WCAG Level AA
The legal standard worldwide — 24 additional criteria (55 total with A). Includes color contrast (1.4.3), reflow (1.4.10), focus visible (2.4.7), and all 4 new WCAG 2.2 AA criteria. Target this level. Referenced by ADA, EAA, Section 508, and EN 301 549.
The level nearly every accessibility law asks for. This is the practical target to aim for.
WCAG 2.2 Level AA includes all Level A criteria plus 24 additional criteria. The 4 new WCAG 2.2 criteria at Level AA are: Focus Not Obscured / Minimum (2.4.11), Dragging Movements (2.5.7), Target Size / Minimum (2.5.8), and Accessible Authentication / Minimum (3.3.8). WCAG 2.2 also added Consistent Help (3.2.6) and Redundant Entry (3.3.7) at Level A.
WebAIM's annual scan of the top million homepages consistently finds that ~96% of automatically detected WCAG errors fall into just 6 categories: low contrast, missing alt text, missing form labels, empty links, empty buttons, and missing document language. Fixing these 6 issues delivers the highest return on accessibility investment.
Why this matters
Level AA is the legal standard worldwide. It includes 55 total criteria (31 from Level A + 24 Level AA) and is referenced by the ADA, European Accessibility Act, Section 508, EN 301 549, and virtually every national accessibility law. If you're not sure what to target, target AA.
How to detect
A full WCAG 2.2 AA audit requires both automated testing (catches ~30-40% of issues) and manual testing (keyboard navigation, screen reader testing, zoom testing, and expert review). Plan for both.
How to fix
/* WCAG 2.2 AA checklist — the 6 most impactful fixes */
/* 1. Color contrast — 4.5:1 minimum */
body { color: #09090b; background: #fff; }
/* 2. Alt text on every meaningful image */
/* <img src="..." alt="Description of purpose" /> */
/* 3. Labels on every form input */
/* <label for="id">Label</label><input id="id" /> */
/* 4. Visible focus indicators */
:focus-visible { outline: 2px solid #18181b; outline-offset: 2px; }
/* 5. Document language */
/* <html lang="en"> */
/* 6. Descriptive link text */
/* <a href="...">Download the 2024 annual report (PDF)</a> */