WCAG is an international set of standards created by the W3C to make digital content such as websites, mobile and web applications accessible to people with disabilities. The range of people includes users with visual, auditory, motor and cognitive impairments.
The internationally recognized and technically precise standards for digital accessibility are the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), specifically versions 2.0 and 2.1. These foundational guidelines provide a clear, structured, and referenceable framework for making web content accessible to individuals with a broad spectrum of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological impairments.
Meanwhile the most recent version of WCAG version 2.2 adds new success criteria focused on improving accessibility for users with cognitive and motor disability. That includes a clearer focus visibility, larger touch targets and simpler authentication. These guidelines apply to content across all devices and often improve general usability.
WCAG is structured around four core principles, summarized by the acronym POUR: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust. These principles define what makes digital content accessible to users with disabilities. Content accessibility quality is evaluated by how effectively it meets or surpasses WCAG expectations, with the goal of maximizing accessibility for the widest possible audience.
The POUR principles are the lens through which content accessibility quality should be evaluated. Success in meeting or exceeding the expectations set forth by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) is directly measured against how thoroughly a piece of content adheres to these four principles. The ultimate goal is to ensure that digital content is as accessible as possible to the broadest range of individuals, including those with disabilities.
Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. This means the content cannot be invisible to all their senses. For instance, providing text alternatives for non-text content (like image descriptions or captions for audio/video) ensures that users who cannot see or hear the original content can still access the information.
Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable. This ensures that users can successfully interact with the content and complete necessary actions. Examples include ensuring all functionality is available from a keyboard (not just a mouse) and giving users enough time to read and use the content.
Understandable: Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. Users must be able to comprehend the content and how to use the interface. This involves making text readable and predictable, and ensuring the interface is intuitive and consistent in its design and function.
Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This means that as technologies advance, the content should remain accessible, relying on well-formed markup and compatibility with various tools and platforms.
At the core of the WCAG framework are Success Criteria—a set of testable, definitive statements. These "must-do" items ensure consistent and verifiable conformance, allowing developers, designers, and auditors to objectively assess whether content meets the necessary accessibility standards.
These Success Criteria are systematically categorized into three distinct Levels of Conformance:
Level A (The Minimum): This is the most basic level of conformance. It addresses the most critical barriers to accessibility. Content must satisfy all Level A Success Criteria, otherwise, it would be impossible for some groups to access the information. Achieving this level is the absolute minimum requirement for accessibility.
Level AA (The Accepted Standard): This is the primary and most commonly targeted level of conformance for most organizations and accessibility laws worldwide. Level AA success criteria address the biggest and most common barriers for the majority of users with disabilities. Satisfying all Level A and Level AA criteria ensures that the content is accessible and usable by a much broader audience, dramatically improving the user experience for people with disabilities.
Level AAA (The Highest Standard): This level represents the highest standard of accessibility. The criteria at this level address highly specific needs and situations. While achieving Level AAA is highly desirable, it is generally not possible to satisfy all Level AAA Success Criteria for all content because some criteria may conflict with each other or with the nature of the content itself. This level often involves enhancements that go above and beyond what is typically mandated but provides the most robust access for all users.
These three levels ensure that the guidelines can be applied in different contexts, addressing the diverse needs of various user groups, specific technologies, and organizational capacity for implementation.
Every client is unique, which is why every project begins with an assessment of client needs. An audit shows us how your product functions and what testing you need to optimize its performance. Our accessibility testing team can then create specific scenarios that replicate the experiences of potential users who have disabilities.
Once testing is complete, we provide you with a thorough report that gives clients insightful and actionable information about how to address accessibility issues.
Our job is not complete until we have confirmed each issue is solved and we can sign off on the final project.
Our team developed a custom platform that allows us to streamline the testing process. Test Platform utilizes a comprehensive suite of test management tools that accelerate testing without losing performance quality.
We built Test Platform in accordance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 to ensure it is accessible to every tester at PLUS QA and every client who hires us. Our intuitive design allows every user, regardless of ability, to access bug tracking, test cases management, and other features.
To learn more about Test Platform’s accessibility features, you can read more on our development blog.
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