WCAG 2.2
Explained Simply
WCAG 2.2 is the latest version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the global standard that defines how to make websites usable by everyone. If you run a website, this affects you.
What is WCAG?
WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), these guidelines set out how to make digital content (websites, apps, and documents) accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities. That includes people who are blind, deaf, have motor impairments, cognitive conditions like ADHD or dyslexia, or temporary disabilities like a broken arm.
The guidelines are organised around four principles. Everything on your website should be Perceivable (users can see or hear it), Operable (users can interact with it), Understandable (users can make sense of it), and Robust (it works across different technologies and assistive tools).
WCAG 2.2 is the latest version, released in October 2023, and it builds on WCAG 2.1 with 9 new criteria focused on cognitive accessibility, mobile usability, and keyboard navigation.
Below, we break down key success criteria in plain English. Each one includes real examples. No jargon, no legalese. Just what you need to know.
The Three Levels of Compliance
Minimum
The bare essentials. Without these, some people simply cannot use your website at all.
Images have alt text Everything works with a keyboard No content causes seizures Pages have proper headingsStandard
What most laws require. This is the level you should aim for. It covers the majority of accessibility needs.
Text has 4.5:1 colour contrast Text can be resized to 200% Captions on all video content Consistent navigation throughoutEnhanced
The gold standard. Not always required by law, but recommended where possible.
7:1 enhanced contrast ratio Sign language for video Simplified reading level Extended audio descriptionsWhy WCAG Compliance Matters for Your Business
⚖️ Legal obligation
In the UK, US, and EU, accessibility is increasingly a legal requirement. The Equality Act 2010, ADA, Section 508, and the EU Accessibility Act all create obligations for website owners.
👥 Wider audience
1 in 6 people live with some form of disability. Accessible websites reach more people, serve more customers, and build more trust.
✅ Better for everyone
Accessibility improvements (clearer navigation, better contrast, keyboard support) benefit all users, not just those with disabilities.
All WCAG Success Criteria
Showing 86 of 86 standards
No criteria match your search. Try different keywords or clear the filters.
Want to know how your site measures up?
Our IAAP-certified specialists run manual audits against WCAG 2.2 AA. Real testing, real findings, real fixes. No automated scans.
Learn About Our Audits →Frequently Asked Questions
WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. It's the international standard for making websites usable by people with disabilities. Beyond being the right thing to do, WCAG compliance protects your business from legal action, opens your site to the 1.3 billion people worldwide who live with a disability, and improves your SEO since accessible sites tend to rank better on Google.
Think of them as tiers. Level A is the bare minimum: things like making sure images have alt text and users can navigate with a keyboard. Level AA is the standard most laws and regulations require. It adds rules around colour contrast, text resizing, and consistent navigation. Level AAA is the gold standard, covering things like sign language for videos and simplified reading levels. Most businesses aim for AA compliance.
Yes. Under the Equality Act 2010, all organisations providing services to the public must make reasonable adjustments for people with disabilities, and that includes your website. Public sector websites must meet WCAG 2.2 AA under the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018. For private businesses, courts have increasingly interpreted the Equality Act to cover websites. The EU Accessibility Act (June 2025) also affects UK businesses selling into Europe.
WCAG 2.2 added 9 new success criteria focused on three areas: making things easier for people with cognitive disabilities (like consistent help and redundant entry), improving mobile usability (minimum target sizes for buttons and links), and better keyboard navigation (focus appearance requirements). If you were already meeting WCAG 2.1 AA, you're most of the way there, but the new criteria do require specific attention.
No. Automated tools can catch about 30–40% of accessibility issues: things like missing alt text, low contrast, and empty links. But they can't judge whether alt text is actually meaningful, whether a page makes logical sense to a screen reader user, or whether custom interactive components are properly accessible. You need a combination of automated scanning and manual testing by real people to be genuinely compliant.
The WebAIM Million report consistently finds the same issues on most websites: missing image alt text (54% of homepages), low colour contrast (81% of homepages), missing form labels (48% of homepages), empty links and buttons (44% of homepages), and missing document language (17% of homepages). These are all relatively straightforward to fix and fall under Level A and AA requirements.