WCAG 2.2 Checklist: All 86 Success Criteria Explained

This checklist covers every success criterion in WCAG 2.2, organized by the four POUR principles and thirteen guidelines. Each criterion includes its conformance level, a practical explanation, and guidance on what it means in practice.

Principle 1: Perceivable

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

Guideline 1.1: Text Alternatives

1.1.1 Non-text Content (Level A) — All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose. This includes images, icons, charts, audio, video, animations, CAPTCHA, and decorative elements. Informative images need descriptive alt text. Functional images need alt text describing the function. Decorative images need empty alt text. Complex images need detailed text descriptions.

Guideline 1.2: Time-based Media

1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only – Prerecorded (Level A) — Provide a transcript for prerecorded audio-only content and either a transcript or audio description for prerecorded video-only content.

1.2.2 Captions – Prerecorded (Level A) — Provide synchronized captions for all prerecorded video with audio content.

1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative – Prerecorded (Level A) — Provide an audio description or full text alternative for prerecorded video content.

1.2.4 Captions – Live (Level AA) — Provide real-time captions for all live audio in video content.

1.2.5 Audio Description – Prerecorded (Level AA) — Provide audio descriptions for all prerecorded video content where important visual information is not already conveyed in the audio.

Guideline 1.3: Adaptable

1.3.1 Info and Relationships (Level A) — Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation are programmatically determinable or available in text. Use proper heading markup, list markup, table markup, form labels, and landmarks to convey the structure that is visually apparent.

1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence (Level A) — When the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, a correct reading sequence can be programmatically determined. The DOM order should match the visual order.

1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics (Level A) — Instructions for understanding and operating content do not rely solely on sensory characteristics such as shape, color, size, visual location, orientation, or sound.

1.3.4 Orientation (Level AA) — Content does not restrict its view and operation to a single display orientation unless a specific orientation is essential.

1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose (Level AA) — The purpose of form input fields collecting user information can be programmatically determined using the autocomplete attribute.

Guideline 1.4: Distinguishable

1.4.1 Use of Color (Level A) — Color is not used as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.

1.4.2 Audio Control (Level A) — If audio plays automatically for more than three seconds, provide a mechanism to pause, stop, or control the volume independently.

1.4.3 Contrast – Minimum (Level AA) — Text and images of text have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1, except for large text (3:1), incidental text, and logotypes.

1.4.4 Resize Text (Level AA) — Text can be resized up to 200% without loss of content or functionality.

1.4.5 Images of Text (Level AA) — Text is used to convey information rather than images of text, except where a particular visual presentation is essential.

1.4.10 Reflow (Level AA) — Content can be presented without loss of information or functionality and without requiring scrolling in two dimensions at 320 CSS pixels width for vertical content and 256 CSS pixels height for horizontal content.

1.4.11 Non-text Contrast (Level AA) — User interface components and meaningful graphical objects have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 against adjacent colors.

1.4.12 Text Spacing (Level AA) — No loss of content or functionality occurs when users adjust line height to 1.5x font size, paragraph spacing to 2x font size, letter spacing to 0.12x font size, and word spacing to 0.16x font size.

1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus (Level AA) — Where receiving and removing pointer hover or keyboard focus triggers additional content to appear and disappear, that content is dismissible, hoverable, and persistent.

Principle 2: Operable

User interface components and navigation must be operable.

Guideline 2.1: Keyboard Accessible

2.1.1 Keyboard (Level A) — All functionality is operable through a keyboard interface without requiring specific timings.

2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap (Level A) — If keyboard focus can be moved to a component, focus can also be moved away using only a keyboard.

2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts (Level A) — If a keyboard shortcut uses only letter, punctuation, number, or symbol characters, the shortcut can be turned off, remapped, or activated only when the relevant component has focus.

Guideline 2.2: Enough Time

2.2.1 Timing Adjustable (Level A) — For any time limit set by content, the user can turn off, adjust, or extend the time limit.

2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide (Level A) — For moving, blinking, scrolling, or auto-updating content that starts automatically and lasts more than five seconds, users can pause, stop, or hide it.

Guideline 2.3: Seizures and Physical Reactions

2.3.1 Three Flashes or Below Threshold (Level A) — Nothing on the page flashes more than three times in any one-second period.

Guideline 2.4: Navigable

2.4.1 Bypass Blocks (Level A) — A mechanism is available to bypass repeated content blocks, such as skip navigation links.

2.4.2 Page Titled (Level A) — Web pages have titles that describe their topic or purpose.

2.4.3 Focus Order (Level A) — Focusable components receive focus in an order that preserves meaning and operability.

2.4.4 Link Purpose – In Context (Level A) — The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone or with its context.

2.4.5 Multiple Ways (Level AA) — More than one way is available to locate a page within a set of pages.

2.4.6 Headings and Labels (Level AA) — Headings and labels describe their topic or purpose.

2.4.7 Focus Visible (Level A) — Any keyboard operable user interface has a visible focus indicator.

2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured – Minimum (Level AA) — When a component receives keyboard focus, it is not entirely hidden by author-created content. (New in WCAG 2.2)

2.4.12 Focus Not Obscured – Enhanced (Level AAA) — When a component receives keyboard focus, no part of the focus indicator is hidden by author-created content. (New in WCAG 2.2)

2.4.13 Focus Appearance (Level AAA) — Focus indicators have sufficient size (at least a 2-pixel perimeter) and contrast (at least 3:1 between focused and unfocused states). (New in WCAG 2.2)

Guideline 2.5: Input Modalities

2.5.1 Pointer Gestures (Level A) — All functionality using multipoint or path-based gestures can be operated with a single pointer without a path-based gesture.

2.5.2 Pointer Cancellation (Level A) — For single pointer functionality, the action is triggered on the up-event and can be aborted or undone.

2.5.3 Label in Name (Level A) — For components with text labels, the accessible name contains the visually presented text.

2.5.4 Motion Actuation (Level A) — Functionality triggered by device or user motion can also be operated through a user interface component, and motion triggering can be disabled.

2.5.7 Dragging Movements (Level AA) — All functionality using dragging can also be achieved by a single pointer without dragging. (New in WCAG 2.2)

2.5.8 Target Size – Minimum (Level AA) — Interactive targets are at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with exceptions for inline targets, user-agent-controlled targets, and sufficiently spaced targets. (New in WCAG 2.2)

Principle 3: Understandable

Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable.

Guideline 3.1: Readable

3.1.1 Language of Page (Level A) — The default human language of each web page can be programmatically determined via the lang attribute.

3.1.2 Language of Parts (Level AA) — The human language of each passage or phrase can be programmatically determined, except for proper names and technical terms.

Guideline 3.2: Predictable

3.2.1 On Focus (Level A) — When any component receives focus, it does not initiate a change of context.

3.2.2 On Input (Level A) — Changing a component setting does not automatically cause a change of context unless the user has been advised beforehand.

3.2.3 Consistent Navigation (Level AA) — Navigation mechanisms repeated on multiple pages occur in the same relative order each time.

3.2.6 Consistent Help (Level A) — If help mechanisms appear on multiple pages, they occur in the same relative order. (New in WCAG 2.2)

Guideline 3.3: Input Assistance

3.3.1 Error Identification (Level A) — If an input error is automatically detected, the item in error is identified and the error is described in text.

3.3.2 Labels or Instructions (Level A) — Labels or instructions are provided when content requires user input.

3.3.3 Error Suggestion (Level AA) — If an input error is detected and suggestions are known, they are provided to the user.

3.3.4 Error Prevention – Legal, Financial, Data (Level AA) — For pages causing legal commitments, financial transactions, or data modifications, submissions are reversible, checked, or confirmable.

3.3.7 Redundant Entry (Level A) — Information previously entered in the same process is auto-populated or available for selection. (New in WCAG 2.2)

3.3.8 Accessible Authentication – Minimum (Level AA) — A cognitive function test is not required for authentication unless alternatives or assistance mechanisms are provided. Object recognition tests are permitted. (New in WCAG 2.2)

3.3.9 Accessible Authentication – Enhanced (Level AAA) — Same as 3.3.8 but without the object recognition exception. (New in WCAG 2.2)

Principle 4: Robust

Content must be robust enough to be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents.

Guideline 4.1: Compatible

4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A) — For all user interface components, the name and role can be programmatically determined, states and properties can be set, and changes are available to assistive technologies.

4.1.3 Status Messages (Level AA) — Status messages can be programmatically determined through role or properties so they are presented to the user by assistive technologies without receiving focus.

Note: SC 4.1.1 Parsing has been removed from WCAG 2.2 as obsolete.

Level AAA Criteria (Additional)

The following Level AAA criteria are not listed above but are part of WCAG 2.2. They represent the highest level of accessibility and are recommended where feasible:

1.2.6 Sign Language – Prerecorded (AAA) — Sign language interpretation is provided for all prerecorded audio content.

1.2.7 Extended Audio Description (AAA) — Extended audio descriptions are provided where pauses in the audio are insufficient for regular audio descriptions.

1.2.8 Media Alternative – Prerecorded (AAA) — A full text alternative is provided for all prerecorded synchronized media and video-only content.

1.2.9 Audio-only – Live (AAA) — A text alternative is provided for live audio-only content.

1.3.6 Identify Purpose (AAA) — The purpose of user interface components, icons, and regions can be programmatically determined.

1.4.6 Contrast – Enhanced (AAA) — Text has a contrast ratio of at least 7:1 for normal text and 4.5:1 for large text.

1.4.7 Low or No Background Audio (AAA) — Prerecorded audio-only content that contains primarily speech has low or no background noise.

1.4.8 Visual Presentation (AAA) — Text blocks offer visual customization including foreground/background colors, width, line spacing, and alignment.

1.4.9 Images of Text – No Exception (AAA) — Images of text are only used for pure decoration or where essential.

2.1.3 Keyboard – No Exception (AAA) — All functionality is operable through a keyboard with no exceptions.

2.2.3 No Timing (AAA) — Timing is not an essential part of the event or activity, except for real-time and synchronized media.

2.2.4 Interruptions (AAA) — Interruptions can be postponed or suppressed by the user.

2.2.5 Re-authenticating (AAA) — When an authenticated session expires, the user can continue after re-authentication without losing data.

2.2.6 Timeouts (AAA) — Users are warned of inactivity timeouts that could cause data loss unless data is preserved for at least 20 hours.

2.3.2 Three Flashes (AAA) — Nothing on the page flashes more than three times per second, with no exceptions.

2.3.3 Animation from Interactions (AAA) — Motion animation triggered by interaction can be disabled unless essential.

2.4.8 Location (AAA) — Information about the user's location within a set of pages is available (e.g., breadcrumbs).

2.4.9 Link Purpose – Link Only (AAA) — The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone.

2.4.10 Section Headings (AAA) — Section headings are used to organize content.

2.5.5 Target Size – Enhanced (AAA) — Interactive targets are at least 44 by 44 CSS pixels.

2.5.6 Concurrent Input Mechanisms (AAA) — Content does not restrict the use of input modalities available on the platform.

3.1.3 Unusual Words (AAA) — A mechanism is available for identifying specific definitions of words or phrases used in an unusual way.

3.1.4 Abbreviations (AAA) — A mechanism for identifying the expanded form of abbreviations is available.

3.1.5 Reading Level (AAA) — When text requires more advanced reading ability than lower secondary education level, supplemental content or an alternative version is available.

3.1.6 Pronunciation (AAA) — A mechanism is available for identifying the pronunciation of words where meaning is ambiguous without pronunciation.

3.2.4 Consistent Identification (AA) — Components with the same functionality within a set of pages are identified consistently.

3.2.5 Change on Request (AAA) — Changes of context are initiated only by user request or a mechanism to turn off such changes is available.

3.3.5 Help (AAA) — Context-sensitive help is available.

3.3.6 Error Prevention – All (AAA) — For all pages requiring user input, submissions are reversible, checked, or confirmable.