Most conversations I see in digital accessibility focus on conformance to WCAG's success criteria — so much so that sometimes it feels like we should start saying "WCASC" instead. But the G is there for a reason. The Guidelines in WCAG aren't testable, but they're there as a guide to help you design and build inclusive, usable, and useful digital products. In WCAG 2: Guidelines and Guardrails (https://lnkd.in/eJJFTYe9) Eric Eggert explained how success criteria are the guardrails to stop you getting in trouble, and the guidelines are there to point you in the right direction. In our most recent State of Digital Accessibility podcast (https://lnkd.in/eQFgkb6J), Mark Miller and I discussed the relationship between accessibility, usability and user experience. I highlighted how the 13 guidelines of WCAG are a powerful tool to help product teams design and build accessible — and usable — digital products. They're the "above and beyond" people are looking for when realizing that conformance with WCAG's SCs is just the start. So let's celebrate their existence and make more use of them! Here are the 13 guidelines of WCAG 2.2: 1.1 Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language. 1.2 Provide alternatives for time-based media. 1.3 Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure. 1.4 Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background. 2.1 Make all functionality available from a keyboard. 2.2 Provide users enough time to read and use content. 2.3 Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures or physical reactions. 2.4 Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are. 2.5 Make it easier for users to operate functionality through various inputs beyond keyboard. 3.1 Make text content readable and understandable. 3.2 Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways. 3.3 Help users avoid and correct mistakes. 4.1 Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.
Ashley Peacock
1mo
Ouch - the font on Eric Eggert genuinely make my eyes sting :(
IMO the problem is that many #accessibility consultants don't have a disability and that they see the problem only as a conformance problem. For them full conformance means full accessibility, there is no deeper understanding of the needs of disabled persons.
Making the web more accessible, one day at a time. Invited Expert, W3C Accessibility Guidelines Working Group.
4wconformance requires meeting all of the success criteria and all of the conformance criteria. and doing so is only at the moment of evaluation. this is the lowest bar and must be repeatedly met across all moments. but wcag is a collection of guidance that opens by saying that following all of it still excludes the needs of some people, and encourages authors to go “above and beyond ” outside of the layers of guidance. the entire collection of guidance is still a very low bar. nothing within is “above and beyond”.