Somebody has handed you a requirement in four words: “meet WCAG 2.2 AA.” It might be a line in a vendor contract, a note from your lawyer, a demand letter, or a grant application. You run a business, not a web team, and the standard itself is long, technical and written for people who build browsers.
This guide translates that requirement into what it asks of an ordinary business website. We group the requirements by what you would actually notice on your own pages, explain what changed in version 2.2, and point you to narrower guides for each topic. If you first want the background on who writes WCAG and how it is organized, read our plain introduction to the WCAG standard and come back.
What “AA conformance” means on a real site
WCAG is a list of success criteria. Each one is a testable statement, and each is assigned a level: A, AA or AAA. Saying a page conforms at Level AA means it passes every Level A criterion and every Level AA criterion that applies to it. There is no partial credit inside a criterion.
That definition has three consequences that catch owners out:
- It is judged page by page, and whole pages count. The cookie banner, the chat bubble, the footer and the embedded booking widget are all part of the page. “That part comes from a plugin” is an explanation, not an exemption.
- Processes count as a whole. If a visitor has to go through five steps to book an appointment or pay for an order, every step has to meet the requirements. A beautiful product page with a checkout that traps the keyboard still fails the task.
- It is not a score. Scanner tools give percentages and grades. WCAG does not. A criterion either passes or fails, and many of them can only be judged by a person.
So when someone asks whether your site “is” AA, the honest answer is usually a list: these templates pass, these criteria fail on these pages, and here is the plan for each. That list is what an audit produces and what remediation works through.
The WCAG 2.2 AA requirements, grouped by what you see
The official document is ordered by principle and guideline. Owners find it easier to think in terms of what they can try themselves, so below the criteria an ordinary business site trips over most often are grouped that way. This is not the full list; the complete text lives in the WCAG 2.2 specification at the W3C.
Images, video and audio
Anything that carries meaning without words needs a text version. 1.1.1 Non-text Content covers images, icons, charts and image buttons. A photo of your team needs a short description; a decorative swirl should be hidden from screen readers with an empty alt attribute; a magnifying glass icon that opens search needs a name like “Search.”
For video, 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) asks for captions on prerecorded video with sound. Auto-generated captions need a human edit before they count. Audio-only content such as a podcast episode needs a transcript.
Color, contrast and reading
1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) sets 4.5:1 for normal text against its background and 3:1 for large text. Pale gray paragraphs, white lettering on a light brand shade, and words placed over photos are the usual failures. 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast applies a 3:1 minimum to the visual parts of controls and meaningful graphics: the border of a form field, the outline of an icon button, the slices of a chart.
Then the reading criteria. 1.4.4 Resize Text means text can be enlarged to 200 percent without losing content or function. 1.4.10 Reflow means content still works at a width of 320 CSS pixels without scrolling sideways, which is roughly what happens when someone zooms a desktop browser to 400 percent. 1.4.12 Text Spacing means nothing breaks or gets cut off when a reader’s own settings increase line height, letter spacing and word spacing. Fixed-height boxes and buttons are the usual culprits.
Keyboard, focus and pointer
This is where most WordPress sites have their biggest problems. 2.1.1 Keyboard requires that everything you can do with a mouse can be done with a keyboard: menus, dropdowns, sliders, tabs, popups, date pickers, the add to cart button. 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap means focus never gets stuck inside something with no way out.
2.4.3 Focus Order asks that focus moves in an order that makes sense. 2.4.7 Focus Visible asks that the keyboard position is never invisible. 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum), one of the 2.2 additions, says that the focused item must not be entirely hidden by things like a sticky header, a cookie bar or a chat widget.
For mouse and touch users, 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum), also new, sets a minimum of 24 by 24 CSS pixels for click and tap targets, with exceptions such as enough spacing around a smaller target or links inside a sentence. 2.5.7 Dragging Movements, new as well, means anything done by dragging, such as a price range slider or a reorderable list, also has a way to do it with single clicks or taps.
One more in this group: 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide. Carousels that rotate on their own, scrolling news tickers and animated banners that run longer than a few seconds need a way to pause or stop them.
Structure, headings and links
1.3.1 Info and Relationships is the criterion that makes visual structure available to software. Headings must be real headings, lists real lists, data tables real tables with header cells, and form labels tied to their fields in code. A line of large bold text that only looks like a heading does not count.
2.4.6 Headings and Labels asks that headings and labels describe their topic or purpose. 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) asks that each link’s purpose is clear from its text or its surrounding context, which is where rows of “Read more” links get into trouble. 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks asks for a way to skip repeated content, usually a “Skip to content” link or proper landmark regions. 3.1.1 Language of Page asks that the page declares its language, which WordPress normally handles if the site language setting is correct.
Forms, errors and logging in
3.3.2 Labels or Instructions requires that fields tell people what to enter. Placeholder text that vanishes on typing is a weak substitute. 3.3.1 Error Identification means that when a field is wrong, the error is described in text, not shown only as a red border.
Version 2.2 adds three in this area. 3.3.7 Redundant Entry (Level A) means people are not asked to type the same information twice in one process unless there is a good reason, for example by offering “same as billing address.” 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum) (Level AA) means logging in does not depend on a memory or puzzle test unless there is an alternative; allowing password managers and paste usually covers it. 3.2.6 Consistent Help (Level A) means that if you offer help, such as a phone number, contact link or chat, it sits in the same relative place across pages.
What happens under the hood
4.1.2 Name, Role, Value means every control exposes what it is, what it is called and what state it is in. A custom toggle built from a plain div, an icon button with no text, or an accordion that never says whether it is open all fail here. Someone using a screen reader is left guessing what each control does.
4.1.3 Status Messages means messages that appear without a page load, like “Added to cart,” “3 results found” or “Message sent,” are announced to screen reader users without moving their focus.
What changed between 2.1 and 2.2
The W3C finalized version 2.2 in October 2023. Compared with 2.1 there are nine extra success criteria, and one old criterion, 4.1.1 Parsing, is gone, since browsers and assistive technology now cope with the markup slips it used to catch.
Six of the additions sit at Level A or AA, so they belong to an AA target: Focus Not Obscured (Minimum), Dragging Movements, Target Size (Minimum), Consistent Help, Redundant Entry and Accessible Authentication (Minimum), all described above. The other three are at Level AAA: a stricter version of focus not obscured, a criterion about how visible and large the focus indicator itself is, and a stricter version of the login requirement.
The new criteria lean toward people with low vision, motor disabilities and cognitive disabilities, and toward mobile use. On a typical WordPress site they mostly show up as sticky headers covering focus, tiny social icons and pagination numbers, sliders that only work by dragging, and login or checkout forms that block paste. Our breakdown of what is new in WCAG 2.2 compared with 2.1 covers each one on its own.
Should you aim for 2.1 or 2.2? The versions are built to stack, so a site that meets WCAG 2.2 AA also satisfies what is left of 2.1 AA. Some rules and contracts still name 2.1, including the DOJ’s 2024 rule for state and local governments. Targeting 2.2 covers both, and for many sites the extra work is modest.
Where business sites usually fail first
If you only have an hour, this is the order we would look in, because these issues are common on WordPress sites:
- Keyboard access to the menu. Put the mouse aside, start tabbing on your home page, and try to open a dropdown. Many themes only open submenus on hover.
- Visible focus. While you tab, watch for the outline. If it disappears, the theme probably removed it in CSS. Our guide to visible focus indicators explains what good focus styling looks like.
- Forms. Click on each label and see whether the cursor jumps into its field. Submit the form empty and see whether the errors are in text and make sense.
- Contrast. Check body text, button text, link colors and placeholder text. The detail is in our post on color contrast ratios and how to fix brand colors.
- Headings. Look at the heading outline with a browser extension. Page builders often produce headings chosen for their size rather than their level; see how to set up a logical heading structure.
- Images and link text. Missing alt text on meaningful images, file names used as alt text, and repeated “Learn more” links.
- Zoom. Zoom the browser to 400 percent on a desktop and see whether the page becomes one readable column or starts scrolling sideways. Our guide to reflow and text resizing walks through it.
None of this replaces an audit, and passing these checks does not mean the site conforms. It tells you how much work is likely ahead. For a broader owner-level list, our small business accessibility checklist is a good companion.
How WCAG 2.2 AA work is usually done
A sensible project has three phases. First an audit: an automated scan across the main templates, then a person working through each AA criterion with the keyboard, NVDA or VoiceOver, browser zoom and a contrast checker. Automated tools find only part of the problems. They cannot tell whether alt text is accurate, whether focus order makes sense, or whether an error message is announced.
Second, remediation. Fixes go into the theme, plugin settings or replacements, and the content. Template fixes matter most, because fixing the product template once fixes every product page. Each fix is retested.
Third, keeping it there. Plugin updates, new pages, new blog images and a new popup from the marketing team can each undo work quietly. A short monthly check catches that before a customer does.
Be careful with anything sold as a one-line fix. Overlay widgets and toolbars that claim to make a site conform automatically do not change the underlying theme and plugin code, and disability advocates have criticized them widely. If you want to understand how this fits with the law, our broader page on website accessibility services covers the US context in brief. We are not lawyers, and if you have received a demand letter, a lawyer should handle that side.
The rest of this WCAG series
Each guide in this group takes one part of the standard and goes deeper:
- What Levels A, AA and AAA mean, and why AAA everywhere is not expected.
- The 24 pixel target size rule and its exceptions, applied to icons, social links and pagination.
- Writing link text that makes sense out of context, including PDFs and links that open new tabs.
Frequently asked questions
How many success criteria does Level AA in version 2.2 involve?
Counting both levels, 55: 31 at Level A and 24 at Level AA. You need every one that applies to your content, and some will not apply; a site with no video has no captions to check. The useful exercise is to go through each criterion against your real templates and processes and record a pass, a fail or not applicable.
Who decides whether my site meets AA?
Nobody issues an official AA certificate. The W3C publishes the standard but does not certify websites. In practice the site owner makes any conformance claim, ideally backed by a dated audit that records how each criterion was tested, and anyone can check that claim by testing the pages themselves.
Does Level AA apply to the mobile version of my site too?
Yes. There is no separate mobile edition of WCAG for websites; the same criteria apply whatever device someone uses. Several of them matter most on phones, such as reflow at 320 CSS pixels, target size and orientation, so test your templates on a narrow screen as well as on a desktop.
Can a WordPress plugin make my site meet AA?
No single plugin can. Checker plugins help you find issues, and some theme and form plugins produce better markup than others. But many criteria depend on your content, your theme’s code and how components behave with a keyboard and screen reader, which needs a person to test and fix.
Do PDFs and documents on my site need to meet AA too?
If they are part of your site’s content, they should be accessible, and WCAG is commonly applied to them as well. Menus, price lists and forms published only as PDFs are a frequent problem. Often the simplest fix is to turn important documents into normal web pages.
If you would like a clear picture of where your own site stands against each AA criterion, with the evidence and a fix order, our WCAG audit service is set up for exactly that. Read the guides above first if you prefer; most of them are useful on their own.
All guides in this section
- WCAG 2.2 vs 2.1: What Changed and Which to Target
- WCAG Levels A, AA and AAA: What Each One Means
- The POUR Principles of WCAG, With Everyday Examples
- WCAG Color Contrast: Ratios, Tools and Brand Fixes
- WCAG Focus Indicator: Visible Focus That Works
- WCAG Target Size: The 24 by 24 Pixel Rule in Plain Words
- Skip Link Accessibility: Test and Fix Skip to Content
- ARIA Labels Explained: When They Help and When They Hurt
- Heading Structure for Accessibility: Get the Levels Right
- Descriptive Link Text: Fixing Read More and Click Here
- WCAG Reflow and Resize Text: Testing With Browser Zoom
Next in this series: WCAG 2.2 vs 2.1: What Changed and Which to Target
