See also translations.
Copyright © 2020-2023 World Wide Web Consortium. W3C® liability, trademarkand document userules apply.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 covers a wide range of recommendations for making Web content more accessible. Following these guidelines will make content more accessible to a wider range of people with disabilities, including accommodations for blindness and low vision, deafness and hearing loss, limited movement, speech disabilities, photosensitivity, and combinations of these, and some accommodation for learning disabilities and cognitive limitations; but will not address every user need for people with these disabilities. These guidelines address accessibility of web content on desktops, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices. Following these guidelines will also often make Web content more usable to users in general.
WCAG 2.1 success criteria are written as testable statements that are not technology-specific. Guidance about satisfying the success criteria in specific technologies, as well as general information about interpreting the success criteria, is provided in separate documents. SeeWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overviewfor an introduction and links to WCAG technical and educational material.
WCAG 2.1 extendsWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0[WCAG20], which was published as aW3CRecommendation December 2008. Content that conforms to WCAG 2.1 also conforms to WCAG 2.0. The WG intends that for policies requiring conformance to WCAG 2.0, WCAG 2.1 can provide an alternate means of conformance. The publication of WCAG 2.1 does not deprecate or supersede WCAG 2.0. While WCAG 2.0 remains aW3CRecommendation, theW3Cadvises the use of WCAG 2.1 to maximize future applicability of accessibility efforts. TheW3Calso encourages use of the most current version of WCAG when developing or updating Web accessibility policies.
This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. A list of currentW3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in theW3Ctechnical reports indexat https:// w3.org/TR/.
This is aRecommendationof WCAG 2.1 by theAccessibility Guidelines Working Group.This incorporateserrataand are described in thechange log.At some point additional changes might be incorporated into anEdited or Amended Recommendation.
To comment,file an issue in theW3CWCAG GitHub repository.Although the proposed Success Criteria in this document reference issues tracking discussion, the Working Group requests that public comments be filed as new issues, one issue per discrete comment. It is free to create a GitHub account to file issues. If filing issues in GitHub is not feasible, send email to[email protected](comment archive).
This document was published by theAccessibility Guidelines Working Groupas a Recommendation using the Recommendation track.
W3Crecommends the wide deployment of this specification as a standard for the Web.
AW3CRecommendation is a specification that, after extensive consensus-building, is endorsed by W3Cand its Members, and has commitments from Working Group members to royalty-free licensing for implementations.
This document was produced by a group operating under the 1 August 2017W3CPatent Policy. W3Cmaintains a public list of any patent disclosures made in connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains Essential Claim(s) must disclose the information in accordance with section 6 of theW3CPatent Policy.
This document is governed by the 12 June 2023W3CProcess Document.
This section is non-normative.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 defines how to make Web content more accessible to people with disabilities. Accessibility involves a wide range of disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities. Although these guidelines cover a wide range of issues, they are not able to address the needs of people with all types, degrees, and combinations of disability. These guidelines also make Web content more usable by older individuals with changing abilities due to aging and often improve usability for users in general.
WCAG 2.1 is developed through theW3Cprocessin cooperation with individuals and organizations around the world, with a goal of providing a shared standard for Web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations, and governments internationally. WCAG 2.1 builds on WCAG 2.0 [WCAG20], which in turn built on WCAG 1.0 [WAI-WEBCONTENT] and is designed to apply broadly to different Web technologies now and in the future, and to be testable with a combination of automated testing and human evaluation. For an introduction to WCAG, see theWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview.
Significant challenges were encountered in defining additional criteria to address cognitive, language, and learning disabilities, including a short timeline for development as well as challenges in reaching consensus on testability, implementability, and international considerations of proposals. Work will carry on in this area in future versions of WCAG. We encourage authors to refer to our supplemental guidance onimproving inclusion for people with disabilities, including learning and cognitive disabilities, people with low-vision, and more.
Web accessibility depends not only on accessible content but also on accessible Web browsers and other user agents. Authoring tools also have an important role in Web accessibility. For an overview of how these components of Web development and interaction work together, see:
Where this document refers toWCAG 2
it is intended to mean any and all versions of WCAG that start with 2.
The individuals and organizations that use WCAG vary widely and include Web designers and developers, policy makers, purchasing agents, teachers, and students. In order to meet the varying needs of this audience, several layers of guidance are provided including overallprinciples,generalguidelines,testablesuccess criteriaand a rich collection ofsufficient techniques,advisory techniques,anddocumented common failureswith examples, resource links and code.
Principles- At the top are four principles that provide the foundation for Web accessibility: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust.See alsoUnderstanding the Four Principles of Accessibility.
Guidelines- Under the principles are guidelines. The 13 guidelines provide the basic goals that authors should work toward in order to make content more accessible to users with different disabilities. The guidelines are not testable, but provide the framework and overall objectives to help authors understand the success criteria and better implement the techniques.
Success Criteria- For each guideline, testable success criteria are provided to allow WCAG 2.1 to be used where requirements and conformance testing are necessary such as in design specification, purchasing, regulation, and contractual agreements. In order to meet the needs of different groups and different situations, three levels of conformance are defined: A (lowest), AA, and AAA (highest). Additional information on WCAG levels can be found inUnderstanding Levels of Conformance.
Sufficient and Advisory Techniques- For each of theguidelinesandsuccess criteriain the WCAG 2.1 document itself, the working group has also documented a wide variety oftechniques.The techniques are informative and fall into two categories: those that aresufficientfor meeting the success criteria and those that areadvisory.The advisory techniques go beyond what is required by the individual success criteria and allow authors to better address the guidelines. Some advisory techniques address accessibility barriers that are not covered by the testable success criteria. Where common failures are known, these are also documented. See alsoSufficient and Advisory Techniques in Understanding WCAG 2.1.
All of these layers of guidance (principles, guidelines, success criteria, and sufficient and advisory techniques) work together to provide guidance on how to make content more accessible. Authors are encouraged to view and apply all layers that they are able to, including the advisory techniques, in order to best address the needs of the widest possible range of users.
Note that even content that conforms at the highest level (AAA) will not be accessible to individuals with all types, degrees, or combinations of disability, particularly in the cognitive language and learning areas. Authors are encouraged to consider the full range of techniques, including the advisory techniques, as well as to seek relevant advice about current best practice to ensure that Web content is accessible, as far as possible, to this community.Metadatamay assist users in finding content most suitable for their needs.
The WCAG 2.1 document is designed to meet the needs of those who need a stable, referenceable technical standard. Other documents, called supporting documents, are based on the WCAG 2.1 document and address other important purposes, including the ability to be updated to describe how WCAG would be applied with new technologies. Supporting documents include:
How to Meet WCAG 2.1- A customizable quick reference to WCAG 2.1 that includes all of the guidelines, success criteria, and techniques for authors to use as they are developing and evaluating Web content. This includes content from WCAG 2.0 and WCAG 2.1 and can be filtered in many ways to help authors focus on relevant content.
Understanding WCAG 2.1- A guide to understanding and implementing WCAG 2.1. There is a short "Understanding" document for each guideline and success criterion in WCAG 2.1 as well as key topics.
Techniques for WCAG 2.1- A collection of techniques and common failures, each in a separate document that includes a description, examples, code and tests.
The WCAG Documents- A diagram and description of how the technical documents are related and linked.
SeeWeb Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overviewfor a description of the WCAG 2.1 supporting material, including education resources related to WCAG 2. Additional resources covering topics such as the business case for Web accessibility, planning implementation to improve the accessibility of Web sites, and accessibility policies are listed inWAI Resources.
WCAG 2.1 meets a set ofrequirements for WCAG 2.1which, in turn, inherit requirements from WCAG 2.0. Requirements structure the overall framework of guidelines and ensure backwards compatibility. The Working Group also used a less formal set of acceptance criteria for success criteria, to help ensure success criteria are similar in style and quality to those in WCAG 2.0. These requirements constrained what could be included in WCAG 2.1. This constraint was important to preserve its nature as a dot-release of WCAG 2.
WCAG 2.1 was initiated with the goal to improve accessibility guidance for three major groups: users with cognitive or learning disabilities, users with low vision, and users with disabilities on mobile devices. Many ways to meet these needs were proposed and evaluated, and a set of these were refined by the Working Group. Structural requirements inherited from WCAG 2.0, clarity and impact of proposals, and timeline led to the final set of success criteria included in this version. The Working Group considers that WCAG 2.1 incrementally advances web content accessibility guidance for all these areas, but underscores that not all user needs are met by these guidelines.
WCAG 2.1 builds on and is backwards compatible with WCAG 2.0, meaning web pages that conform to WCAG 2.1 also conform to WCAG 2.0. Authors that are required by policy to conform with WCAG 2.0 will be able to update content to WCAG 2.1 without losing conformance with WCAG 2.0. Authors following both sets of guidelines should be aware of the following differences:
WCAG 2.1 extends WCAG 2.0 by adding new success criteria, definitions to support them, guidelines to organize the additions, and a couple additions to the conformance section. This additive approach helps to make it clear that sites which conform to WCAG 2.1 also conform to WCAG 2.0, thereby meeting conformance obligations that are specific to WCAG 2.0. The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group recommends that sites adopt WCAG 2.1 as their new conformance target, even if formal obligations mention WCAG 2.0, to provide improved accessibility and to anticipate future policy changes.
The following Success Criteria are new in WCAG 2.1:
The new success criteria may reference new terms that have also been added to the glossary and form part of the normative requirements of the success criteria.
In the Conformance section, a third note about page variants has been added toFull Pages,and an option for machine-readable metadata added toOptional Components of a Conformance Claim.
In order to avoid confusion for implementers for whom backwards compatibility to WCAG 2.0 is important, new success criteria in WCAG 2.1 have been appended to the end of the set of success criteria within their guideline. This avoids the need to change the section number of success criteria from WCAG 2.0, which would be caused by inserting new success criteria between existing success criteria in the guideline, but it means success criteria in each guideline are no longer grouped by conformance level. The order of success criteria within each guideline does not imply information about conformance level; only the conformance level indicator (A / AA / AAA) on the success criterion itself indicates this. TheWCAG 2.1 Quick Referenceprovides ways to view success criteria grouped by conformance level, along with many other filter and sort options.
WCAG 2.1 uses the same conformance model as WCAG 2.0 with a couple additions, which is described in theConformancesection. It is intended that sites that conform to WCAG 2.1 also conform to WCAG 2.0, which means they meet the requirements of any policies that reference WCAG 2.0, while also better meeting the needs of users on the current Web.
In parallel with WCAG 2.1, the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group is developing another major version of accessibility guidelines. The result of this work is expected to be a more substantial restructuring of web accessibility guidance than would be realistic for dot-releases of WCAG 2. The work follows a research-focused, user-centered design methodology to produce the most effective and flexible outcome, including the roles of content authoring, user agent support, and authoring tool support. This is a multi-year effort, so WCAG 2.1 is needed as an interim measure to provide updated web accessibility guidance to reflect changes on the web since the publication of WCAG 2.0. The Working Group might also develop additional interim versions, continuing with WCAG 2.2, on a similar short timeline to provide additional support while the major version is completed.
Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
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.
(Level A)
Allnon-text contentthat is presented to the user has atext alternativethat serves the equivalent purpose, except for the situations listed below.
If non-text content is a control or accepts user input, then it has anamethat describes its purpose. (Refer toSuccess Criterion 4.1.2for additional requirements for controls and content that accepts user input.)
If non-text content is time-based media, then text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content. (Refer toGuideline 1.2for additional requirements for media.)
If non-text content is a test or exercise that would be invalid if presented intext,then text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content.
If non-text content is primarily intended to create aspecific sensory experience,then text alternatives at least provide descriptive identification of the non-text content.
If the purpose of non-text content is to confirm that content is being accessed by a person rather than a computer, then text alternatives that identify and describe the purpose of the non-text content are provided, and alternative forms of CAPTCHA using output modes for different types of sensory perception are provided to accommodate different disabilities.
If non-text content ispure decoration,is used only for visual formatting, or is not presented to users, then it is implemented in a way that it can be ignored byassistive technology.
Provide alternatives for time-based media.
(Level A)
Forprerecorded audio-onlyand prerecordedvideo-onlymedia, the following are true, except when the audio or video is amedia alternative for textand is clearly labeled as such:
Analternative for time-based mediais provided that presents equivalent information for prerecorded audio-only content.
Either an alternative for time-based media or an audio track is provided that presents equivalent information for prerecorded video-only content.
(Level A)
Analternative for time-based mediaoraudio descriptionof theprerecorded videocontent is provided forsynchronized media,except when the media is amedia alternative for textand is clearly labeled as such.
(Level AA)
Audio descriptionis provided for allprerecorded videocontent insynchronized media.
(Level AAA)
Sign language interpretationis provided for allprerecorded audiocontent insynchronized media.
(Level AAA)
Where pauses in foreground audio are insufficient to allowaudio descriptionsto convey the sense of the video,extended audio descriptionis provided for allprerecorded videocontent insynchronized media.
(Level AAA)
Analternative for time-based mediais provided for allprerecorded synchronized mediaand for all prerecordedvideo-onlymedia.
(Level AAA)
Analternative for time-based mediathat presents equivalent information forlive audio-onlycontent is provided.
Create content that can be presented in different ways (for example simpler layout) without losing information or structure.
(Level A)
Information,structure,andrelationshipsconveyed throughpresentationcan beprogrammatically determinedor are available in text.
(Level A)
When the sequence in which content is presented affects its meaning, acorrect reading sequencecan beprogrammatically determined.
(Level A)
Instructions provided for understanding and operating content do not rely solely on sensory characteristics of components such as shape, color, size, visual location, orientation, or sound.
For requirements related to color, refer toGuideline 1.4.
(Level AA)
Content does not restrict its view and operation to a single display orientation, such as portrait or landscape, unless a specific display orientation isessential.
Examples where a particular display orientation may be essential are a bank check, a piano application, slides for a projector or television, or virtual reality content where content is not necessarily restricted to landscape or portrait display orientation.
(Level AA)
The purpose of each input field collecting information about the user can beprogrammatically determinedwhen:
(Level AAA)
In content implemented using markup languages, the purpose ofuser interface components,icons, andregionscan beprogrammatically determined.
Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background.
(Level A)
Color is not used as the only visual means of conveying information, indicating an action, prompting a response, or distinguishing a visual element.
This success criterion addresses color perception specifically. Other forms of perception are covered inGuideline 1.3including programmatic access to color and other visual presentation coding.
(Level A)
If any audio on a Web page plays automatically for more than 3 seconds, either amechanismis available to pause or stop the audio, or a mechanism is available to control audio volume independently from the overall system volume level.
Since any content that does not meet this success criterion can interfere with a user's ability to use the whole page, all content on the Web page (whether or not it is used to meet other success criteria) must meet this success criterion. SeeConformance Requirement 5: Non-Interference.
(Level AA)
The visual presentation oftextandimages of texthas acontrast ratioof at least 4.5:1, except for the following:
Large-scaletext and images of large-scale text have a contrast ratio of at least 3:1;
Text or images of text that are part of an inactiveuser interface component,that arepure decoration,that are not visible to anyone, or that are part of a picture that contains significant other visual content, have no contrast requirement.
Text that is part of a logo or brand name has no contrast requirement.
(Level AA)
Except forcaptionsandimages of text,textcan be resized withoutassistive technologyup to 200 percent without loss of content or functionality.
(Level AA)
If the technologies being used can achieve the visual presentation,textis used to convey information rather thanimages of textexcept for the following:
The image of text can bevisually customizedto the user's requirements;
A particular presentation of text isessentialto the information being conveyed.
Logotypes (text that is part of a logo or brand name) are considered essential.
(Level AAA)
The visual presentation oftextandimages of texthas acontrast ratioof at least 7:1, except for the following:
Large-scaletext and images of large-scale text have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1;
Text or images of text that are part of an inactiveuser interface component,that arepure decoration,that are not visible to anyone, or that are part of a picture that contains significant other visual content, have no contrast requirement.
Text that is part of a logo or brand name has no contrast requirement.
(Level AAA)
Forprerecorded audio-onlycontent that (1) contains primarily speech in the foreground, (2) is not an audio CAPTCHAor audio logo, and (3) is not vocalization intended to be primarily musical expression such as singing or rapping, at least one of the following is true:
The audio does not contain background sounds.
The background sounds can be turned off.
The background sounds are at least 20 decibels lower than the foreground speech content, with the exception of occasional sounds that last for only one or two seconds.
Per the definition of "decibel," background sound that meets this requirement will be approximately four times quieter than the foreground speech content.
(Level AAA)
For the visual presentation ofblocks of text,amechanismis available to achieve the following:
(Level AAA)
Images of textare only used forpure decorationor where a particular presentation oftextisessentialto the information being conveyed.
Logotypes (text that is part of a logo or brand name) are considered essential.
(Level AA)
Content can be presented without loss of information or functionality, and without requiring scrolling in two dimensions for:
Except for parts of the content which require two-dimensional layout for usage or meaning.
320 CSS pixels is equivalent to a starting viewport width of 1280 CSS pixels wide at 400% zoom. For web content which is designed to scroll horizontally (e.g., with vertical text), 256 CSS pixels is equivalent to a starting viewport height of 1024 CSS pixels at 400% zoom.
Examples of content which requires two-dimensional layout are images required for understanding (such as maps and diagrams), video, games, presentations, data tables (not individual cells), and interfaces where it is necessary to keep toolbars in view while manipulating content. It is acceptable to provide two-dimensional scrolling for such parts of the content.
(Level AA)
The visualpresentationof the following have acontrast ratioof at least 3:1 against adjacent color(s):
(Level AA)
In content implemented using markup languages that support the followingtextstyle properties,no loss of content or functionality occurs by setting all of the following and by changing no other style property:
Exception: Human languages and scripts that do not make use of one or more of these text style properties in written text can conform using only the properties that exist for that combination of language and script.
(Level AA)
Where receiving and then removing pointer hover or keyboard focus triggers additional content to become visible and then hidden, the following are true:
Exception: The visual presentation of the additional content is controlled by the user agent and is not modified by the author.
Examples of additional content controlled by the user agent include browser tooltips created through use of the HTMLtitle
attribute.
Custom tooltips, sub-menus, and other nonmodal popups that display on hover and focus are examples of additional content covered by this criterion.
User interface components and navigation must be operable.
Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
(Level A)
Allfunctionalityof the content is operable through akeyboard interfacewithout requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes, except where the underlying function requires input that depends on the path of the user's movement and not just the endpoints.
This exception relates to the underlying function, not the input technique. For example, if using handwriting to enter text, the input technique (handwriting) requires path-dependent input but the underlying function (text input) does not.
This does not forbid and should not discourage providing mouse input or other input methods in addition to keyboard operation.
(Level A)
If keyboard focus can be moved to a component of the page using akeyboard interface,then focus can be moved away from that component using only a keyboard interface, and, if it requires more than unmodified arrow or tab keys or other standard exit methods, the user is advised of the method for moving focus away.
Since any content that does not meet this success criterion can interfere with a user's ability to use the whole page, all content on the Web page (whether it is used to meet other success criteria or not) must meet this success criterion. SeeConformance Requirement 5: Non-Interference.
(Level AAA)
Allfunctionalityof the content is operable through akeyboard interfacewithout requiring specific timings for individual keystrokes.
(Level A)
If akeyboard shortcutis implemented in content using only letter (including upper- and lower-case letters), punctuation, number, or symbol characters, then at least one of the following is true:
Provide users enough time to read and use content.
(Level A)
For each time limit that is set by the content, at least one of the following is true:
The user is allowed to turn off the time limit before encountering it; or
The user is allowed to adjust the time limit before encountering it over a wide range that is at least ten times the length of the default setting; or
The user is warned before time expires and given at least 20 seconds to extend the time limit with a simple action (for example, "press the space bar" ), and the user is allowed to extend the time limit at least ten times; or
The time limit is a required part of a real-time event (for example, an auction), and no alternative to the time limit is possible; or
The time limit isessentialand extending it would invalidate the activity; or
The time limit is longer than 20 hours.
This success criterion helps ensure that users can complete tasks without unexpected changes in content or context that are a result of a time limit. This success criterion should be considered in conjunction withSuccess Criterion 3.2.1,which puts limits on changes of content or context as a result of user action.
(Level A)
For moving,blinking,scrolling, or auto-updating information, all of the following are true:
For any moving, blinking or scrolling information that (1) starts automatically, (2) lasts more than five seconds, and (3) is presented in parallel with other content, there is a mechanism for the user topause,stop, or hide it unless the movement, blinking, or scrolling is part of an activity where it isessential;and
For any auto-updating information that (1) starts automatically and (2) is presented in parallel with other content, there is a mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide it or to control the frequency of the update unless the auto-updating is part of an activity where it is essential.
For requirements related to flickering or flashing content, refer toGuideline 2.3.
Since any content that does not meet this success criterion can interfere with a user's ability to use the whole page, all content on the Web page (whether it is used to meet other success criteria or not) must meet this success criterion. SeeConformance Requirement 5: Non-Interference.
Content that is updated periodically by software or that is streamed to the user agent is not required to preserve or present information that is generated or received between the initiation of the pause and resuming presentation, as this may not be technically possible, and in many situations could be misleading to do so.
An animation that occurs as part of a preload phase or similar situation can be considered essential if interaction cannot occur during that phase for all users and if not indicating progress could confuse users or cause them to think that content was frozen or broken.
(Level AAA)
Timing is not anessentialpart of the event or activity presented by the content, except for non-interactive synchronized mediaandreal-time events.
(Level AAA)
Interruptions can be postponed or suppressed by the user, except interruptions involving anemergency.
(Level AAA)
When an authenticated session expires, the user can continue the activity without loss of data after re-authenticating.
(Level AAA)
Users are warned of the duration of anyuser inactivitythat could cause data loss, unless the data is preserved for more than 20 hours when the user does not take any actions.
Privacy regulations may require explicit user consent before user identification has been authenticated and before user data is preserved. In cases where the user is a minor, explicit consent may not be solicited in most jurisdictions, countries or regions. Consultation with privacy professionals and legal counsel is advised when considering data preservation as an approach to satisfy this success criterion.
Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures or physical reactions.
(Level A)
Web pagesdo not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one second period, or theflashis below thegeneral flash and red flash thresholds.
Since any content that does not meet this success criterion can interfere with a user's ability to use the whole page, all content on the Web page (whether it is used to meet other success criteria or not) must meet this success criterion. SeeConformance Requirement 5: Non-Interference.
(Level AAA)
Web pagesdo not contain anything thatflashesmore than three times in any one second period.
(Level AAA)
Motion animationtriggered by interaction can be disabled, unless the animation isessentialto the functionality or the information being conveyed.
[New]
Make it easier for users to operate functionality through various inputs beyond keyboard.
(Level A)
Allfunctionalitythat uses multipoint or path-based gestures for operation can be operated with asingle pointerwithout a path-based gesture, unless a multipoint or path-based gesture isessential.
This requirement applies to web content that interprets pointer actions (i.e. this does not apply to actions that are required to operate the user agent or assistive technology).
(Level A)
Forfunctionalitythat can be operated using asingle pointer,at least one of the following is true:
Functions that emulate a keyboard or numeric keypad key press are considered essential.
This requirement applies to web content that interprets pointer actions (i.e. this does not apply to actions that are required to operate the user agent or assistive technology).
(Level A)
Foruser interface componentswithlabelsthat includetextorimages of text,thenamecontains the text that is presented visually.
A best practice is to have the text of the label at the start of the name.
(Level A)
Functionalitythat can be operated by device motion or user motion can also be operated byuser interface componentsand responding to the motion can be disabled to prevent accidental actuation, except when:
(Level AAA)
The size of thetargetforpointer inputsis at least 44 by 44CSS pixelsexcept when:
(Level AAA)
Web content does not restrict use of input modalities available on a platform except where the restriction isessential,required to ensure the security of the content, or required to respect user settings.
Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable.
Make text content readable and understandable.
(Level A)
The defaulthuman languageof eachWeb pagecan beprogrammatically determined.
(Level AA)
Thehuman languageof each passage or phrase in the content can beprogrammatically determinedexcept for proper names, technical terms, words of indeterminate language, and words or phrases that have become part of the vernacular of the immediately surrounding text.
(Level AAA)
Amechanismis available for identifying specific definitions of words or phrasesused in an unusual or restricted way,includingidiomsandjargon.
(Level AAA)
Amechanismfor identifying the expanded form or meaning ofabbreviationsis available.
(Level AAA)
When text requires reading ability more advanced than thelower secondary education levelafter removal of proper names and titles,supplemental content,or a version that does not require reading ability more advanced than the lower secondary education level, is available.
(Level AAA)
Amechanismis available for identifying specific pronunciation of words where meaning of the words, in context, is ambiguous without knowing the pronunciation.
Make Web pages appear and operate in predictable ways.
(Level A)
When anyuser interface componentreceives focus, it does not initiate achange of context.
(Level A)
Changing the setting of anyuser interface componentdoes not automatically cause achange of contextunless the user has been advised of the behavior before using the component.
(Level AA)
Components that have thesame functionalitywithin aset of Web pagesare identified consistently.
(Level AAA)
Changes of contextare initiated only by user request or amechanismis available to turn off such changes.
Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
(Level A)
If aninput erroris automatically detected, the item that is in error is identified and the error is described to the user in text.
(Level A)
Labelsor instructions are provided when content requires user input.
(Level AA)
If aninput erroris automatically detected and suggestions for correction are known, then the suggestions are provided to the user, unless it would jeopardize the security or purpose of the content.
(Level AA)
ForWeb pagesthat causelegal commitmentsor financial transactions for the user to occur, that modify or deleteuser-controllabledata in data storage systems, or that submit user test responses, at least one of the following is true:
(Level AAA)
Context-sensitive helpis available.
(Level AAA)
ForWeb pagesthat require the user to submit information, at least one of the following is true:
Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.
Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies.
(Level A)
In content implemented using markup languages, elements have complete start and end tags, elements are nested according to their specifications, elements do not contain duplicate attributes, and any IDs are unique, except where the specifications allow these features.
This Success Criterion should be considered as always satisfied for any content using HTML or XML.
Since this criterion was written, the HTML Living Standard has adopted specific requirements governing how user agents must handle incomplete tags, incorrect element nesting, duplicate attributes, and non-unique IDs. [HTML]
Although the HTML Standard treats some of these cases as non-conforming for authors, it is considered to "allow these features" for the purposes of this Success Criterion because the specification requires that user agents support handling these cases consistently. In practice, this criterion no longer provides any benefit to people with disabilities in itself.
Issues such as missing roles due to inappropriately nested elements or incorrect states or names due to a duplicate ID are covered by different Success Criteria and should be reported under those criteria rather than as issues with 4.1.1.
(Level A)
For alluser interface components(including but not limited to: form elements, links and components generated by scripts), thenameandrolecan beprogrammatically determined;states, properties, and values that can be set by the user can beprogrammatically set;and notification of changes to these items is available touser agents,includingassistive technologies.
This success criterion is primarily for Web authors who develop or script their own user interface components. For example, standard HTML controls already meet this success criterion when used according to specification.
(Level AA)
In content implemented using markup languages,status messagescan beprogrammatically determinedthroughroleor properties such that they can be presented to the user byassistive technologieswithout receiving focus.
This section lists requirements forconformanceto WCAG 2.1. It also gives information about how to make conformance claims, which are optional. Finally, it describes what it means to beaccessibility supported,since only accessibility-supported ways of using technologies can berelied uponfor conformance.Understanding Conformanceincludes further explanation of the accessibility-supported concept.
The main content of WCAG 2.1 isnormativeand defines requirements that impact conformance claims. Introductory material, appendices, sections marked as "non-normative", diagrams, examples, and notes areinformative(non-normative). Non-normative material provides advisory information to help interpret the guidelines but does not create requirements that impact a conformance claim.
The key wordsMAY,MUST,MUST NOT,NOT RECOMMENDED,RECOMMENDED,SHOULD,andSHOULD NOTare to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
In order for a Web page to conform to WCAG 2.1, all of the following conformance requirements must be satisfied:
One of the following levels of conformance is met in full.
Although conformance can only be achieved at the stated levels, authors are encouraged to report (in their claim) any progress toward meeting success criteria from all levels beyond the achieved level of conformance.
It is not recommended that Level AAA conformance be required as a general policy for entire sites because it is not possible to satisfy all Level AAA Success Criteria for some content.
Conformance(and conformance level) is for fullWeb page(s)only, and cannot be achieved if part of a Web page is excluded.
For the purpose of determining conformance, alternatives to part of a page's content are considered part of the page when the alternatives can be obtained directly from the page, e.g., a long description or an alternative presentation of a video.
Authors of Web pages that cannot conform due to content outside of the author's control may consider aStatement of Partial Conformance.
A full page includes each variation of the page that is automatically presented by the page for various screen sizes (e.g. variations in a responsive Web page). Each of these variations needs to conform (or needs to have a conforming alternate version) in order for the entire page to conform.
When aWeb pageis one of a series of Web pages presenting aprocess(i.e., a sequence of steps that need to be completed in order to accomplish an activity), all Web pages in the process conform at the specified level or better. (Conformance is not possible at a particular level if any page in the process does not conform at that level or better.)
An online store has a series of pages that are used to select and purchase products. All pages in the series from start to finish (checkout) conform in order for any page that is part of the process to conform.
Onlyaccessibility-supportedways of usingtechnologiesarerelied uponto satisfy the success criteria. Any information or functionality that is provided in a way that is not accessibility supported is also available in a way that is accessibility supported. (SeeUnderstanding accessibility support.)
Iftechnologiesare used in a way that is notaccessibility supported,or if they are used in a non-conforming way, then they do not block the ability of users to access the rest of the page. In addition, theWeb pageas a whole continues to meet the conformance requirements under each of the following conditions:
In addition, the following success criteria apply to all content on the page, including content that is not otherwise relied upon to meet conformance, because failure to meet them could interfere with any use of the page:
If a page cannot conform (for example, a conformance test page or an example page), it cannot be included in the scope of conformance or in a conformance claim.
For more information, including examples, seeUnderstanding Conformance Requirements.
Conformance is defined only forWeb pages.However, a conformance claim may be made to cover one page, a series of pages, or multiple related Web pages.
Conformance claims arenot required.Authors can conform to WCAG 2.1 without making a claim. However, if a conformance claim is made, then the conformance claimmustinclude the following information:
A concise description of the Web pages,such as a list of URIs for which the claim is made, including whether subdomains are included in the claim.
The Web pages may be described by list or by an expression that describes all of the URIs included in the claim.
Web-based products that do not have a URI prior to installation on the customer's Web site may have a statement that the product would conform when installed.
If a conformance logo is used, it would constitute a claim and must be accompanied by the required components of a conformance claim listed above.
In addition to the required components of a conformance claim above, consider providing additional information to assist users. Recommended additional information includes:
Refer toUnderstanding Conformance Claimsfor more information and example conformance claims.
Refer toUnderstanding Metadatafor more information about the use of metadata in conformance claims.
Sometimes, Web pages are created that will later have additional content added to them. For example, an email program, a blog, an article that allows users to add comments, or applications supporting user-contributed content. Another example would be a page, such as a portal or news site, composed of content aggregated from multiple contributors, or sites that automatically insert content from other sources over time, such as when advertisements are inserted dynamically.
In these cases, it is not possible to know at the time of original posting what the uncontrolled content of the pages will be. It is important to note that the uncontrolled content can affect the accessibility of the controlled content as well. Two options are available:
A determination of conformance can be made based on best knowledge. If a page of this type is monitored and repaired (non-conforming content is removed or brought into conformance) within two business days, then a determination or claim of conformance can be made since, except for errors in externally contributed content which are corrected or removed when encountered, the page conforms. No conformance claim can be made if it is not possible to monitor or correct non-conforming content;
OR
A "statement of partial conformance" may be made that the page does not conform, but could conform if certain parts were removed. The form of that statement would be, "This page does not conform, but would conform to WCAG 2.1 at level X if the following parts from uncontrolled sources were removed." In addition, the following would also be true of uncontrolled content that is described in the statement of partial conformance:
A "statement of partial conformance due to language" may be made when the page does not conform, but would conform ifaccessibility supportexisted for (all of) the language(s) used on the page. The form of that statement would be, "This page does not conform, but would conform to WCAG 2.1 at level X if accessibility support existed for the following language(s):"
shortened form of a word, phrase, or name where the abbreviation has not become part of the language
This includes initialisms and acronyms where:
initialismsare shortened forms of a name or phrase made from the initial letters of words or syllables contained in that name or phrase
Not defined in all languages.
acronymsare abbreviated forms made from the initial letters or parts of other words (in a name or phrase) which may be pronounced as a word
Some companies have adopted what used to be an initialism as their company name. In these cases, the new name of the company is the letters (for example, Ecma) and the word is no longer considered an abbreviation.
supported by users'assistive technologiesas well as the accessibility features in browsers and otheruser agents
To qualify as an accessibility-supported use of a Web content technology (or feature of a technology), both 1 and 2 must be satisfied for a Web content technology (or feature):
The way that theWeb content technologyis used must be supported by users' assistive technology (AT).This means that the way that the technology is used has been tested for interoperability with users' assistive technology in thehuman language(s)of the content,
AND
The Web content technology must have accessibility-supported user agents that are available to users.This means that at least one of the following four statements is true:
The technology is supported natively in widely-distributed user agents that are also accessibility supported (such as HTML and CSS);
OR
The technology is supported in a widely-distributed plug-in that is also accessibility supported;
OR
The content is available in a closed environment, such as a university or corporate network, where the user agent required by the technology and used by the organization is also accessibility supported;
OR
The user agent(s) that support the technology are accessibility supported and are available for download or purchase in a way that:
The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group and theW3Cdo not specify which or how much support by assistive technologies there must be for a particular use of a Web technology in order for it to be classified as accessibility supported. (SeeLevel of Assistive Technology Support Needed for "Accessibility Support".)
Web technologies can be used in ways that are not accessibility supported as long as they are notrelied uponand the page as a whole meets the conformance requirements, includingConformance Requirement 4andConformance Requirement 5.
When aWeb Technologyis used in a way that is "accessibility supported," it does not imply that the entire technology or all uses of the technology are supported. Most technologies, including HTML, lack support for at least one feature or use. Pages conform to WCAG only if the uses of the technology that are accessibility supported can be relied upon to meet WCAG requirements.
When citing Web content technologies that have multiple versions, the version(s) supported should be specified.
One way for authors to locate uses of a technology that are accessibility supported would be to consult compilations of uses that are documented to be accessibility supported. (SeeUnderstanding Accessibility-Supported Web Technology Uses.) Authors, companies, technology vendors, or others may document accessibility-supported ways of using Web content technologies. However, all ways of using technologies in the documentation would need to meet the definition of accessibility-supported Web content technologies above.
document including correctly sequenced text descriptions of time-based visual and auditory information and providing a means for achieving the outcomes of any time-based interaction
A screenplay used to create the synchronized media content would meet this definition only if it was corrected to accurately represent the final synchronized media after editing.
the purpose cannot be determined from the link and all information of the Web page presented to the user simultaneously with the link (i.e., readers without disabilities would not know what a link would do until they activated it)
picture created by a spatial arrangement of characters or glyphs (typically from the 95 printable characters defined by ASCII)
hardware and/or software that acts as auser agent,or along with a mainstream user agent, to provide functionality to meet the requirements of users with disabilities that go beyond those offered by mainstream user agents
functionality provided by assistive technology includes alternative presentations (e.g., as synthesized speech or magnified content), alternative input methods (e.g., voice), additional navigation or orientation mechanisms, and content transformations (e.g., to make tables more accessible).
Assistive technologies often communicate data and messages with mainstream user agents by using and monitoring APIs.
The distinction between mainstream user agents and assistive technologies is not absolute. Many mainstream user agents provide some features to assist individuals with disabilities. The basic difference is that mainstream user agents target broad and diverse audiences that usually include people with and without disabilities. Assistive technologies target narrowly defined populations of users with specific disabilities. The assistance provided by an assistive technology is more specific and appropriate to the needs of its target users. The mainstream user agent may provide important functionality to assistive technologies like retrieving Web content from program objects or parsing markup into identifiable bundles.
the technology of sound reproduction
Audio can be created synthetically (including speech synthesis), recorded from real world sounds, or both.
narration added to the soundtrack to describe important visual details that cannot be understood from the main soundtrack alone
Audio description ofvideoprovides information about actions, characters, scene changes, on-screen text, and other visual content.
In standard audio description, narration is added during existing pauses in dialogue. (See alsoextended audio description.)
Where all of thevideoinformation is already provided in existingaudio,no additional audio description is necessary.
Also called "video description" and "descriptive narration."
a time-based presentation that contains onlyaudio(novideoand no interaction)
switch back and forth between two visual states in a way that is meant to draw attention
See alsoflash.It is possible for something to be large enough and blink brightly enough at the right frequency to be also classified as a flash.
more than one sentence of text
initialism for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart"
CAPTCHA tests often involve asking the user to type in text that is displayed in an obscured image or audio file.
A Turing test is any system of tests designed to differentiate a human from a computer. It is named after famed computer scientist Alan Turing. The term was coined by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.
synchronized visual and/ortext alternativefor both speech and non-speech audio information needed to understand the media content
Captions are similar to dialogue-only subtitles except captions convey not only the content of spoken dialogue, but also equivalents for non-dialogue audio information needed to understand the program content, including sound effects, music, laughter, speaker identification and location.
Closed Captions are equivalents that can be turned on and off with some players.
Open Captions are any captions that cannot be turned off. For example, if the captions are visual equivalentimages of textembedded invideo.
Captions should not obscure or obstruct relevant information in the video.
In some countries, captions are called subtitles.
Audio descriptionscan be, but do not need to be, captioned since they are descriptions of information that is already presented visually.
major changes that, if made without user awareness, can disorient users who are not able to view the entire page simultaneously
Changes in context include changes of:
A change of content is not always a change of context. Changes in content, such as an expanding outline, dynamic menu, or a tab control do not necessarily change the context, unless they also change one of the above (e.g., focus).
satisfying all the requirements of a given standard, guideline or specification
version that
for which at least one of the following is true:
In this definition, "can only be reached" means that there is some mechanism, such as a conditional redirect, that prevents a user from "reaching" (loading) the non-conforming page unless the user had just come from the conforming version.
The alternate version does not need to be matched page for page with the original (e.g., the conforming alternate version may consist of multiple pages).
If multiple language versions are available, then conforming alternate versions are required for each language offered.
Alternate versions may be provided to accommodate different technology environments or user groups. Each version should be as conformant as possible. One version would need to be fully conformant in order to meetconformance requirement 1.
The conforming alternative version does not need to reside within the scope of conformance, or even on the same Web site, as long as it is as freely available as the non-conforming version.
Alternate versions should not be confused withsupplementary content,which support the original page and enhance comprehension.
Setting user preferences within the content to produce a conforming version is an acceptable mechanism for reaching another version as long as the method used to set the preferences is accessibility supported.
information and sensory experience to be communicated to the user by means of auser agent,including code or markup that defines the content'sstructure,presentation,and interactions
help text that provides information related to the function currently being performed
Clear labels can act as context-sensitive help.
(L1 + 0.05) / (L2 + 0.05), where
Contrast ratios can range from 1 to 21 (commonly written 1:1 to 21:1).
Because authors do not have control over user settings as to how text is rendered (for example font smoothing or anti-aliasing), the contrast ratio for text can be evaluated with anti-aliasing turned off.
For the purpose of Success Criteria 1.4.3 and 1.4.6, contrast is measured with respect to the specified background over which the text is rendered in normal usage. If no background color is specified, then white is assumed.
Background color is the specified color of content over which the text is to be rendered in normal usage. It is a failure if no background color is specified when the text color is specified, because the user's default background color is unknown and cannot be evaluated for sufficient contrast. For the same reason, it is a failure if no text color is specified when a background color is specified.
When there is a border around the letter, the border can add contrast and would be used in calculating the contrast between the letter and its background. A narrow border around the letter would be used as the letter. A wide border around the letter that fills in the inner details of the letters acts as a halo and would be considered background.
WCAG conformance should be evaluated for color pairs specified in the content that an author would expect to appear adjacent in typical presentation. Authors need not consider unusual presentations, such as color changes made by the user agent, except where caused by authors' code.
any sequence where words and paragraphs are presented in an order that does not change the meaning of the content
visual angle of about 0.0213 degrees
A CSS pixel is the canonical unit of measure for all lengths and measurements in CSS. This unit is density-independent, and distinct from actual hardware pixels present in a display. User agents and operating systems should ensure that a CSS pixel is set as closely as possible to theCSS Values and Units Module Level 3 reference pixel[css3-values], which takes into account the physical dimensions of the display and the assumed viewing distance (factors that cannot be determined by content authors).
platform event that occurs when the trigger stimulus of a pointer is depressed
The down-event may have different names on different platforms, such as "touchstart" or "mousedown".
a sudden, unexpected situation or occurrence that requires immediate action to preserve health, safety, or property
if removed, would fundamentally change the information or functionality of the content, andinformation and functionality cannot be achieved in another way that would conform
audio description that is added to an audiovisual presentation by pausing thevideoso that there is time to add additional description
This technique is only used when the sense of thevideowould be lost without the additionalaudio descriptionand the pauses between dialogue/narration are too short.
a pair of opposing changes inrelative luminancethat can cause seizures in some people if it is large enough and in the right frequency range
Seegeneral flash and red flash thresholdsfor information about types of flash that are not allowed.
See alsoblinking.
processesand outcomes achievable through user action
aflashor rapidly changing image sequence is below the threshold (i.e., contentpasses) if any of the following are true:
where:
Exception:Flashing that is a fine, balanced, pattern such as white noise or an alternating checkerboard pattern with "squares" smaller than 0.1 degree (of visual field at typical viewing distance) on a side does not violate the thresholds.
For general software or Web content, using a 341 x 256 pixel rectangle anywhere on the displayed screen area when the content is viewed at 1024 x 768 pixels will provide a good estimate of a 10 degree visual field for standard screen sizes and viewing distances (e.g., 15-17 inch screen at 22-26 inches). This resolution of 75 - 85 ppi is known to be lower, and thus more conservative than the nominal CSS pixel resolution of 96 ppi in CSS specifications. Higher resolutions displays showing the same rendering of the content yield smaller and safer images so it is lower resolutions that are used to define the thresholds.
A transition is the change in relative luminance (or relative luminance/color for red flashing) between adjacent peaks and valleys in a plot of relative luminance (or relative luminance/color for red flashing) measurement against time. A flash consists of two opposing transitions.
The working definition (as of 2022) in the field for"pair of opposing transitions involving a saturated red"is a pair of opposing transitions where, one transition is either to or from a state with a value R/(R + G + B) that is greater than or equal to 0.8, and the difference between states is more than 0.2 (unitless) in the CIE 1976 UCS chromaticity diagram. [ISO_9241-391]
Tools are available that will carry out analysis from video screen capture. However, no tool is necessary to evaluate for this condition if flashing is less than or equal to 3 flashes in any one second. Content automatically passes (see #1 and #2 above).
language that is spoken, written or signed (through visual or tactile means) to communicate with humans
See alsosign language.
phrase whose meaning cannot be deduced from the meaning of the individual words and the specific words cannot be changed without losing the meaning
idioms cannot be translated directly, word for word, without losing their (cultural or language-dependent) meaning.
text that has been rendered in a non-text form (e.g., an image) in order to achieve a particular visual effect
This does not includetextthat is part of a picture that contains significant other visual content.
for information purposes and not required for conformance
Content required forconformanceis referred to as "normative."
information provided by the user that is not accepted
This includes:
words used in a particular way by people in a particular field
interface used by software to obtain keystroke input
A keyboard interface allows users to provide keystroke input to programs even if the native technology does not contain a keyboard.
Operation of the application (or parts of the application) through a keyboard-operated mouse emulator, such as MouseKeys, does not qualify as operation through a keyboard interface because operation of the program is through its pointing device interface, not through its keyboard interface.
alternative means of triggering an action by the pressing of one or more keys
textor other component with atext alternativethat is presented to a user to identify a component within Webcontent
A label is presented to all users whereas thenamemay be hidden and only exposed by assistive technology. In many (but not all) cases the name and the label are the same.
The term label is not limited to the label element in HTML.
with at least 18 point or 14 point bold or font size that would yield equivalent size for Chinese, Japanese and Korean (CJK) fonts
Fonts with extraordinarily thin strokes or unusual features and characteristics that reduce the familiarity of their letter forms are harder to read, especially at lower contrast levels.
Font size is the size when the content is delivered. It does not include resizing that may be done by a user.
The actual size of the character that a user sees is dependent both on the author-defined size and the user's display or user agent settings. For many mainstream body text fonts, 14 and 18 point is roughly equivalent to 1.2 and 1.5 em or to 120% or 150% of the default size for body text (assuming that the body font is 100%), but authors would need to check this for the particular fonts in use. When fonts are defined in relative units, the actual point size is calculated by the user agent for display. The point size should be obtained from the user agent, or calculated based on font metrics as the user agent does, when evaluating this success criterion. Users who have low vision would be responsible for choosing appropriate settings.
When using text without specifying the font size, the smallest font size used on major browsers for unspecified text would be a reasonable size to assume for the font. If a level 1 heading is rendered in 14pt bold or higher on major browsers, then it would be reasonable to assume it is large text. Relative scaling can be calculated from the default sizes in a similar fashion.
The 18 and 14 point sizes for roman texts are taken from the minimum size for large print (14pt) and the larger standard font size (18pt). For other fonts such as CJK languages, the "equivalent" sizes would be the minimum large print size used for those languages and the next larger standard large print size.
transactions where the person incurs a legally binding obligation or benefit
nature of the result obtained by activating a hyperlink
information captured from a real-world event and transmitted to the receiver with no more than a broadcast delay
A broadcast delay is a short (usually automated) delay, for example used in order to give the broadcaster time to cue or censor the audio (or video) feed, but not sufficient to allow significant editing.
If information is completely computer generated, it is not live.
the two or three year period of education that begins after completion of six years of school and ends nine years after the beginning ofprimary education
This definition is based on the International Standard Classification of Education [UNESCO].
processor technique for achieving a result
The mechanism may be explicitly provided in the content, or may berelied uponto be provided by either the platform or byuser agents,includingassistive technologies.
The mechanism needs to meet all success criteria for the conformance level claimed.
media that presents no more information than is already presented in text (directly or via text alternatives)
A media alternative for text is provided for those who benefit from alternate representations of text. Media alternatives for text may be audio-only, video-only (including sign-language video), or audio-video.
addition of steps between conditions to create the illusion of movement or to give a sense of a smooth transition
text by which software can identify a component within Web content to the user
The name may be hidden and only exposed by assistive technology, whereas alabelis presented to all users. In many (but not all) cases, the label and the name are the same.
This is unrelated to the name attribute in HTML.
navigated in the order defined for advancing focus (from one element to the next) using akeyboard interface
any content that is not a sequence of characters that can beprogrammatically determinedor where the sequence is not expressing something inhuman language
This includesASCII Art(which is a pattern of characters), emoticons, leetspeak (which uses character substitution), and images representing text
required for conformance
One may conform in a variety of well-defined ways to this document.
Content identified as "informative"or" non-normative "is never required forconformance.
on the most common sized desktop/laptop display with the viewport maximized
Since people generally keep their computers for several years, it is best not to rely on the latest desktop/laptop display resolutions but to consider the common desktop/laptop display resolutions over the course of several years when making this evaluation.
stopped by user request and not resumed until requested by user
input from a device that can target a specific coordinate (or set of coordinates) on a screen, such as a mouse, pen, or touch contact
See thePointer Events definition for "pointer"[pointerevents].
information that is notlive
rendering of thecontentin a form to be perceived by users
six year time period that begins between the ages of five and seven, possibly without any previous education
This definition is based on the International Standard Classification of Education [UNESCO].
series of user actions where each action is required in order to complete an activity
determined by software from author-supplied data provided in a way that different user agents,includingassistive technologies,can extract and present this information to users in different modalities
additional information that can beprogrammatically determinedfromrelationshipswith a link, combined with the link text, and presented to users in different modalities
Since screen readers interpret punctuation, they can also provide the context from the current sentence, when the focus is on a link in that sentence.
set by software using methods that are supported by user agents, including assistive technologies
serving only an aesthetic purpose, providing no information, and having no functionality
Text is only purely decorative if the words can be rearranged or substituted without changing their purpose.
event that a) occurs at the same time as the viewing and b) is not completely generated by the content
perceivable, programmatically determined section of content
In HTML, any area designated with a landmark role would be a region.
meaningful associations between distinct pieces of content
the relative brightness of any point in a colorspace, normalized to 0 for darkest black and 1 for lightest white
For the sRGB colorspace, the relative luminance of a color is defined as L = 0.2126 *R+ 0.7152 *G+ 0.0722 *BwhereR,GandBare defined as:
and RsRGB, GsRGB, and BsRGB are defined as:
The "^" character is the exponentiation operator. (Formula taken from [SRGB].)
Before May 2021 the value of 0.04045 in the definition was different (0.03928). It was taken from an older version of the specification and has been updated. It has no practical effect on the calculations in the context of these guidelines.
Almost all systems used today to view Web content assume sRGB encoding. Unless it is known that another color space will be used to process and display the content, authors should evaluate using sRGB colorspace. If using other color spaces, seeUnderstanding Success Criterion 1.4.3.
If dithering occurs after delivery, then the source color value is used. For colors that are dithered at the source, the average values of the colors that are dithered should be used (average R, average G, and average B).
Tools are available that automatically do the calculations when testing contrast and flash.
Aseparate page giving the relative luminance definition using MathMLto display the formulas is available.
the content would notconformif thattechnologyis turned off or is not supported
text or number by which software can identify the function of a component within Web content
same result when used
same position relative to other items
Items are considered to be in the same relative order even if other items are inserted or removed from the original order. For example, expanding navigation menus may insert an additional level of detail or a secondary navigation section may be inserted into the reading order.
the success criterion does not evaluate to 'false' when applied to the page
a self-contained portion of written content that deals with one or more related topics or thoughts
A section may consist of one or more paragraphs and include graphics, tables, lists and sub-sections.
collection ofweb pagesthat share a common purpose and that are created by the same author, group or organization
Different language versions would be considered different sets of Web pages.
a language using combinations of movements of the hands and arms, facial expressions, or body positions to convey meaning
translation of one language, generally a spoken language, into asign language
True sign languages are independent languages that are unrelated to the spoken language(s) of the same country or region.
pointer input that operates with one point of contact with the screen, including single taps and clicks, double-taps and clicks, long presses, and path-based gestures
a sensory experience that is not purely decorative and does not primarily convey important information or perform a function
dynamic property expressing characteristics of a user interface component that may change in response to user action or automated processes
States do not affect the nature of the component, but represent data associated with the component or user interaction possibilities. Examples include focus, hover, select, press, check, visited/unvisited, and expand/collapse.
change in content that is not achange of context,and that provides information to the user on the success or results of an action, on the waiting state of an application, on the progress of a process, or on the existence of errors
property whose value determines the presentation (e.g. font, color, size, location, padding, volume, synthesized speech prosody) of content elements as they are rendered (e.g. onscreen, via loudspeaker, via braille display) by user agents
Style properties can have several origins:
additionalcontentthat illustrates or clarifies the primary content
audioorvideosynchronized with another format for presenting information and/or with time-based interactive components, unless the media is amedia alternative for textthat is clearly labeled as such
region of the display that will accept a pointer action, such as the interactive area of a user interface component
If two or more targets are overlapping, the overlapping area should not be included in the measurement of the target size, except when the overlapping targets perform the same action or open the same page.
mechanismfor encoding instructions to be rendered, played or executed byuser agents
As used in these guidelines "Web Technology" and the word "technology" (when used alone) both refer to Web Content Technologies.
Web content technologies may include markup languages, data formats, or programming languages that authors may use alone or in combination to create end-user experiences that range from static Web pages to synchronized media presentations to dynamic Web applications.
sequence of characters that can beprogrammatically determined,where the sequence is expressing something inhuman language
Textthat is programmatically associated withnon-text contentor referred to from text that is programmatically associated with non-text content. Programmatically associated text is text whose location can be programmatically determined from the non-text content.
Refer toUnderstanding Text Alternativesfor more information.
platform event that occurs when the trigger stimulus of a pointer is released
The up-event may have different names on different platforms, such as "touchend" or "mouseup".
words used in such a way that requires users to know exactly which definition to apply in order to understand the content correctly
any software that retrieves and presents Web content for users
data that is intended to be accessed by users
This does not refer to such things as Internet logs and search engine monitoring data.
a part of the content that is perceived by users as a single control for a distinct function
Multiple user interface components may be implemented as a single programmatic element. "Components" here is not tied to programming techniques, but rather to what the user perceives as separate controls.
User interface components include form elements and links as well as components generated by scripts.
What is meant by "component" or "user interface component" here is also sometimes called "user interface element".
any continuous period of time where no user actions occur
The method of tracking will be determined by the web site or application.
the technology of moving or sequenced pictures or images
Video can be made up of animated or photographic images, or both.
a time-based presentation that contains onlyvideo(noaudioand no interaction)
object in which the user agent presents content
Theuser agentpresents content through one or more viewports. Viewports include windows, frames, loudspeakers, and virtual magnifying glasses. A viewport may contain another viewport (e.g., nested frames). Interface components created by the user agent such as prompts, menus, and alerts are not viewports.
This definition is based onUser Agent Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 Glossary[UAAG10].
the font, size, color, and background can be set
a non-embedded resource obtained from a single URI using HTTP plus any other resources that are used in the rendering or intended to be rendered together with it by auser agent
Although any "other resources" would be rendered together with the primary resource, they would not necessarily be rendered simultaneously with each other.
For the purposes of conformance with these guidelines, a resource must be "non-embedded" within the scope of conformance to be considered a Web page.
This section contains a listing of commonuser interface componentinput purposes. The terms below are not keywords that must be used, but instead represent purposes that must be captured in the taxonomy adopted by a webpage. Where applicable, authors mark up controls with the chosen taxonomy to indicate the semantic purpose. This provides the potential for user agents and assistive technologies to apply personalized presentations that can enable more people to understand and use the content.
The list of input type purposes is based on the control purposes defined in theHTML 5.2 Autofill field section,but it is important to understand that a different technology may have some or all of the same concepts defined in its specification and only the concepts that are mapped to the meanings below are required.
The following input control purposes are intended to relate to the user of the content and pertain only to information related to that individual.
This section shows changes for WCAG 2.1 since its publication as aW3CRecommendation. These changes are also recorded aserrata.
Changes since theW3CRecommendation of 05 June 2018:
The fullcommit history to WCAG 2.1is available.
This section is non-normative.
Additional information about participation in the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG) can be found on theWorking Group home page.
Paul Adam, Jenae Andershonis, Wilhelm Joys Andersen, Andrew Arch, Avi Arditti, Aries Arditi, Mark Barratt, Mike Barta, Sandy Bartell, Kynn Bartlett, Chris Beer, Charles Belov, Marco Bertoni, Harvey Bingham, Chris Blouch, Paul Bohman, Frederick Boland, Denis Boudreau, Patrice Bourlon, Andy Brown, Dick Brown, Doyle Burnett, Raven Calais, Ben Caldwell, Tomas Caspers, Roberto Castaldo, Sofia Celic-Li, Sambhavi Chandrashekar, Mike Cherim, Jonathan Chetwynd, Wendy Chisholm, Alan Chuter, David M Clark, Joe Clark, Darcy Clarke, James Coltham, Earl Cousins, James Craig, Tom Croucher, Pierce Crowell, Nir Dagan, Daniel Dardailler, Geoff Deering, Sébastien Delorme, Pete DeVasto, Iyad Abu Doush, Sylvie Duchateau, Cherie Eckholm, Roberto Ellero, Don Evans, Gavin Evans, Neal Ewers, Steve Faulkner, Bengt Farre, Lainey Feingold, Wilco Fiers, Michel Fitos, Alan J. Flavell, Nikolaos Floratos, Kentarou Fukuda, Miguel Garcia, P.J. Gardner, Alistair Garrison, Greg Gay, Becky Gibson, Al Gilman, Kerstin Goldsmith, Michael Grade, Karl Groves, Loretta Guarino Reid, Jon Gunderson, Emmanuelle Gutiérrez y Restrepo, Brian Hardy, Eric Hansen, Benjamin Hawkes-Lewis, Sean Hayes, Shawn Henry, Hans Hillen, Donovan Hipke, Bjoern Hoehrmann, Allen Hoffman, Chris Hofstader, Yvette Hoitink, Martijn Houtepen, Carlos Iglesias, Richard Ishida, Jonas Jacek, Ian Jacobs, Phill Jenkins, Barry Johnson, Duff Johnson, Jyotsna Kaki, Shilpi Kapoor, Leonard R. Kasday, Kazuhito Kidachi, Ken Kipness, Johannes Koch, Marja-Riitta Koivunen, Preety Kumar, Kristjan Kure, Andrew LaHart, Gez Lemon, Chuck Letourneau, Aurélien Levy, Harry Loots, Scott Luebking, Tim Lacy, Jim Ley, Alex Li, William Loughborough, N Maffeo, Mark Magennis, Kapsi Maria, Luca Mascaro, Matt May, Sheena McCullagh, Liam McGee, Jens Oliver Meiert, Niqui Merret, Jonathan Metz, Alessandro Miele, Steven Miller, Mathew J Mirabella, Matt May, Marti McCuller, Sorcha Moore, Charles F. Munat, Robert Neff, Charles Nevile, Liddy Nevile, Dylan Nicholson, Bruno von Niman, Tim Noonan, Sebastiano Nutarelli, Graham Oliver, Sean B. Palmer, Devarshi Pant, Nigel Peck, Anne Pemberton, David Poehlman, Ian Pouncey, Charles Pritchard, Kerstin Probiesch, W Reagan, Adam Victor Reed, Chris Reeve, Chris Ridpath, Lee Roberts, Mark Rogers, Raph de Rooij, Gregory J. Rosmaita, Matthew Ross, Sharron Rush, Joel Sanda, Janina Sajka, Roberto Scano, Gordon Schantz, Tim van Schie, Wolf Schmidt, Stefan Schnabel, Cynthia Shelly, Glenda Sims, John Slatin, Becky Smith, Jared Smith, Andi Snow-Weaver, Neil Soiffer, Mike Squillace, Michael Stenitzer, Diane Stottlemyer, Christophe Strobbe, Sarah J Swierenga, Jim Thatcher, Terry Thompson, Justin Thorp, David Todd, Mary Utt, Jean Vanderdonckt, Carlos A Velasco, Eric Velleman, Gijs Veyfeyken, Dena Wainwright, Paul Walsch, Daman Wandke, Richard Warren, Elle Waters, Takayuki Watanabe, Gian Wild, David Wooley, Wu Wei, Kenny Zhang, Leona Zumbo.
This publication has been funded in part with U.S. Federal funds from the Health and Human Services, National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), initially under contract number ED-OSE-10-C-0067 and now under contract number HHSP23301500054C. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or the U.S. Department of Education, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.
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