Understanding WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) Standards & Compliance

What Is WCAG?

These technical standards have been incorporated in important regulations around the world, such as EAA (European Accessibility Act), ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act), and EN 301 549. They have a strong impact on how digital accessibility is evolving over the years and more importantly, how they have been adopted by public and private businesses.

The most recent version of WCAG is 2.1, which was released in 2018, contains a wide range of recommendations for making digital content more accessible. These recommendations are known as success criteria.

As it is focused on web content, the guidelines address accessibility for devices like: desktops, laptops, kiosks, and mobile devices.

WCAG Layers of Guidance

To compose an effective and actionable standard, WCAG created layers so individuals and companies could use as guidance on how to create accessible content online. They include:

Principles

At the highest level, WCAG foundational principles are based on the acronym POUR: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust. They provide a clear framework for what it means for content to be accessible.

Guidelines

Under each principle, there is a set of 13 guidelines. They were created to help implement web accessibility, clarify the intent behind each rule, and provide context for the success criteria they are related to.

Success Criteria

Each guideline contains testable success criteria. They are provided to allow WCAG 2.1 to be used where requirements and conformance testing are necessary such as in design specification, purchasing, regulation, and contractual agreements. There are three levels of conformance, designed to meet different needs of different groups.

Sufficient and Advisory Techniques

For each guideline and success criterion in WCAG 2.1, a variety of techniques are provided. These are divided into sufficient techniques, which satisfy the success criteria, and advisory techniques, which offer additional ways to enhance accessibility beyond the basic requirements. Some advisory techniques also address barriers not covered by the testable criteria.

To achieve the highest level of accessibility possible and best address the needs of the widest possible range of users, the recommendation is to apply as many layers as possible, including the advisory techniques.

POUR Principle Explained

The four principles of WCAG are Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust. They’re set as the foundation for making content accessible, and all the success criteria for compliance are based on them.

Perceivable

People must be able to take in the information and interface using at least one of their senses. This could mean adding text alternatives for images, captions for videos, or making sure text has enough contrast against the background. If users cannot perceive the information, they cannot interact with it.

Operable

Users must be able to control and use the interface. All functionality should be available using different input methods such as a keyboard. It also means avoiding elements that can cause seizures, giving people enough time to read and act, and providing clear ways to navigate.

Understandable

The content and interface should be clear and predictable. This includes using straightforward language, keeping navigation consistent, and offering helpful feedback when mistakes happen. People should know what to expect and understand how to interact with your site or app.

Robust

Content must work reliably with a wide range of technologies, both now and in the future. This involves writing clean, well-structured code so that assistive technologies like screen readers can interpret it correctly. The more robust the content, the more adaptable it will be as technology changes.

WCAG Levels of Conformance

To help organisations understand how accessible their content is, WCAG groups success criteria into three levels of conformance:

Level A – Basic Accessibility

This is the minimum level of accessibility. Meeting Level A means that you have removed some of the most fundamental barriers that would otherwise prevent many users with disabilities from accessing your content.

Achieving only Level A compliance is a start, but it still leaves many users behind.

Level AA – Standard Accessibility

Level AA is considered the industry standard and is the level most commonly required by accessibility laws and regulations. It addresses a broader range of accessibility barriers and improves usability for a wider audience.

Most public and private organisations intent to meet Level AA, as it strikes a good balance between usability, feasibility, and compliance.

Level AAA – Enhanced Accessibility

Level AAA includes the most advanced accessibility requirements. It provides the highest level of inclusion, especially for users with more specific or complex needs.

Although Level AAA is valuable, it is not always practical to achieve across an entire website. WCAG itself recognises that it may not be possible to meet all AAA criteria.

Now that you know what WCAG is, it is easier to take action on web accessibility. Nexus Inclusion can help you with that. Find out how our features and solutions can support your journey towards digital inclusion and compliance!