WCAG 2.2 explained for business owners, with a checklist

WCAG 2.2 is the W3C's standard for making websites usable by people with disabilities, and its level AA is what courts and regulators measure sites against. It has 55 success criteria at levels A and AA, six of them new in 2.2, covering things like focus that stays visible and buttons big enough to tap.

Written by the nextwebsite.co team, and last checked on November 7, 2026.

What WCAG is

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the W3C's standard for making websites usable by people with disabilities: people who are blind and use a screen reader, who can't use a mouse, who have low vision, or who find complex pages hard to follow. Version 2.2 became a W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023¹.

The guidelines are organised under four principles. Content has to be perceivable (it can be seen or heard in some form), operable (it works with a keyboard, not just a mouse), understandable (labels, errors and language are clear) and robust (it works with assistive technology).

The three levels, and why AA matters

Each requirement, called a success criterion, has a level: A, AA or AAA. Level A is the minimum; AA adds the requirements most people need; AAA is the strictest, and the W3C doesn't recommend requiring it for whole sites¹. Level AA is the one courts and settlements measure websites against⁴.

WCAG 2.2 has 55 success criteria at levels A and AA¹. Content that meets 2.2 also meets 2.1 and 2.0, so meeting the newest version covers you for any rule that cites an older one².

What's new in 2.2

Version 2.2 added nine success criteria, six of them at A or AA, and removed one, 4.1.1 Parsing, as obsolete². The six that matter for most sites:

Focus not obscured (AA). When someone tabs to a link, it mustn't be hidden under a sticky header or a cookie banner.
Dragging movements (AA). Anything you can drag, like a slider or a map, also works with a single tap or click.
Target size (AA). Buttons and links are at least 24 by 24 pixels, or spaced so they can't be mistaken for each other.
Consistent help (A). Contact details or a help link appear in the same place on every page.
Redundant entry (A). A form doesn't make people type the same information twice.
Accessible authentication (AA). Signing in doesn't depend on memorising or solving a puzzle. Allow pasting and password managers.

What a machine can check, and what it can't

Automated tools find about 57% of accessibility issues by volume³. They're good at missing labels, low contrast and missing image descriptions. They can't tell whether an image description is accurate, whether the page makes sense read aloud, or whether a booking form can be completed with a keyboard. That needs a person.

Why it matters for a business

More than 5,000 digital accessibility lawsuits were filed in US courts in 2025, and 45% of federal cases named businesses that had been sued before⁴. Meeting WCAG 2.2 AA is the clearest answer to a demand letter, and it makes the site easier for everyone to use.

Checklist

Every image that carries meaning has a text description; decorative ones are marked as such.
Every form field has a visible label, and errors say what went wrong and how to fix it.
Text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background, or 3:1 for large text.
Everything works with a keyboard alone, and the focused item is always visible, never hidden under a sticky header.
Tap targets are at least 24 by 24 pixels, or spaced so they can't be mistaken for each other.
Pages can be zoomed to 200% and read on a 320-pixel-wide screen without scrolling sideways.
Help, such as your phone number or contact link, sits in the same place on every page.
Sign-in doesn't depend on memory or puzzles: allow pasting and password managers.

Check your own site

The free scan checks your pages for the accessibility problems a machine can find, and marks the checks that need a person. It takes under a minute.

Or run just this check: the accessibility checker.