WCAG 2.2: Overview and Key Questions

Summary

WCAG, or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, is the globally recognized framework for making web content accessible to all users. It is maintained by the W3C and continues to evolve (e.g., WCAG 2.2) to reflect changing technologies and broader user accessibility needs.

Overview

WCAG stands for "Web Content Accessibility Guidelines".

WCAG is the international standard for web accessibility, developed by the (World Wide Web Consortium) W3C, the internet standard organization that is also responsible for HTML and CSS standards. Siteimprove is a member of the W3C and actively participates in the standardization efforts within the area of digital accessibility.

What is WCAG 2.2?

In April 2023, W3C is expected to release nine new success criteria to WCAG, thereby introducing WCAG 2.2.

The success criteria for 2.1 will be backwards compatible with WCAG 2.2 with two exceptions:

• Success Criteria 2.4.7 Focus Visible changes from Level AA in WCAG 2.1 to Level A in WCAG 2.2.
• The Success Criteria 4.1.1 Parsing will become obsolete and removed from WCAG 2.2. More information about the removal of the criteria for Parsing can be found in the WCAG 2 FAQ.

Why was WCAG 2.2 released?

WCAG 2.0 was released in 2008, and WCAG 2.1 was published in 2018. Both technology itself and website usage have changed a lot since the introduction of the last version, and there’s a greater demand for optimal accessibility. For this reason, the standard for web accessibility needs to evolve.

The new criteria are expanding coverage for user groups that were not recognized in the earlier versions of WCAG. As additional research and information about user needs are now available, updates are needed. These updates include criteria addressing keyboard, mouse, and mouse emulator users and cognition criteria.

Examples of use cases

Keyboard

“I can’t see where I am on the screen?”
“It takes a long time to re-type my information.”

Mouse and mouse emulators

“I don’t have the dexterity to drag things.”
“It is very hard to hit small buttons.”

Cognition

“I can’t get past the sign-in step.”
“Suddenly I can’t find where to get support.”