What is WCAG?

What is WCAG?

While the ADA doesn’t offer set guidelines for website compliance, many organizations follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This isn’t a legal requirement, rather a reference point for organizations looking to improve their digital accessibility.

There are three versions of WCAG: 1.0, 2.0 and 2.1. Version 2.0 replaced version 1.0, while 2.1 exists as an extension of 2.0. There are also three levels of conformance: A (bare minimum level of accessibility), AA (target level of accessibility meeting legal requirements) and AAA (exceeds accessibility requirements).

The WCAG 2.1 guidelines ensure your web content is:

• Perceivable: Content is presented in an easily perceivable manner. Examples include offering alternatives to text, such as audio alternatives or assistive technology, that allow sight-impaired individuals to perceive your website’s content.
• Operable: Navigation is easy to operate. Examples include offering keyboard accessibilities so users with disabilities can easily navigate your website and access content.
• Understandable: Content is easy to understand. Examples include making content readable and predictable, and offering input assistance if needed.
• Robust: Your website’s content can be interpreted by various devices and platforms. For example, you want to ensure content is compatible with user agents like assistive technologies.

Meeting these standards improves the accessibility of your website to individuals with vision or hearing impairments, or those with cognitive, language, or learning disabilities. If you follow these guidelines to at least level AA, ADA compliance shouldn’t be an issue for your company.

Disclaimer: This post and the headline is my opinion. I provide facts throughout to inform that opinion. I am also not a lawyer and this post does not constitute legal advice.