Lesson 8Web accessibility principles and standards
- Notion 51 - It all starts with WCAG (The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
- Notion 52 - The 1st WCAG principle: Perceivable
- Notion 53 - The 2nd WCAG principle: Operable
- Notion 54 - The 3rd WCAG principle: Understandable
- Notion 55 - The 4th WCAG principle: Robust
- Notion 56 - Understanding the three levels of web accessibility conformance (A, AA, AAA)
- Notion 57 - Can you assess how well a webpage complies with WCAG conformance levels?
- Notion 58 - Using web accessibility principles and standards for social media
- Notion 59 - Review of the main concepts
Notion 51
It all starts with WCAG (The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)
Target skills
Even though web accessibility is a relatively new phenomenon, its monitoring and proper implementation has become a priority for accessibility experts of the World Wide Web. As a result, efforts have been made to create a uniform set of standards that serve as guidelines for making digital content accessible to all. These guidelines are called the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, for short.
Watch the short video below to discover the scope, history and importance of WCAG.
It all starts with WCAG: What are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines? (1:30)
Video transcript:
It all starts with WCAG: What are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines?
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WCAG are technical specifications on how to improve the accessibility of web content for users with disabilities, such as: hearing, visual, cognitive, physical.
They were created by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).
“The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect.”-Tim Berners-Lee, Director of the W3C
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3 versions of WCAG with corresponding guidelines on what constitutes digital compliance:
- WCAG 1.0-1999
14 guidelines
3 conformance levels (A, AA, AAA)
- WCAG 2.0-2008
12 guidelines within 4 P.O.U.R principles and 61 success criteria
3 conformance levels (A, AA, AAA)
- WCAG 2.1-2018
13 guidelines within 4 P.O.U.R principles and 78 success criteria
3 conformance levels (A, AA, AAA)
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The standard used today is WCAG 2.1. It is made up of:
- 4 principles:
Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust
- 3 conformance levels:
A, AA, AAA
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2021: Most common accessibility failures (in % of home pages)
- Low contrast
- Missing alternative text
- Missing form input labels
- Empty links
- Missing document language
- Empty buttons
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How is WCAG relevant for Europe?
WCAG has been enshrined in the legally binding EU Web Accessibility Directive since 2016. The directive requires that all public sector websites and applications in the EU must abide by WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
Private companies are affected, too: those that provide products or services to governmental sites will need to ensure that their accessibility standards measure up.
Therefore, WCAG has become the standard for establishing uniform rules for online accessibility in the EU.