WCAG 2.1 Guidelines Explained

A history lesson: where did the website accessibility guidelines come from and what’s in them?

• 1995: The first web accessibility guidelines were compiled by Gregg Vanderheiden shortly after the 1995 Chicago WWW II Conference.
• 1998: University of Wisconsin–Madison compiled the Unified Web Site Accessibility Guidelines.
• 1999: they formed the basis for WCAG 1.0.

WCAG 1.0. were focused on HTML and web pages.

• 14 guidelines.
• 65 checkpoints.
• Each with a priority level: A, AA. AAA.

A Compliance: the guidelines must be satisfied otherwise it will be impossible for one or more groups to access the Web content.

AA Compliance: should be satisfied, otherwise some groups will find it difficult to access the Web content.

AAA Compliance: may be satisfied: to make it easier for some groups to access the Web content.

14 WCAG 1 Guidelines

• Guideline 1: Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content.
• Guideline 2: Don’t rely on colour alone.
• Guideline 3: Use markup and style sheets, and do so properly.
• Guideline 4: Clarify natural language usage.
• Guideline 5: Create tables that transform gracefully.
• Guideline 6: Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully.
• Guideline 7: Ensure user control of time-sensitive content changes.
• Guideline 8: Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces.
• Guideline 9: Design for device independence.
• Guideline 10: Use interim solutions.
• Guideline 11: Use W3C technologies and guidelines.
• Guideline 12: Provide context and orientation information.
• Guideline 13: Provide clear navigation mechanisms.
• Guideline 14: Ensure that documents are clear and simple.

WCAG 2 – Published 2008

Not just websites, but also PDF, Google Docs, Spreadsheets, e-Books… and other ‘digital assets’.

WCAG 2.1 – Published 2018

• WCAG 2.1 does not deprecate or supersede WCAG 2.0.
• The differences between WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 are mostly related to the use of tablets and mobile devices.
• They are designed to make content more accessible to a wider range of people, including accommodations for blindness and low vision.

WCAG 2.1 Based on 4 Principles

• Perceivable.
• Operable.
• Understandable.
• Robust

What principles?

• Perceivable?
• Operable?
• Understandable?
• Robust?

What do the principles mean?

Perceivable

WCAG speak: information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.

Jim speak: the site visitor must be able to recognise that the content exists. For example, by being able to see it, hear it or touch it.

Operable

• WCAG speak: user interface components and navigation must be operable.
• Jim speak: the site visitor must be able to navigate around the site and use the features and functions presented.

Understandable

• WCAG speak: information and the operation of user interfaces must be understandable.
• Jim speak: not only should visitors be able to recognise the existence of the content and be able to interact with it, but they must also be able to understand it.

Robust

• WCAG speak: content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.
• Jim speak: it must be possible to access the content using everything from a text-only web browser to the latest Firefox browser. And everything in between, including screen readers and all the different brands and versions of browsers now available.

Each Principle Has A Set Of Guidelines

1. Perceivable: the guidelines relate to:

• Text alternatives for non-text content.
• Captions and other alternatives for multimedia.
• Content can be presented in different ways, including by assistive technologies, without losing meaning.

Operable: the guideline Relate To:

• Ensuring functionality is available for keyboard users.
• Giving users enough time to read and use content.
• Avoiding content that causes seizures or physical reactions.
• Help users navigate and find content.
• Making it easier to use inputs other than by keyboard.

Understandable: the guideline Relate To:

• Make text readable and understandable.
• Make content appear and operate in predictable ways.
• Help users avoid and correct mistakes.

Robust: the guideline Relate To:

• Maximising compatibility with current and future user tools.
• For example, by using valid code.

For Each Principle

There are guidelines – these are the basic goals that authors should work toward in order to make content more accessible.

And For Each Guideline

Ther are ‘testable success criteria’.

• Three levels of conformance are defined as: A (lowest), AA, and AAA (highest).
• Techniques and examples are provided for meeting those criteria.

Mobile Platforms

• All ‘success criteria’ apply to mobile platforms as well as desktop platforms.
• However, the techniques sections does not yet fully cover mobile techniques.

Jim Byrne