WCAG
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: the international standard, published by the W3C, for making websites usable by people with disabilities.
WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, is the standard most web accessibility work follows. It’s published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The current version is WCAG 2.2, and the W3C’s WCAG overview explains it in plainer terms.
WCAG is organized around four principles: content should be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. Each guideline has success criteria at three levels: A (minimum), AA (the level most organizations aim for) and AAA (highest).
Why it matters to a small business
Accessible websites work for more people: those who are blind or have low vision, are deaf or hard of hearing, have motor or cognitive disabilities, or are simply using a phone in bright sun. Many accessibility improvements, like clear forms and good contrast, help every visitor and can improve conversions.
There’s also a legal side. In the US, the Department of Justice explains how the ADA applies to websites in its web accessibility guidance. This isn’t legal advice; talk to a lawyer about your specific obligations.
Common issues WCAG covers:
- Missing alt text on images.
- Low color contrast.
- Forms without labels.
- Menus that don’t work with a keyboard.
- Videos without captions.
Example
A credit union reviews its site against WCAG 2.2 AA. It finds unlabeled form fields, low-contrast buttons and a menu that can’t be opened with a keyboard. Fixing these in the theme and forms makes the site easier for everyone to use.
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