Web Content Accessibility Guidelines—the international technical standard defining how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities. Provides testable success criteria organized by level (A, AA, AAA).
Definition: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines—the international technical standard defining how to make web content accessible to people with disabilities. Provides testable success criteria organized by level (A, AA, AAA).
WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is the primary international standard for web accessibility, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
WCAG provides a shared language that allows researchers to translate a user's struggle into a precise, actionable instruction for an engineer.
Example translation:
WCAG defines three levels of conformance:
| Level | Description |
|---|---|
| A | Minimum accessibility; addresses the most critical barriers |
| AA | Addresses major barriers; the most common legal requirement |
| AAA | Highest level; not always achievable for all content |
WCAG is organized around four principles—content must be:
While observing a real person interact with your product is irreplaceable, your findings become infinitely more powerful when connected to WCAG success criteria.
The practice of designing products usable by as many people as possible, including those with permanent, temporary, or situational disabilities. Often abbreviated as a11y.
Per ISO 9241-11: the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction in a specified context of use.
This term is referenced in the following articles: