WCAG
Category: Design
What is WCAG 2.2?
WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is a set of guidelines published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which aim to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. These guidelines are an international standard for web accessibility.
WCAG 2.2 is an update of the previous versions WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 2.0, adding new success criteria to address additional accessibility barriers identified after the publication of the previous versions.
The principles of accessibility (POUR)
Perceivable (Perceivable)
Information and user interface must be presented in a way that users can perceive.
- Text alternatives for non-text content
- Multimedia alternatives
- Adaptable content
- Visible content
Operable (Operable)
The user interface and navigation must be operable.
- Keyboard accessibility
- Enough time
- Preventing seizures
- Light navigation
Understandable (Understandable)
Information and user interface must be understandable.
- Text readability
- Predictability of web pages
- Help with data entry
Robust
The content must be sufficiently stable to be interpreted reliably by different user agents, including assistive technologies.
- Compatibility
- Valid HTML code
- Correct use of ARIA attributes
Нива на съответствие
Level A (Minimum)
The lowest level of compliance. The website meets all the success criteria from level A.
- Basic accessibility requirements
- Does not eliminate all barriers
- Often insufficient for full accessibility
Level AA (Acceptable)
Target level for most organizations. The website meets all the success criteria from level A and AA.
- Recommended level for most websites
- Meets legal requirements in many countries
- Solves the most common barriers
Level AAA (High)
The highest level of compliance. The website meets all the success criteria from level A, AA and AAA.
- Not required for whole websites
- May be difficult to achieve for some content
- Appropriate for specific segments
New features in WCAG 2.2
- Focus on assistive goals (2.4.11) - Requires the important parts of the web page that receive focus to be visible and noticeable.
- Fixed reference points (2.4.12) - Ensures that navigation elements that appear on multiple pages appear in the same sequence.
- Visible labels (3.2.12) - Requires labels or instructions to be visible when the input field receives focus.
- Improved keyboard navigation (2.1.13) - Expands the requirements for keyboard-only navigation, taking into account more complex interactions.
Advantages of implementing WCAG 2.2
- Improved accessibility: Allows people with disabilities to use websites
- Better SEO: Websites that follow accessibility guidelines are usually better indexed by search engines
- Increased user satisfaction: Improves the experience for all users
- Reduced legal risk: Reduces the risk of discrimination lawsuits
- Wider audience: The website becomes accessible to more
- Better mobile usability: Many accessibility principles improve usability on mobile devices
Short checklist for compliance
- Providing alternative text for images
- Ensuring sufficient color contrast
- Ability to navigate with keyboard only
- Using descriptive page titles
- Ensuring clear labels for forms
- Providing transcriptions for video and audio content
- Ensuring logical heading structure
- Avoiding content that causes seizures
Comparison between WCAG versions
| Version | Published | Number of criteria | Main improvements |
|---|---|---|---|
| WCAG 2.0 | December 2008 | 61 | The first stable version of WCAG 2.x |
| WCAG 2.1 | June 2018 | 78 | Focus on mobile devices and cognitive disabilities |
| WCAG 2.2 | October 2023 | 86 | Improved support for users with cognitive disabilities |