Web accessibility standards

WCAG 2.1 AA Compliance Checklist

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA is the standard referenced by the European Accessibility Act. Here's your complete compliance checklist.

Visual perception and accessibility

1. Perceivable

Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.

  1. All images have descriptive alt text (1.1.1)
  2. Video content has captions (1.2.2)
  3. Audio content has transcripts (1.2.1)
  4. Content structure uses semantic HTML (1.3.1)
  5. Color is not the only way to convey information (1.4.1)
  6. Text has minimum 4.5:1 contrast ratio (1.4.3)
  7. Text can be resized to 200% without loss (1.4.4)
  8. No images of text (1.4.5)
Keyboard and input accessibility

2. Operable

User interface components and navigation must be operable.

  1. All functionality accessible via keyboard (2.1.1)
  2. No keyboard traps (2.1.2)
  3. Users can adjust time limits (2.2.1)
  4. No auto-playing content over 5 seconds (2.2.2)
  5. No content that flashes more than 3 times/sec (2.3.1)
  6. Skip navigation link provided (2.4.1)
  7. Pages have descriptive titles (2.4.2)
  8. Focus order is logical (2.4.3)
  9. Link purpose is clear from text (2.4.4)
  10. Multiple ways to find pages (2.4.5)
  11. Headings and labels are descriptive (2.4.6)
  12. Focus is visible (2.4.7)
Understandable content design

3. Understandable

Information and operation of user interface must be understandable.

  1. Page language is specified (3.1.1)
  2. Language of parts is identified (3.1.2)
  3. Focus does not trigger unexpected changes (3.2.1)
  4. Input does not trigger unexpected changes (3.2.2)
  5. Consistent navigation across pages (3.2.3)
  6. Consistent identification of elements (3.2.4)
  7. Input errors are clearly identified (3.3.1)
  8. Labels or instructions for input (3.3.2)
  9. Error suggestions provided (3.3.3)
  10. Error prevention for legal/financial data (3.3.4)
Robust technology compatibility

4. Robust

Content must be robust enough to be interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

  1. Valid HTML parsing (4.1.1)
  2. Name, role, value for all UI components (4.1.2)
  3. Status messages available to assistive tech (4.1.3)

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