WCAG 2.2, explained in plain English
WCAG 2.2 is the current international standard for web accessibility, published in October 2023. This guide covers what it is, the nine success criteria it added, the one it removed, who has to comply and the practical first steps, without the standards-committee jargon.
Everything that matters about WCAG 2.2
What WCAG 2.2 is
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the international rulebook for making websites usable by people with disabilities: blind and partially sighted users, deaf users, people who cannot use a mouse, and people with cognitive differences. They are written by the W3C, the body that maintains web standards, and version 2.2 became the official recommendation on 5 October 2023, replacing WCAG 2.1.
The guidelines are organised into testable "success criteria" at three levels: A (the floor), AA (the recognised benchmark) and AAA (the stretch tier). When a law, contract or tender asks for accessibility, it almost always means conformance at level AA. WCAG 2.2 contains 86 success criteria in total; a site conforms at AA by passing every A and AA criterion.
What changed from WCAG 2.1: the nine new criteria
WCAG 2.2 is an incremental update, not a rewrite. Everything that passed 2.1 still applies; 2.2 adds nine criteria aimed mostly at keyboard users, people with motor difficulties and people with cognitive differences. Here they are in plain English:
| Criterion | Level | What it requires in practice |
|---|---|---|
| 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) | AA | When something has keyboard focus, it must not be completely hidden behind sticky headers, cookie banners or chat widgets. |
| 2.4.12 Focus Not Obscured (Enhanced) | AAA | Stricter version: the focused element must not be hidden at all, not even partially. |
| 2.4.13 Focus Appearance | AAA | Focus indicators must be clearly visible: big enough and with enough contrast to actually see. |
| 2.5.7 Dragging Movements | AA | Anything that works by dragging (sliders, sortable lists, map panning) needs a single-pointer alternative such as buttons. |
| 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) | AA | Clickable targets must be at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, or have equivalent spacing, so people with tremors or larger fingers can hit them. |
| 3.2.6 Consistent Help | A | Help mechanisms (contact details, live chat, FAQs) must appear in the same place on every page that offers them. |
| 3.3.7 Redundant Entry | A | Do not make people type the same information twice in one process: previously entered data must be auto-filled or selectable. |
| 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum) | AA | Logging in must not require a memory or puzzle test. Allow password managers, paste, or alternatives to transcribing codes. |
| 3.3.9 Accessible Authentication (Enhanced) | AAA | Stricter version: no cognitive test of any kind in login, not even recognising objects in images. |
One criterion was removed: 4.1.1 Parsing, the old requirement for well-formed markup, is gone from 2.2 because modern browsers and assistive technology handle imperfect HTML themselves. If your audit tooling still reports 4.1.1 failures, it is testing against an outdated standard.
Who must comply, and by when
Three groups of UK organisations should treat WCAG 2.2 AA as required rather than recommended:
- Public sector bodies. The Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018 already mandate WCAG conformance and an accessibility statement, and government monitoring has moved to WCAG 2.2.
- Businesses selling to EU consumers. The European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025 to ecommerce, banking, transport, ebooks and other covered services sold to EU consumers, including UK companies selling into the EU. WCAG 2.2 AA is the practical route to meeting its requirements, and enforcement is ramping up through 2026.
- Every other UK business, via the Equality Act 2010. There is no named deadline because the duty to make reasonable adjustments already exists. When a complaint or claim lands, conformance with WCAG 2.2 AA is the evidence that you met it.
Practical first steps
You do not need to memorise 86 criteria to make progress this week:
- Run an automated scan. Our free accessibility checker tests any page against WCAG 2.2 in about 30 seconds and shows what to fix. Automated tools catch roughly a third of issues.
- Do the ten-minute keyboard test. Unplug the mouse and try to browse, open menus and complete your main form using Tab, Enter and arrow keys. If you get stuck or lose sight of where you are, so do your visitors.
- Check the new 2.2 hotspots. Sticky headers hiding focused links, tiny icon buttons under 24px, drag-only sliders, and logins that block paste are the most common new failures we find on UK sites.
- Get a full audit for the human layer. Screen reader journeys, focus order and cognitive review need a person. A fixed-price £449 audit maps every failure to its criterion with a costed fix plan, and our accessibility services can take it from audit through remediation to monthly monitoring.
How accessible is your website right now?
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Frequently asked questions
Is WCAG 2.2 a legal requirement?
Not by name for UK private businesses, but in effect. The Equality Act 2010 requires websites to be reasonably accessible and WCAG 2.2 AA is the benchmark used to judge that. UK public sector bodies must meet it explicitly, and the European Accessibility Act, in force since 28 June 2025, makes WCAG 2.2 AA the practical standard for anyone selling covered services to EU consumers.
What is the difference between WCAG 2.1 and WCAG 2.2?
WCAG 2.2 adds nine new success criteria, mostly helping keyboard users, people with motor difficulties and people with cognitive differences: visible focus that cannot be hidden, minimum target sizes, alternatives to dragging, consistent help, no re-asking for the same data, and login without memory puzzles. One old criterion, 4.1.1 Parsing, was removed. Everything else carries over unchanged.
When did WCAG 2.2 come out?
The W3C published WCAG 2.2 as the official recommendation on 5 October 2023, replacing WCAG 2.1 as the current standard. Regulators and legal frameworks have been steadily updating their references from 2.1 to 2.2 since then, which is why new audits should always be run against 2.2.
What level of WCAG 2.2 should my website meet?
Level AA. It is the level named by the UK public sector accessibility regulations, the level the European Accessibility Act expects in practice, and the level courts treat as reasonable under the Equality Act 2010. Level A alone leaves genuine barriers in place, and full AAA is not realistic for most complete websites.
Is there a WCAG 3.0 coming?
WCAG 3 is in development but is years from becoming a standard, and the W3C is clear that it will not deprecate WCAG 2.2 for a long time. Waiting for WCAG 3 is not a strategy: 2.2 AA is what regulators reference today and conformance work done now will carry forward.
How do I test my website against WCAG 2.2?
Start with an automated scan, which catches roughly a third of possible failures in seconds. Then test what machines cannot judge: navigate your site by keyboard only, try key journeys with a screen reader, and check the new 2.2 criteria such as target sizes and focus visibility. Our free checker gives you the automated pass instantly; a full audit adds the human testing.