What is WCAG compliance?
WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, an extensive set of guidelines established by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in 2008. The W3C created these guidelines to make the web more accessible for people with disabilities and those that use assistive technology to navigate websites.
There are four overarching principles that lay the foundation for the WCAG as a whole. They are often abbreviated as POUR and stand for Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust. Beyond these more general principles are three levels of WCAG conformance (A, AA, and AAA). Each level contains several specific elements that a site must comply with in order to achieve full conformance with that level. We’ll explain these in more detail below.
The four principles of WCAG
Perceivable
Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. If users rely on assistive technology (such as screen readers) to use a website, all content must be visible to a screen reader. An example of this is text alternatives for images or captions for multimedia. This allows a screen reader to read and convey the content of this media to a user who can’t physically see it.
Operable
User interface components and navigation must be operable. This is particularly relevant to people that use their keyboard to navigate a website rather than a mouse. A site must be able to be fully controlled via keyboard. If there are elements like sliders or carousels that move automatically, or multimedia that autoplays, a keyboard user needs to be able to pause this movement.
Understandable
Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. The content and function of the website needs to be presented in a way that is clear to read and use. Avoid using navigational elements or functions that can’t be easily consumed and utilized by assistive technologies.
Robust
Content must be robust enough to be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. The primary concern here is that the website uses clean and valid HTML and CSS. W3C has a HTML validator that will tell you if there are any issues with your markup.
The three levels of WCAG conformance
Level A
Level A is the most basic and essential level of web accessibility. The requirements within level A cover many of the issues that prevent those with disabilities from successfully navigating a website. Some of the most common issues within level A are alternative text for images, captions for video, and making sure that a user can navigate a website with a keyboard. This is only a small sample, however. There are 30 success criteria that one must meet in order to satisfy all Level A requirements.
Level AA
Level AA addresses the some of the biggest and most common barriers for disabled users. This is also the level of WCAG conformance that sites must meet to be compliant with ADA guidelines. Some of the issues within level AA are sufficient color contrast between foreground and background colors, increasing text size to 200% without loss of content or functionality, and ensuring that navigation is consistent and predictable. There are 20 success criteria within level AA.
Level AAA
Level AAA is the highest and most complex level, addressing the most demanding web accessibility issues. The standards within level AAA aren’t feasible for many websites. As such, sites aren’t required to achieve this level, but sites such as government websites, educational institutions and sites for people with disabilities do aim to meet the standards set within level AAA. To meet level AAA, sites must have a contrast ratio of 7:1 (as opposed to the 4.5:1 in level AA). Sign language interpretation for audio content is another requirement, and the ability to present a website in simpler language. There are 28 success criteria within level AAA.
As stated above, websites must meet WCAG level AA standards to be considered compliant with accessibility laws. This means that a site must all level A and level AA success criteria (50 in total) in order to be accessible and compliant.
Is WCAG part of the ADA?
The WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) are not the same, but they are related. The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. It maintains a goal of ensuring that individuals with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. On the other hand, WCAG is a set of guidelines that website developers must adhere to in order to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. While WCAG itself is not technically part of the ADA, it is what anyone will use to determine whether a website is accessible to all users.
Why is accessibility important?
Some view WCAG guidelines as onerous and an obstacle to publishing their website. But it’s crucial to remember that making your website more accessible is similar to SEO. You are trying to get as many people to your website as possible. So why bother optimizing your site if you’re not also going to make it usable for everyone? No point in bringing people to your door if you’re only going to turn them away when they get there.
Is WCAG compliance required?
If your website is a business, or an extension of your business, then yes, WCAG compliance is required. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that businesses that are open to the public “must provide people with disabilities an equal opportunity to access the goods or services that they offer.” It’s more accurate to say that business must be ADA compliant, and the WCAG is what attorneys and courts will use to determine whether your website is accessible and, by extension, ADA compliant.
There are a lot of fish to fry in terms of non-compliant, non-accessible websites. And there have been several thousand accessibility lawsuits, and that number is steadily increasing. Of course, websites that provide essential services were the first target. But more and more business are finding themselves in the crosshairs of accessibility lawsuits. And the penalties can be severe. Target had to pay $6 million, and make their site accessible to users with disabilities. A case against Dominos went to the Supreme Court, which Dominos ultimately lost.
But it’s not just Dominos and Target that are getting sued for accessibility compliance violations. According to a study published by UsableNet, there were over 4,600 lawsuits filed in 2023. ECommerce sites accounted for over 80% of those lawsuits. But dozens of industries have been impacted by WCAG-related lawsuits. So, nobody is technically free of risk here. While the odds may be slim, depending on the size of your business/website, you’re simply better off making your site accessible, for many reasons.
Is my website WCAG compliant?
In all likelihood, your website is not WCAG compliant. If your website is new and it was specifically built to be fully accessible, then it might be. Though even that is not a guarantee. Almost every website has at least a handful of issues that do not meet WCAG AA standards. Most websites have dozens of issues that need to be addressed. Some are simple to resolve and are fixes that you can make yourself. Others will require the assistance of an experienced web developer.
Free web accessibility testing resources
If you would like to see if your website is compliant, there are multiple free scanners that you can use to test your website’s accessibility.
- WAVE accessibility evaluation tool – This is an online test and very easy to use. Enter the url of the page you would like it to test and it will display your webpage with visual cues that clearly indicate where any errors may be present. They also have a browser extension that you can use to test any page you’re currently viewing.
- Lighthouse – Lighthouse is integrated with Google Chrome’s DevTools. To access DevTools, right-click when you are on a page that you want to scan, and click the “Inspect code” option. This will open up DevTools and you will see a tab labeled “Lighthouse.” There are multiple tests within Lighthouse that allow you test SEO, Performance, Accessibility and others. You can check/uncheck boxes for any elements you’d like to test.
- Deque Axe – Deque is a robust testing platform that is a paid service. However, they do have free browser extensions that you can use to test individual webpages. Download the extension and then, similar to Lighthouse, open DevTools to access the “axe DevTools” tab.
This is only a partial list of services that have been selected for their ease of use. There are many tools out there, most of which are paid, but offer a free trial or some other limited functionality for free users.
A word of caution about the WAVE tool or any automated scanner: Since these tools are automated, there is the possibility of false positives. Additionally, there are several accessibility-related issues that can only be found through a manual review of the site.
Can I use an accessibility widget to make my site accessible?
There are two paths to take to make your site accessible. The first option is to conduct a comprehensive accessibility audit. A comprehensive audit includes a combination of automated and manual testing with screen readers and other assistive technologies. This audit will identify every issue on your website that does not meet WCAG standards. With the aid of a developer, you will manually fix every issue in the audit. Both the audit and remediation work require a substantial amount of time and effort. And the cost of this work reflects that.
The alternative to this is a quicker and cheaper solution, but it is not without risks or flaws. There are solutions that place a button on your website and when a user clicks it, a panel appears that displays options to modify the website to suit your specific needs. With this option, you don’t need to conduct an audit or enlist a developer to perform remediation work. Instead, you pay a monthly fee for the usage of this accessibility tool. The provider will give you a snippet of code to add to your site, and that’s all it takes to add the accessibility plugin to your website.
The risks of accessibility widgets
While they may be cheaper and easier in the short term, your site only remains accessible as long as you’re using (and paying for) these tools. Should you decide to discontinue using the tool, you’ll be back to square one. Additionally, in some cases, plugins can actually make your site less accessible. There are instances where screen readers are unable to successfully navigate the tool’s interface.
Additionally, it appears that some lawyers have been specifically targeting sites that use these accessibility overlays. In 2023, there were over 900 lawsuits targeting websites that currently have an accessibility widget on their site. Because these widgets may make your site more accessible but not necessarily fully compliant with WCAG AA standards. And if you have a widget present on your website, it is a pretty clear indicator that your underlying site is not compliant. So while a widget is a faster and cheaper (in the short term) option, it could end up costing you more in the long run.
