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Meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) with the market’s most user-friendly WCAG compliance checker! Monsido provides automated website scans according to WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 2.2 criteria to help you find and fix accessibility issues.
Ready to make your website accessible with the WCAG Guidelines?
First, our experts will run a scan of your website and they will contact you shortly after to walk you through the results on the Monsido platform.
The WCAG guidelines were developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) with the purpose of setting a series of internationally shared guidelines governing the standards of web content accessibility to make websites, devices, and content accessible to users with disabilities.
The guidelines offer technical recommendations on how to make website content accessible. The WCAG guidelines are also the standard reference for most website accessibility-related legislation like the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) in the US, and the European Web Accessibility Directive.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) is the latest version of the standards set out by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Its predecessor, WCAG 2.0, was released in 2008 and outlines twelve principle-based guidelines for making website content more accessible for people with disabilities. WCAG is regularly updated to reflect changes in technologies, with WCAG 2.1 being the latest official version of the standards.
The differences between WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1 are not extensive, however they are vital to ensuring that the increasingly mobile-focused digital environment remains inclusive and accessible for all people.
While WCAG 2.1 builds on the foundations of WCAG 2.0, it includes a number of modifications to the WCAG framework. For more information on the specific modifications and how you can take steps to make sure your website is WCAG 2.1 accessible, you can view the full set of guidelines on the WC3 website.
Minimal WCAG compliance (level A): Level A is the minimum level of conformance with criteria involving basic requirements that do not really impact the design or structure of the website.
Example: All non-text content like images or videos must have a text alternative. Users can navigate the website effectively using only a keyboard.
Acceptable WCAG compliance (level AA): Level AA is usually the level of compliance that is referred to by most accessibility laws that have adopted the WCAG. Level AA requires more commitment and technical intervention but results in a well-functioning, accessible site.
Example: Provide descriptive headings and labels in content. Ensuring that text on a webpage can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 % without loss of content or functionality.
Optimal WCAG compliance (level AAA): Level AAA is the level for optimal conformance, but because of the more stringent and detailed technical requirements, many sites find it difficult to reach this level.
Example: The visual presentation of text and images of text must have a contrast ratio of at least 7:1. Images of text should be avoided or only used for decoration.
With Monsido, you can set the level of compliance you are aiming for and our WCAG compliance checker will scan your site and report on your WCAG status based on it.
Anyone who has an online presence should use the guideline as a standard for web accessibility. This includes policymakers, managers, researchers, educators, marketers, and communicators. Also, most international legislation reference WCAG 2.0 level AA as their minimum web accessibility compliance so many countries around the world have made it a requirement for anyone who owns a website to comply with these guidelines.
To comply with the web accessibility standards, your website content will need to be:
Perceivable - Perceivability refers to the information and elements of user interface that must be presented in a manner that can be perceived by the senses and that nothing is left undetectable or invisible. To most web users, perceivability is based primarily on visuals, but for people with visual impairments, sound and touch are used instead.
Operable - Interactive interface elements such as controls, buttons, navigation and more should be operable. This means that a user must be able to operate interface elements by first identifying them, and for most by physically clicking, tapping, swiping, or rolling or by voice commands or the use of other assistive devices like head wands and eye trackers.
Understandable - This means that technology should be clear and consistent in the presentation and format, with predictable patterns of usage and design. End users should have no issue in comprehending the meaning and purpose of the information presented in the content while discerning the user flow and operation of the interface.
Robust - Robustness is the ability for content to function reliably by a wide variety of technologies, including assistive devices.
Monsido’s WCAG compliance checker offers recommendations on how to comply with the WCAG guidelines and identifies opportunities for places on your site that could be made more accessible.
WCAG covers a wide range of recommendations for making web content more accessible for people with disabilities. It is important to note that while conformance to WCAG 2.1 is advised in order to maximize the future applicability of accessibility efforts, it does not deprecate or supersede WCAG 2.0.