Design
WCAG 2.2
Also called
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
WCAG organizes requirements under four principles: content must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. Each success criterion is rated A, AA or AAA by how essential it is.
AA is the practical target and the level referenced by most US settlements, the ADA guidance, and Section 508 for federal procurement. AAA contains criteria that are not achievable for all content types and is not a realistic site-wide goal.
Version 2.2 added criteria around focus appearance, dragging alternatives and target size, and removed one. Conformance is per-page, which is why a template-level fix is worth more than a page-level one.
AA is the line US courts and procurement processes actually reference. Below it you are exposed; above it you are usually spending on criteria nobody requires.
Commonly misunderstood
What people get wrong
The claim
“We're WCAG compliant.”
What is actually true
Conformance is per-page and per-version, and it decays with every content change. It is a state to monitor, not a certificate to earn.
Related terms
Next step
Working through a wcag 2.2 decision?
Tell us the situation. We will give you the tradeoffs as we see them, including when the answer is that you do not need what you are being sold.
No pitch deck. A 30-minute conversation about what you are trying to achieve.