WCAG 2.2 compliance checklist 2026

WCAG 2.2 is the accessibility standard behind most legal requirements in 2026, including the European Accessibility Act and ADA. If you want to know whether your site meets it, this checklist gives you the checks to run, organised by conformance level, in plain language. Work through it manually, alongside an automated scan, or both.

What this checklist covers

WCAG 2.2 has three conformance levels: A, AA, and AAA. This checklist covers Level A and Level AA. Level AA is the legal standard required by the EAA, ADA, and most international accessibility regulations. Level AAA is aspirational and not legally required in most jurisdictions.

WCAG 2.2 is backwards-compatible with version 2.1. Meeting 2.2 also means meeting 2.1, so this checklist supersedes any 2.1-only checklist you may have used previously.

Level A: the minimum required

Level A criteria are non-negotiable. Failing them means some users cannot access or use your site at all.

Images and text alternatives

• [ ] All images that convey information have alt text that describes what they show (1.1.1)
• [ ] Decorative images (backgrounds, spacers, purely visual elements) have empty alt attributes (alt="")
• [ ] Linked images have alt text that describes the link destination, not the image itself
• [ ] Complex visuals such as charts and diagrams have a longer description available nearby or via a text alternative

The most common failure here: leaving alt text blank on informational images, or using the filename as alt text (“img_0293.jpg”). Neither describes anything useful to someone who cannot see the image.

Video and audio

• [ ] Pre-recorded videos that include speech or meaningful audio have captions (1.2.2)
• [ ] Audio-only content such as podcasts or standalone recordings has a text transcript (1.2.1)
• [ ] Pre-recorded videos with important visual content have an audio description or transcript that covers what is shown (1.2.3)
• [ ] Nothing on the page auto-plays with sound (1.4.2)

Keyboard access

Keyboard accessibility matters for users who cannot use a mouse, including screen reader users and people with motor impairments.

• [ ] Every interactive element (links, buttons, forms, dropdown menus, modal dialogs) can be reached and activated by keyboard alone (2.1.1)
• [ ] There are no keyboard traps: users can navigate into and out of every component without getting stuck (2.1.2)
• [ ] The keyboard focus indicator is visible at all times when navigating by keyboard (2.4.7)

A common keyboard trap is a modal dialog that absorbs Tab key presses without providing a way to close it. Open any modal on your site and try pressing Tab and Escape to check.

Page structure and navigation

• [ ] Every page has a unique, descriptive title in the browser tab (2.4.2)
• [ ] Headings follow a logical hierarchy (H1 for the page title, H2 for main sections, H3 for subsections) and describe the content beneath them (1.3.1)
• [ ] Links use descriptive anchor text, not “click here”, “read more”, or “here” (2.4.4)
• [ ] Pages include a skip navigation link so keyboard users can bypass repeated header content (2.4.1)
• [ ] The primary language of the page is declared in the HTML lang attribute (3.1.1)

Level AA: the legal standard

Level AA extends the baseline with requirements for visual presentation, adaptability, and interaction. This is the level required by the EAA, ADA, and most accessibility regulations in 2026.

Colour contrast

Contrast failures are among the most common accessibility issues on websites, and one of the easiest to overlook when choosing brand colours.

• [ ] Normal text (below 18pt, or below 14pt bold) has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background (1.4.3)
• [ ] Large text (18pt or larger, or 14pt bold or larger) has a contrast ratio of at least 3:1 (1.4.3)
• [ ] UI components such as form field borders, button outlines, and focus rings have at least 3:1 contrast against adjacent colours (1.4.11)

Light grey text on a white background, or coloured buttons with similar-value backgrounds, are common failures. If your brand palette was chosen for aesthetics alone, contrast checks are worth running carefully.

Text resize and layout

• [ ] Text can be resized to 200% using browser settings without loss of content or functionality (1.4.4)
• [ ] Content reflows into a single column at 320px equivalent width without requiring horizontal scrolling (1.4.10)
• [ ] Users can adjust text spacing (line height, letter spacing, word spacing, paragraph spacing) without the layout breaking (1.4.12)

Forms and error handling

Forms are a frequent source of accessibility failures, particularly around how errors are presented and how fields are identified.

• [ ] Every form field has a visible, associated label (not just placeholder text, which disappears when a user starts typing) (1.3.1, 3.3.2)
• [ ] Error messages clearly identify which field failed and explain the issue in plain language (3.3.1, 3.3.3)
• [ ] Required fields are identified before the user submits (3.3.2)
• [ ] When an input format is known (dates, phone numbers, postcodes), instructions or examples are provided (3.3.3)

New in WCAG 2.2: criteria that weren’t in 2.1

WCAG 2.2, published in October 2023, added several Level AA criteria not present in 2.1. If your last accessibility audit was against WCAG 2.1, these are the gaps to close.

• [ ] Focus appearance (2.4.11): The keyboard focus indicator must meet minimum size and contrast requirements. Not just visible, but distinct enough to be usable by someone with low vision.
• [ ] Accessible authentication (3.3.8): Login processes must not require a cognitive function test (solving a puzzle, identifying objects in images) without an alternative. A standard email and password form passes. A CAPTCHA with no bypass option does not.
• [ ] Dragging movements (2.5.7): Any functionality that uses dragging (sliders, drag-and-drop interfaces, reorderable lists) must also be operable with a single pointer action such as clicking.
• [ ] Target size minimum (2.5.8): Interactive targets must be at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels.

For a full breakdown of what changed between versions, see what changed in WCAG 2.2 and what it means for your site.

How to check your site faster

Working through this checklist manually is thorough, but it takes time. An automated accessibility scan covers a significant portion of Level A and AA checks in one pass, giving you a baseline before your manual review begins. Colour contrast, missing alt text, heading structure, missing form labels, keyboard focus, language attributes, and page titles can all be identified automatically.

The practical approach: run an automated scan first, then use this checklist to focus your manual effort on what automated tools cannot evaluate: whether your alt text is actually descriptive (not just present), whether your error messages are useful to someone who doesn’t know what went wrong, and whether your login form meets the accessible authentication criteria.

Run a free accessibility scan on Scanluma to get a detailed report in under a minute, including the specific pages and elements where issues appear.

What this checklist doesn’t cover

Level AAA is not included here. It covers criteria such as sign language interpretation for video, extended audio descriptions, and reading level requirements. Level AAA is not required by the EAA, ADA, or most international accessibility regulations.

This checklist covers common website patterns. Complex custom widgets, data-heavy tables, and single-page applications with dynamic content may need manual testing beyond what a standard checklist captures.

For a complete reference of all WCAG success criteria, see the WCAG compliance overview.

Frequently asked questions

Next steps

This checklist tells you what to look for. An automated scan tells you where your site currently stands.

Run a free scan on Scanluma and get detailed results in under a minute: which pages and elements have issues, with plain-language descriptions of what to address.

Start your free scan

For a more detailed process covering how to interpret results, prioritise fixes, and validate your work, see the website accessibility audit guide.