ADA ACCESSIBILITY

In order to embrace web accessibility as a priority, you need to set goals and track your progress. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide the best available framework; published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), WCAG is the consensus standard for digital accessibility.

WCAG is based on four main principles: Content must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. The guidelines — also called success criteria — provide actionable information for creating better websites and mobile applications. To provide an organized structure, the guidelines are classified into three conformance levels:

• Level A - Considered the least strict, Level A success criteria are essential for every website. If your website doesn’t conform with WCAG Level A, it may have serious accessibility issues that prevent users with disabilities from using it.

• Level AA - Websites conforming to WCAG Level AA can be considered reasonably accessible for most users. Most websites should aim for Level AA conformance. To meet this goal, content must conform with all Level AA and Level A success criteria.

• Level AAA - Digital content that conforms with WCAG Level AAA is considered optimally accessible. To earn Level AAA conformance, content must pass every guideline in WCAG (including Level AA and Level A success criteria). However, some Level AAA success criteria are extremely strict, and some types of content cannot conform with every guideline at this level.