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WCAG 2.1 AA: what it requires and how to test your site against it
WCAG 2.1 Level AA is the version most US rules and contracts name today, including the ADA Title II web rule. It has 50 success criteria. Here is what they ask for, which ones sites fail most, and how to find out where yours stands.
What Level AA means
WCAG sorts its success criteria into three levels. Level A is the floor. Level AA adds the criteria that remove the most common barriers and is what laws and contracts ask for. Level AAA is stricter and is not required as a whole by any general rule.
To conform at AA a page must meet every Level A and every Level AA criterion. WCAG 2.1 has 30 at Level A and 20 at Level AA, 50 in total. There is no partial credit: a page either meets a criterion or it does not.
The requirements, grouped
| Area | What AA asks for | Key criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Images and media | Text alternatives for images; captions for video; audio description for prerecorded video | 1.1.1, 1.2.2, 1.2.4, 1.2.5 |
| Structure | Headings, lists, tables and form labels marked up as what they are; a sensible reading order | 1.3.1, 1.3.2, 1.3.5 |
| Colour and contrast | 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text and for the parts of controls and graphics you need to see; never colour alone | 1.4.1, 1.4.3, 1.4.11 |
| Zoom and small screens | Text resizes to 200%; content reflows at 320 CSS pixels wide without sideways scrolling; works in both orientations | 1.4.4, 1.4.10, 1.3.4 |
| Keyboard | Everything operable by keyboard, no traps, visible focus, logical focus order, a way to skip repeated blocks | 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.4.1, 2.4.3, 2.4.7 |
| Navigation | Page titles, descriptive headings and link text, more than one way to find a page | 2.4.2, 2.4.4, 2.4.5, 2.4.6 |
| Forms | Labels, errors identified in text, suggestions for fixing them, review step for legal and financial submissions | 3.3.1 to 3.3.4 |
| Code that assistive technology reads | Every control exposes a name, role and state; status messages are announced | 4.1.2, 4.1.3 |
Paste your address and see what fails WCAG 2.2 AA, where, and the code that fixes it. Starter $39/mo · Pro $129/mo. Refund within 14 days if it misses.
Check my siteWho has to meet WCAG 2.1 AA, and when
- US state and local governments, and contractors that provide their services: required by the ADA Title II web rule. After the interim final rule of April 20, 2026, the dates are April 26, 2027 for entities serving 50,000 people or more, and April 26, 2028 for smaller entities and special districts. See ADA Title II.
- Vendors to those governments: agencies pass the requirement down in contracts and ask for a conformance report. See VPAT.
- Private businesses: no federal rule names a version for them, but 2.1 AA is what demand letters, settlements and auditors measure against. See ADA website compliance.
- EU public procurement: the EN 301 549 standard incorporates WCAG 2.1.
How to test your site against it
- Run a rule check on your main templates. It settles the machine-decidable criteria fast: missing alt attributes, unlabeled fields, low contrast in plain cases, missing page language.
- Put the mouse away. Tab through each page. Can you reach and operate everything, see where you are, and get out of every menu and dialog?
- Zoom to 200% and narrow the window to 320 pixels. Nothing should be cut off or need sideways scrolling.
- Check what controls announce. A button that shows only an icon needs an accessible name.
- Read the alt text and link text. 'image123.jpg' and 'click here' pass a scanner and fail a person.
- Write it down per criterion, with the date, and test again after fixes.
Our audit does steps 1 to 6 in a real browser on up to 10 pages each month and writes the fix for each failure. Step 1 for one page is free: check your site.
Questions
How many success criteria are in WCAG 2.1 AA?
50: 30 at Level A and 20 at Level AA. WCAG 2.0 AA had 38; WCAG 2.1 added 12 at these two levels, mostly for mobile use, low vision and cognitive needs.
Is WCAG 2.1 AA the same as ADA compliance?
For state and local governments, yes: the Title II rule names WCAG 2.1 AA as the technical standard. For private businesses the ADA names no version, and 2.1 AA is the measure used in practice.
Should I test against 2.1 or 2.2?
Test against 2.2 AA. It includes every 2.1 AA requirement that still applies and adds six criteria at A and AA, so one test answers both.
What do sites fail most often?
In the job posts we read, owners and auditors list the same handful: colour contrast, image alt text, form labels, heading structure, link text, keyboard focus and tab order.
Paste your address and see what fails WCAG 2.2 AA, where, and the code that fixes it. Starter $39/mo · Pro $129/mo. Refund within 14 days if it misses.
Check my siteMore about WCAG Audit
Sources (checked 2026-11-11): www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/ · www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/new-in-22/ · www.ada.gov/resources/2024-03-08-web-rule/ · www.itic.org/policy/accessibility/vpat