation, and robust descriptions for streaming media.
The difference between the levels is in the scope of accessibility they cover. While Level A addresses basic accessibility needs, Level AA builds upon that to cater to a broader range of users. Level AAA goes even further, ensuring an exceptionally inclusive experience. For WCAG compliance, businesses must conform to Level A and Level AA success criteria. AAA conformance is optional but represents the highest level of accessibility.
The four principles that guide WCAG serve as the ultimate goals for web accessibility. The following principles provide a philosophy for achieving accessibility on websites globally.
To ensure that users can access and understand information and interface elements, content must be presented in a way that can be perceived through at least one of the user's senses.
User interface elements and navigation must be fully operable by users. Users must be able to easily interact with the interface without being required to perform actions they are unable to do.
Users must be able to understand the information presented and should know how to effectively use and navigate the website.
A wide range of user agents, including assistive technologies, should be able to access website information and use the interface, even as technologies change.
There are 13 guidelines that fall within the four WCAG principles explained above. These measurable objectives help achieve the general goals of accessibility. They are described below and grouped with the principle they support.
Text Alternatives - Text alternatives are equivalent replacements for non-text elements, such as providing a label for a form field or a description for an image. These alternatives enable users who cannot see or interact with the non-text content to understand its purpose and context.
Time-Based Media - Alt text, transcripts, and closed captions should synchronize with interactive media.
Adaptable - All content should be capable of adjusting without losing information when the display size of a website is changed.
Distinguishable - Content should be formatted with appropriate spacing and text size. This includes strong contrast of foreground text with background color and images.
Keyboard Accessible - Websites should be completely and easily operable through keyboard-only navigation. This means websites should not disrupt typical functions of keystrokes or short-cut commands.
Enough Time - Ample time should be programmed for all time-based media and access without losing the chance to read or enter respective responses.
Seizures and Physical Reactions - All display content and website design should avoid excessive flashing and other typical triggers for seizures.
Navigable - A website should offer users straightforward and logical ways to discover and find content. Navigation menus and drop-downs should make sense and be easy to use. Heading and subheading tags should be used to break up long text boxes.
Input Modalities - Users should have a similar website experience even with different options for input beyond just a keyboard and mouse. This includes switch controls, eye trackers, and voice commands.
Readable - All writing should be clear and understandable, avoiding jargon, unusual words and having limited acronyms. Where unfamiliar language is required, it should be qualified with definitions and the full unabbreviated phrase.
Predictable - Websites and content should be built to function as people expect them to, with vertical scroll orientation and all navigation links included in the heading and footer margins.
Input Assistance - Users should be able to use saved browser input information to avoid mistakes and ensure accuracy when attempting to fill out login fields and sign-up forms.
Compatible - Websites should strive to be as compatible as possible with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies, in order to provide the best user experience for all users.
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