WCAG Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) is an accepted standard: a set of recommendations for making web content easier to access. It is aimed mainly at the people who build web pages, so that users with disabilities who rely on assistive technologies such as screen readers, magnifiers, captions and keyboard-only input can use their content. Following it also improves the experience for everyone, on all kinds of devices: clear headings, large targets and a simple layout are easier to use on a phone or when you are in a hurry.

For example, a leisure centre publishes its swimming timetable online. If the page follows WCAG, someone using a screen reader can hear the times in a sensible order, and someone who cannot use a mouse can still move through the page. A visitor reading the timetable on a phone in bright sunlight also benefits from strong contrast and clear headings.

WCAG is not a law. An organisation cannot be prosecuted simply for breaking it, although it may be written into contracts or into the organisation's own policies. That makes WCAG an accepted standard rather than legislation.

WCAG is versioned. Version 2.1 includes everything in version 2.0 and adds new content. One addition is a guideline for input modalities under the Operable principle: anything a user does with a complex touchscreen gesture, such as a pinch or a swipe, should also be possible with a simple tap or click, so people using assistive technologies get an equivalent experience. Version 2.1 does not replace 2.0; it contains 2.0 and builds on it.