A prospective client recently asked about WCAG conformance level AA vs. AAA in reference to the European Accessibility Act (EAA). Because this question can potentially involve compliance with other laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), we wanted to answer this question for everyone.
Here’s the question:
We would like to understand both what is the minimum legal requirement (AA) and what is considered gold (AAA) standard for accessibility.
Here’s our answer (paraphased) — and this will apply beyond the EAA, but we implicated the EAA here because that was the context of the question:
The EAA doesn’t specify the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in the Directive. Rather, the Directive references the general principles in WCAG and provides a list of technical requirements in Annex I. Looking beyond the individual requirements, if your digital assets are WCAG 2.1 AA conformant, then you very likely are compliant with the technical requirements.
Because the EAA specifically did not incorporate or adopt any WCAG standard, I think the drafters wanted to get away from strict technical conformance (because it’s so easy for an issue to exist and that wouldn’t necessarily mean your asset is inaccessible).
There are three primary versions of WCAG:
- 2.0
- 2.1
- 2.2
Think of 2.0 as the classic standard. WCAG 2.0 AA contains 38 success criteria or requirements for conformance. 2.0 was published in 2008.
2.1 is a modern standard that adds 12 AA success criteria to 2.0 for a total of 50. 2.1 was published in 2018.
2.2 is the most recent standard that adds 6 AA success criteria to 2.1 for a total of 55 (the drafters made a previous success criterion obsolete in 2.2). 2.2 was published in 2023.
There are also three conformance levels:
- A
- AA
- AAA
I have only referenced AA because, for almost all scenarios, AA is the only relevant conformance level.
- A is comprised of absolutely essential success criteria for basic accessibility.
- AA provides for a comprehensive level of accessibility.
- AAA requires an extreme level of accessibility that, for some success criteria, can be practically difficult.
AAA is a gold standard in a sense, but AA conformance still provides for an excellent level of accessibility and is the standard referenced for legal compliance or as a best practice for compliance.
If you need help with accessibility and compliance, we’d love to help. Feel free to send us a message below or contact us.
