What is WCAG?
WCAG, short for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, are a set of international standards created to make web content more accessible for everyone. WCAG was formed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3) to ensure that everyone (specifically your target audience), regardless of their abilities, can access and interact with websites in an effective and inclusive way. These guidelines are especially important for governments and healthcare organisations.
WCAG Success Criteria
In total there are 78 success criteria for WCAG 2.0. There are 61 original and 17 in WCAG 2.1 – which builds on the previous version. These criteria act as a comprehensive checklist for authors, evaluators, and website owners to ensure that web content is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
The criteria are divided into three major groups:
- Sufficient Techniques: These are the recommended techniques that, when implemented, meet the success criteria and ensure that your website is accessible. These include screen reader compatibility, readable font sizes, clear colours, sufficient contrast and images.
- Advisory Techniques: While not strictly required, these techniques can further improve accessibility and enhance the user experience.
- Failures: These are the actions or omissions that cause a website to fail the accessibility criteria. Knowing these pitfalls can help you avoid common mistakes that may limit accessibility.
WCAG Levels
WCAG is also organised into three levels of compliance: A, AA, and AAA. These levels represent the degree to which a website is accessible to users, from basic accessibility to the most comprehensive.
- Level A: This is the minimum level of comploance, addressing the most essential web accessibility issues. Websites that meet Level A ensure that no content is completely inaccessible, however, some barriers may still exist.
- Level AA: This mid-range level is the most common target for websites. Meeting Level AA ensures that the website addresses a wider range of accessibility barriers. Most legal requirements for accessibility often recommend or require Level AA compliance.
- Level AAA: This is the highest level of compliance and is the most comprehensive level of accessibility. A website meeting AAA standards goes above and beyond to ensure that virtually all users, regardless of their abilities, can fully engage with the content. However, achieving AAA compliance can be difficult, and it’s not always practical for every web page to meet these standards.
Four Major Categories
In addition to the success criteria, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are governed by four key principles that form the foundation for accessible web content. These principles include:
- Perceivable: This means that users must be able to understand the content on a webpage. For example, text alternatives for images and captions for videos help ensure that content is accessible to people with visual or auditory impairments.
- Operable: Users must be able to easily interact with and navigate the website. This includes providing access for those who cannot use a keyboard and mouse and ensuring that content is easy to navigate, even for those using assistive technologies.
- Understandable: The content and interface must be easy to understand. This involves using clear, concise language, predictable navigation, and offering error prevention features to help users avoid mistakes.
- Robust: The website should be built in a way that ensures it can be interpreted by a wide range of user agents, including assistive technologies. This means coding practices must be up-to-date and flexible to accommodate new technologies.
About WCAG 3.0
As we evolve and introduce new technologies, there is a growing need to adapt accessibility standards. WCAG 3.0 is the next generation of web accessibility guidelines designed to address this shift. It aims to provide a more flexible and comprehensive approach to accessibility, incorporating the latest web technologies, design trends, and user needs.
One problem of WCAG 2.0 is that it is difficult to understand. WCAG 3.0 intend to make these guidelines easier to follow- rather focusing on solutions to various accessibility problems.
WCA 3.0 also plans on transitioning away from the A/AA/AAA grading system, replacing it with Bronze, Silver, and Gold conformance levels. This is also a tiered grading system that gives more flexibility and clarity on how to assess and achieve better accessibility.
