A Complete Guide to WCAG Standards and Compliance

There are approximately 1.3 billion people worldwide living with a disability(opens in a new tab) — that’s one in six people navigating the internet with tools, tech, and workarounds that most websites simply don’t consider. Whether it’s low vision, hearing loss, cognitive differences, or motor limitations, these disabilities directly shape how people experience your content. 

If your site isn’t accessible, you’re not just creating a poor user experience; you’re shutting out a massive part of your audience. The fix? Build content that’s accessible from the start and test it against the barriers that users with disabilities encounter every day. Not only does this expand your audience base, but it also boosts SEO and reduces the risk of legal issues — all while creating a more inclusive experience.

That’s where the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines(opens in a new tab) (WCAG) come in. Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), WCAG provides the global standards for building accessible, inclusive digital experiences.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through WCAG 2.2, the principles behind its success criteria, and how these guidelines support the creation of more accessible, compliant, and user-friendly content.

What is WCAG?

WCAG are internationally recognized standards created by the W3C to make digital content accessible to people with disabilities. The guidelines provide clear, actionable guidance for designing websites, apps, and digital tools that work for people with disabilities. 

The guidelines consist of success criteria, which are pass-or-fail statements that address accessibility barriers, including mistakes that prevent websites from working well with assistive technologies. These include problems like:

• Text that doesn’t have sufficient contrast with its background (low-contrast text).

• Missing or inaccurate alternative text (alt text) for images.

• Missing captions or transcripts for videos.

• Missing form labels for input fields.

• Improper use of semantic HTML. 

• “Empty” and redundant hyperlinks.

Following WCAG not only allows you to address the issues mentioned above but also makes your content more useful for people with:

• Vision disabilities

• Hearing disabilities

• Cognitive differences and disabilities

• Attention disorders

• Temporary and situational disorders (for example, people who browse the internet with their sound turned off). 

WCAG 2.1 vs. 2.2

WCAG is updated regularly to keep pace with changes in technology and user needs. The newest version, WCAG 2.2, includes 86 pass-or-fail success criteria that help identify common accessibility issues in design and development. These criteria are the official W3C recommendation, and while earlier versions like WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 are still valid, the W3C strongly advises organizations to follow WCAG 2.2 to meet today’s accessibility expectations.

If you’re wondering what’s different in WCAG 2.2, the core framework remains the same. It retains every success criterion from WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 2.0, but adds nine new criteria focused on real-world usability issues — including larger pointer target sizes, more accessible authentication methods, and clearer focus indicators for interactive elements.

Following WCAG 2.2 also helps you prepare for future versions of the guidelines, including WCAG 3.0. The latest version is allegedly a more flexible, outcome-based model intended to reflect the evolving digital landscape. WCAG 3.0 is still in development and not yet an official standard, so for now, WCAG 2.2 remains the benchmark for accessibility compliance and best practices.

For a comprehensive list of all WCAG 2.2 success criteria, check out our WCAG checklist.

An accessibility symbol, surrounded by icons that represent different types of disabilities (visual, cognitive, motor, and hearing).

What is WCAG compliance?

Although “WCAG compliance” is often used when discussing website accessibility, “WCAG conformance” is a more accurate term. That’s because WCAG is a voluntary standard — not a law. 

WCAG conformance means voluntarily following the guidelines. Setting a conformance goal enables you to take the first step toward a more accessible website or mobile app and enhance compliance with various non-discrimination laws. 

To get closer to WCAG conformance, you’ll need to understand more about how WCAG guidelines are organized.

The four key principles of WCAG

WCAG outlines four guiding principles for digital accessibility: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Together, these principles can be used to help businesses create content that is accessible to everyone.

Get into the habit of using the POUR principles when creating content. It’s a great way to conform with WCAG standards and, more importantly, it helps you anticipate issues that might impact your users.

Perceivable

Perceivable simply means that all information and user interface (UI) components must be presentable and perceivable to all users. Nothing should be “invisible” to any of their senses, and you shouldn’t rely on a certain type of sensory perception.

Here are a few ways to make content perceivable:

• Provide text alternatives for non-text content: This includes offering a text description for images, graphs, or videos, ensuring that users who can’t see these elements still have access to the same information. This also increases compatibility with screen readers.

• Add captions to video content: Incorporate captions into pre-recorded and live videos. This helps people who are Deaf or hard of hearing by providing a textual representation of the audio.

• Add pre-recorded audio descriptions for video content: For videos that are not live, include audio descriptions. These narrations describe visual elements, catering to users who are blind or have low vision.

• Ensure adequate color contrast: Make sure there is sufficient color contrast between text and its background using tools like AudioEye’s free color accessibility checker. This is important for readability, especially for users with color vision deficiency (CVD) and other vision impairments. Be sure you’re using accessible colors across all your designs as well.

Operable

Operable means that people can use your content. They can fill out forms, order products, and navigate with the technologies they use every day. Web or device interface and navigation, such as controls and buttons, should be operable in various ways to ensure people with different abilities can use them.

When your website is truly operable, it works with all of those technologies, and it doesn’t require users to do something they cannot do.

Here are a few ways to make content operable:

• Make all functionality keyboard accessible: Your users should be able to operate your digital content with a keyboard alone (without a mouse). You can test this by learning basic keyboard commands and navigating your content.

• Avoid flashing content: Avoid content that flashes more than three times in any one-second period, or keep the flash below WCAG’s thresholds. This limits seizure risks for specific users and makes content much more operable for people with vision disabilities and neurocognitive conditions.

• Avoid time limits: Allow sufficient time for users to read and utilize the content. If you must use time limits, notify users — don’t surprise them by logging them out or ending a process without warning.

Understandable

Understandable means following the best user experience (UX) design practices: People of all abilities can figure out how your website works without too much effort. 

In other words, the content and user interface should be easy to understand. Here are a few ways to make content understandable:

• Use language tags: Specifying the language (for example, English) of content on a page allows screen readers to determine the correct pronunciation rules. Visual browsers can also display appropriate characters.

• Use consistent navigation: Make sure repeated navigation elements appear in the same order on every page. This helps people get where they want to go — and while it’s particularly useful for some users with cognitive conditions, it’s helpful for everyone.

• Provide instructions and labels: Write relevant, clear, and simple instructions when user input is required. Use appropriate labels so that fields are understandable for assistive tech people.

Robust

Robust means that content works well and remains accessible, even as technologies and user agents (such as web browsers) evolve. 

Here are a few ways to make content more robust:

• Establish the name, role, and value of each element: Ensure the name and role of each user interface element can be programmatically determined (read by a machine). Otherwise, some technologies (such as screen readers) may not be able to present the content to users.

• Create accessible status messages: Status messages must be programmatically determinable so they can be presented to the user without receiving focus.

Three boxes each showing a WCAG conformance level

WCAG conformance levels

In addition to the four principles, WCAG success criteria are organized into three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA:

• Level A is the least strict conformance level. It addresses essential issues that are likely to impact a large number of users. Examples of Level A criteria include requirements for alt text and descriptive page titles.

• Level AA is more comprehensive than Level A, addressing additional issues such as maintaining appropriate color contrast, using headings appropriately, and keeping navigation elements in the same order from page to page.

• Level AAA is the strictest WCAG level and includes criteria that some creators may find difficult to fulfill. For example, Level AAA requires sign language interpretations for all pre-recorded multimedia content.

Each conformance level includes all success criteria from the previous level. In other words, Level AA includes all Level A success criteria, while Level AAA includes all Level AA and A success criteria.

At a minimum, website owners should strive to meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA requirements. Most digital accessibility laws specify this version as essential for compliance, and websites that follow all WCAG 2.2 Level AA criteria are generally considered accessible for most users with disabilities.

How does WCAG affect accessibility laws?

As mentioned above, WCAG is not a law, but a voluntary set of standards.

Although WCAG is not legally enforceable, it serves as the basis for many non-discrimination laws. Some of those incorporate WCAG by reference — meaning the success criteria from WCAG appear within the text of the law, word for word. 

Other laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act(opens in a new tab), do not have specific technical standards. However, there’s substantial precedent establishing WCAG Level AA conformance as a reasonable level of accessibility.

Below, we’ll explain how WCAG conformance impacts compliance with three key digital accessibility laws. For additional examples, check out our International Accessibility Law Repository.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

The ADA is a U.S. civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in areas like employment, government services, transportation, and places of public accommodation, which includes the internet. This means that websites, mobile apps, and online services must be accessible to people with disabilities. 

Title III of the ADA specifically applies to places of public accommodation and applies to:

• Private businesses

• Non-profit organizations

• Other agencies that operate as “places of public accommodation.”

The ADA itself does not include specific standards for compliance. Instead, it enforces the guidelines included in WCAG 2.2 Level AA. Put simply, to be considered ADA-compliant, your digital content must meet the standards outlined in WCAG.  

Learn more about the ADA →

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act

The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits federal agencies from discriminating against people with disabilities. It also requires federal agencies to make their electronic information technology accessible, including web pages, digital documents (such as PDFs), and software. 

Of course, that’s much easier with clear technical standards. In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to create those standards. Over time, Congress has approved additional updates to make sure that the requirements of Section 508 are appropriate for current technologies.

Section 508 applies to:

• Federal agencies in the United States.

• State, county, and municipal authorities that receive financial assistance from the U.S. government.

• Universities, museums, galleries, medical centers, and other organizations that receive federal funding.

• Any contractor — regardless of size or services offered — that wants to work with the U.S. government.

In 2018, Section 508 was “refreshed” to incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level AA success criteria. As of the time of this writing, Section 508 does not require conformance with WCAG 2.2. 

However, WCAG 2.2 includes all of the success criteria from WCAG 2.0, and following the additional criteria can significantly benefit users. That’s extremely important for organizations that serve the public. 

Learn more about Section 508 →

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

Not all non-discrimination laws are federal. States and provinces can also enforce digital accessibility, including the AODA(opens in a new tab).

The AODA is a broad law that aims to improve transportation, customer service, and employment opportunities for Ontarians with disabilities. It also includes requirements for information and communications, which are based on WCAG.

The AODA applies to:

• Government bodies in Ontario.

• Non-profit organizations in Ontario. 

• Commercial organizations in Ontario with 50 or more employees. 

The AODA requires conformance with WCAG 2.0 Level A and Level AA. While WCAG 2.2 isn’t explicitly necessary for AODA compliance, following WCAG 2.2 is strongly recommended, as the law includes a process for updating the AODA standards over time.

Learn more about the AODA →

Common Accessibility Barriers WCAG Helps Address

WCAG addresses a broad range of issues that impact how people with disabilities interact with websites, apps, and digital content. Beyond the barriers mentioned above (e.g., poor color contrast or missing alt text), WCAG also addresses several additional problems that directly impact usability and access. This includes:

• Inconsistent or illogical navigation, such as unclear headings, unpredictable layouts, and disorganized structure, makes content hard to follow. 

• Keyboard and focus issues that can make it difficult for keyboard users to interact with content, including focus traps, missing focus indicators, or inaccessible interactive elements.

• Small or difficult touch targets that are too small or too close together for touch or motor-impaired users. 

• Animations, motion, and auto-updating content that can overwhelm or disorient users.

• Timeouts and time-limited interactions that expire too quickly without enough warning or the ability to extend time.

• Ambiguous or unlabeled icons, buttons, or UI elements that don’t clearly convey their purpose or provide feedback.

• Content that doesn’t adapt or reflow that breaks when zoomed, doesn’t support reflow on small screens, or fails on responsive layouts. 

• Unhelpful or unclear error messages that don’t explain what went wrong or how users can fix issues.

A stylized webpage with a magnifying glass positioned over an accessibility icon.

Your Path to WCAG Conformance Starts with AudioEye

To meet WCAG 2.2 requirements, you need to test your content regularly, fix issues correctly, and verify that every update actually improves accessibility. Without a process — and expert support — it’s easy to overlook problems or introduce new barriers that affect real users. 

AudioEye makes WCAG conformance easy and reliable with our Accessibility Platform. Our solution combines powerful automation with human-assisted AI technology, providing you with full visibility into accessibility issues and the confidence that your digital content is both compliant and accessible. 

With AudioEye, you can take advantage of:

• Active Monitoring that continuously monitors your site for accessibility issues.

• Automatic Fixes that resolve common accessibility issues automatically.

• Expert legal support, custom fixes, expert training, and more.

Whether you’re a start-up, growing organization, or an enterprise brand, AudioEye provides the tools and expertise to help you maintain accessibility, reduce legal risk, and keep your digital content aligned with the latest accessibility standards.