The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, known as WCAG, are an international standard for making web content more accessible to people with disabilities.
WCAG 2.2 is the latest version of WCAG 2. It helps organisations understand how to remove digital barriers and create websites and content that more people can perceive, understand and use.
Accessibility isn't a one-time check. It needs to be considered as websites, products and content change.
WCAG 2.2 is a web accessibility standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C. Published in October 2023, it provides testable criteria for making web content more accessible to people with a wide range of disabilities.
WCAG is built around four principles. Accessible content should be:
People need to be able to perceive the information being presented. This includes providing text alternatives for images and making content easier to see and hear.
People need to be able to navigate and interact with the content. This includes supporting keyboard navigation and giving people enough time to use content.
Information and interactions should be clear and predictable. This includes helping people understand content, navigate consistently and avoid or correct mistakes.
Content should work reliably with different browsers, devices and assistive technologies.
Together, these principles are often known as POUR.
WCAG has three levels of conformance: A, AA and AAA.
Level A covers fundamental accessibility requirements.
Level AA includes additional requirements that address common barriers disabled people face when using digital content. This is the level commonly referenced by accessibility policies and legislation.
Level AAA includes further accessibility requirements. W3C doesn't recommend requiring Level AAA across an entire website as a general policy because it isn't possible to meet every AAA criterion for some types of content.
Organizations should check which WCAG version and conformance level apply to their particular legal, contractual or accessibility requirements.
WCAG 2.2 builds on WCAG 2.1 and adds nine success criteria.
Several of the new requirements address barriers that can affect people with cognitive, learning, attention, visual and physical disabilities.
These include:
WCAG 2.2 also removes Success Criterion 4.1.1, Parsing, which W3C
now considers obsolete.
Digital accessibility is about whether real people can understand and use digital experiences.
Some of the additions in WCAG 2.2 can be particularly helpful for people who experience cognitive or attention-related barriers.
Redundant Entry, for example, reduces the need to remember and enter the same information more than once during a process.
Consistent Help makes support easier to find, while clearer focus and target-size requirements can make interfaces easier to navigate and interact with.
These requirements show why accessibility needs to consider different ways of processing information and interacting with technology, as well as more familiar barriers such as colour contrast and alternative text.
There isn't one WCAG version that applies to every organisation or every accessibility law.
Different laws and regulations can reference different versions of WCAG.
For example, PSBAR currently requires public sector websites and mobile apps in scope to meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA.
ADA Title II in the US names WCAG 2.1 Level AA for covered state and local government web content and mobile apps.
The current Section 508 Standards incorporate WCAG 2.0 Level A and Level AA criteria.
Accessibility is part of how we design and develop our products, and we continue to improve them as accessibility standards and user needs develop.
We also provide tools that can help organizations find digital accessibility barriers and give people more ways to access and understand online content.
ReachDeck can help teams review readability, while ReachDeck Toolbar gives website visitors tools including text-to-speech, reading support and translation.
Automated tools don't replace a complete accessibility testing process, but they can help teams make accessibility part of their ongoing digital work.
We continue to test and improve accessibility across the Everway product portfolio.Accessibility Conformance Reports based on the VPAT are available for many Everway products. These reports give customers and procurement teams detailed information about how individual products support recognised accessibility standards.
Our approach to compliance also covers data protection and information security.
Visit the Everway Trust Centre to find certifications, product data security packs and data protection documentation, including information about ISO/IEC 27001, FERPA, COPPA, GDPR and SOPPA.
Accessibility is part of how we design our products, website and content.
Everway.com is independently audited to WCAG 2.2 Level AA. We also work directly with disabled people through our Research Network to help make our products more accessible and inclusive.
Read our accessibility commitment
Read our accessibility statement
Explore our accessibility solutions
Accessibility requirements can overlap depending on the organization and technology involved.
WCAG 2.2 is a web accessibility standard developed by W3C.
It provides testable criteria for making web content more accessible to people with disabilities, including people with visual, hearing, physical and cognitive disabilities.
WCAG is organized around four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable and robust.
WCAG 2.2 adds nine success criteria to WCAG 2.1.
The additions cover areas including visible keyboard focus, alternatives to dragging, target sizes, consistent help, avoiding repeated data entry and accessible authentication.
WCAG 2.2 also removes Success Criterion 4.1.1, Parsing, because W3C considers it obsolete.
Everway uses WCAG 2.2 Level AA as the benchmark for everway.com.
We also test and improve accessibility across our product portfolio and publish Accessibility Conformance Reports for many products so customers can review their accessibility against relevant standards.
Check the accessibility documentation for an individual product for its current conformance information.
No. Websites and digital content change over time, so accessibility needs ongoing attention.
Publishing new pages, changing content or adding new features can introduce accessibility problems.
Regular scanning, manual testing and feedback from disabled people can help organisations find and address barriers as their digital experiences change.
WCAG itself is a technical standard, not a law.
However, laws, regulations, policies and contracts can require organisations to meet a particular WCAG version and conformance level.
For example, PSBAR currently uses WCAG 2.2 Level AA, while other legislation references earlier versions or takes a different approach to digital accessibility.
Accessible technology gives more people the opportunity to access information, learn and work in ways that meet their needs. Explore Everway products to help you make informed technology decisions.
Safe and Secure
Our products provide the highest possible level of security for student, school/district and enterprise data.
