WCAG 2.2 AA: the checklist for your website

What WCAG, Level A/AA and POUR mean

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) of the W3C are the international standard for accessible web content. They are built around four principles — perceivable, operable, understandable, robust (POUR) — and break down into success criteria at three levels: A, AA and AAA. The legally relevant level is AA, which includes all A criteria. AAA is the highest level and is not required across the board.

New in WCAG 2.2

WCAG 2.2 (since October 2023) builds on 2.1 and adds a few success criteria. At Level A/AA these are:

• 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum): the focused element must not be fully hidden by other content (e.g. cookie banner, sticky header).
• 2.5.7 Dragging Movements: anything that works by dragging must also be operable with a single tap/click.
• 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum): interactive targets at least 24×24 CSS pixels (or sufficient spacing).
• 3.2.6 Consistent Help: help and contact options appear in the same place across pages.
• 3.3.7 Redundant Entry: do not ask again unnecessarily for information already entered.
• 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum): login without a cognitive test; allow paste and password managers.

1. Perceivable

• Text alternatives (1.1.1): every informative image has a meaningful alt text; decorative images are marked empty.
• Time-based media (1.2.x): videos with captions, audio with a transcript.
• Info and relationships (1.3.1): structure via real HTML — headings, lists, table headers, form labels — not just visually.
• Meaningful sequence (1.3.2): the reading/DOM order makes sense without CSS as well.
• Not by sense alone (1.3.3) / not colour alone (1.4.1): do not convey instructions or meaning by colour, shape or position alone.
• Identify input purpose (1.3.5): mark up fields such as name, email, address in machine-readable form (autocomplete).
• Contrast (1.4.3): text at least 4.5:1 (large text 3:1) against the background.
• Text size and reflow (1.4.4 / 1.4.10): text enlargeable to 200 %; content usable at 320 px width (equivalent to 400 % zoom) without horizontal scrolling.
• Non-text contrast (1.4.11): controls, icons and diagrams at least 3:1.

2. Operable

• Keyboard (2.1.1 / 2.1.2): everything is reachable and operable by keyboard, with no keyboard trap.
• Enough time (2.2.1): time limits can be turned off, extended or adjusted.
• Flashing (2.3.1): nothing flashes more than three times per second.
• Navigable (2.4.1 / 2.4.2): blocks can be skipped (skip link); meaningful page titles.
• Link text (2.4.4): the link text says on its own where it leads — no “click here”.
• Visible focus (2.4.7) and not obscured (2.4.11): the keyboard focus is clearly visible and is not covered by other elements.
• Pointer gestures (2.5.7 / 2.5.8): dragging movements have a simple alternative; click targets are at least 24×24 px.

3. Understandable

• Language of page (3.1.1): the page language is set in the HTML (lang attribute).
• Consistency (3.2.3 / 3.2.4 / 3.2.6): navigation, naming and help are consistent across pages.
• Error identification and suggestion (3.3.1 / 3.3.3): errors are named in text and accompanied by a correction hint.
• Labels and instructions (3.3.2): every form field has a visible, associated label.
• Redundant entry (3.3.7): information already captured is not requested again unnecessarily.
• Accessible authentication (3.3.8): no cognitive test as the only login hurdle; password managers and paste are allowed.

4. Robust

• Name, role, value (4.1.2): controls are recognisable to assistive technology as what they are — especially for custom (ARIA) components.
• Status messages (4.1.3): dynamic messages (e.g. “added to cart”) are announced to screen readers without stealing focus (aria-live).

What this checklist does not replace

This list is orientation, not a full audit. Automated tests reliably cover only part of it (such as contrast or missing alt attributes). Whether an alt text fits in substance, whether the reading order makes sense, or whether a checkout works end to end with the keyboard cannot be decided by machine alone — that needs human review. What a defensible audit covers and what it costs is in “What does an accessibility audit cost?”.

Why these criteria are binding at all is set out by “EAA and EN 301 549 explained”. Where in a shop most of these points break at once is shown by “Accessible checkout: 7 common mistakes”.