Kris’s WCAG Checklists are 100% free to download with no email subscription required.
Written in plain English, Kris Rivenburgh explains the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) in easy to understand terms, with examples and illustrations to help readers learn each WCAG success criterion.
Kris provides two PDF documents for learning WCAG: a checklist and a full guide.
The checklist PDFs contain quick summaries for each WCAG success criterion. The guides greatly expand upon the checklists to provide fuller, more detailed explanations.
WCAG 2.1 AA
WCAG 2.2 AA
Each PDF contains important disclaimers, copyright, and attribution information.
You can make learning WCAG even easier and faster by taking the on-demand course from Kris.
WCAG Course
The WCAG Course makes learning the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines more convenient. The WCAG Course includes:
- Video and text lessons
- Plain English explanations
- Curated resources
- Sortable Excel spreadsheet checklist
- Follow your progress
- Certificate upon course completion
Everything you need to learn WCAG is inside the course.
Sign up today at WCAGCourse.com.
Share
Kris’s WCAG checklists and guides are 100% free resources with no subscription required. If you find these documents helpful, we encourage you to share the link to this page (https://accessible.org/wcag) so more people can find out about these resources.
What is WCAG?
WCAG stands for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These guidelines are technical standards for web accessibility that bring about consistency and uniformity on how we make web content accessible.
There are multiple versions and conformance levels of WCAG. The versions are:
- 1.0
- 2.0
- 2.1
- 2.2
Think of 2.0 as the classic standard. It was released in 2008. 2.0 establishes a solid baseline for accessibility.
2.1 was released in 2018 and added additional considerations for the increase in mobile device usage.
2.2 is now the current version and was only just released in October 2023.
No matter which version, each is comprised of different success criteria or requirements for conformance that are categorized under different conformance levels.
The conformance levels are:
- A
- AA
- AA
Level A criteria lay the essential foundation for accessible content. Level AA criteria are also extremely important and build upon the Level A foundation. Level AAA criteria adhere to the most rigorous standards, offering the highest level of accessibility.
WCAG is frequently cited around the world and while WCAG is never the law, it has been incorporated into several laws including Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and the European Accessibility Act.
WCAG is also commonly referenced in website accessibility litigation centered around the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Success Criteria
Think of success criteria as things you can do to improve accessibility. Many people are familiar with accessibility considerations such as:
- alternative text
- form field labels
- keyboard navigability
- color contrast
- zoom
- skip link
- page regions
And many more.
These considerations are a part of the fabric of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Some are essentially success criteria themselves while others may be considered sufficient techniques for conformance or advisory techniques that enhance or optimize accessibility.
Digital Accessibility
Although WCAG is specifically for web assets (they are literally the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), the principles and concepts that comprise WCAG apply to all digital assets including mobile apps, software, virtual applications, platforms, and more.
Live WCAG Training and Workshops
If you have a question about WCAG, would like to set up a live training presentation or workshop for your organization, feel free to contact us. We’d love to help your digital team learn about the fundamentals of accessibility.