Every WCAG 2.2 requirement, one working checklist

What is a WCAG 2.2 compliance checklist?

WCAG 2.2 - the current version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines - contains 86 testable success criteria organized under four principles: content must be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust (POUR). Each criterion carries a level: A (the floor), AA (the standard target) or AAA (aspirational). Conforming at Level AA means meeting the 31 Level A and the 24 Level AA criteria - 55 checks in all, and that is what this checklist covers.

Level AA is the target because it is the bar the outside world uses: courts and regulators point to WCAG AA when they define what an accessible website is, which makes these 55 items the closest thing web accessibility has to an official to-do list. WCAG 2.2 builds on 2.1 - everything you did for 2.1 still counts - adding six new A/AA criteria and retiring one old one (4.1.1).

Every item below links to its page in our criteria library, where each criterion in the standard is explained one by one: what it requires in plain language, who depends on it, how to meet it and the failures that trip sites up.

How to use this checklist

Treat the list as a workflow, not a scorecard:

1. Scan first. Run the free accessibility checker on your key templates, or the crawler across the whole site. Automation reliably tests roughly a third of the criteria - contrast, alt text, labels, ARIA, structure - and hands you an instant list of confirmed failures to start from.
2. Fix templates, not pages. Most failures live in shared components; one fixed header, form or card closes the same finding on every page that uses it.
3. Let automation carry its share - and only its share. EqualWeb's accessibility widget resolves ~80% of the common issues automation can recognize, which accelerates remediation enormously. But no tool ticks items off this checklist for you: a criterion counts as met only when testing on your real pages shows it holds.
4. Verify the rest by hand. A keyboard-only pass, a screen reader pass and a 400% zoom pass on your critical flows cover most of what machines cannot judge - the remaining two thirds of the criteria.
5. Date and document each pass. A checklist you can show - who tested what, when, and what was fixed - is the evidence that matters if a demand letter ever arrives.

Perceivable - 20 criteria (9 A, 11 AA)

Information and interface components must be presentable in ways users can perceive - see it, hear it, or read it through assistive technology.

• 1.1.1 Non-text Content A - Every meaningful image, icon and chart has a text alternative that serves its purpose; decorative images are marked to be skipped.
• 1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded) A - Audio-only content has a transcript; video with no soundtrack has a text or audio equivalent.
• 1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded) A - Every prerecorded video with sound carries accurate synchronized captions.
• 1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded) A - Prerecorded video has an audio description or a full text alternative of what happens on screen.
• 1.2.4 Captions (Live) AA - Live streams and webinars have real-time captions.
• 1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded) AA - Prerecorded video has audio description for visual information the soundtrack does not convey.
• 1.3.1 Info and Relationships A - Headings, lists, tables and form labels are real markup, not just visual styling.
• 1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence A - The reading order in the code matches the order that makes sense.
• 1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics A - Instructions never depend on shape, color or position alone ("click the green button on the right").
• 1.3.4 Orientation AA - Content works in both portrait and landscape; orientation is never locked without an essential reason.
• 1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose AA - Common personal fields (name, email, address) carry autocomplete attributes.
• 1.4.1 Use of Color A - Color is never the only way information is conveyed.
• 1.4.2 Audio Control A - Audio that starts automatically can be paused, stopped or muted.
• 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum) AA - Body text reaches 4.5:1 contrast against its background; large text reaches 3:1.
• 1.4.4 Resize Text AA - Text resizes to 200% without losing content or function.
• 1.4.5 Images of Text AA - Real text is used instead of pictures of text (logos excepted).
• 1.4.10 Reflow AA - The page reflows at 320px width (400% zoom) with no horizontal scrolling.
• 1.4.11 Non-text Contrast AA - Controls, focus indicators and meaningful graphics reach 3:1 contrast.
• 1.4.12 Text Spacing AA - Nothing clips or overlaps when users increase line height and letter, word and paragraph spacing.
• 1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus AA - Tooltips and popovers can be dismissed, can be hovered, and stay visible until dismissed.

Operable - 20 criteria (14 A, 6 AA)

Navigation and interaction must work for everyone - keyboard-only users, people with tremors, people who cannot see a pointer.

• 2.1.1 Keyboard A - Everything on the page can be operated with a keyboard alone.
• 2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap A - Keyboard focus can always move away from every component - no traps.
• 2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts A - Single-character shortcuts can be turned off or remapped.
• 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable A - Time limits can be turned off, adjusted or extended before they expire.
• 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide A - Carousels, animations and auto-updating content can be paused, stopped or hidden.
• 2.3.1 Three Flashes or Below Threshold A - Nothing flashes more than three times per second.
• 2.4.1 Bypass Blocks A - A skip link or landmarks let users jump past repeated navigation.
• 2.4.2 Page Titled A - Every page has a unique, descriptive title.
• 2.4.3 Focus Order A - Tabbing moves through the page in an order that preserves meaning.
• 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) A - Every link makes its destination clear from its text or immediate context - no bare "click here".
• 2.4.5 Multiple Ways AA - There is more than one way to reach a page: navigation plus search or a sitemap.
• 2.4.6 Headings and Labels AA - Headings and labels actually describe the content or control they introduce.
• 2.4.7 Focus Visible AA - Keyboard focus is always visibly indicated.
• 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) AA - The focused element is never completely hidden behind sticky headers, footers or cookie banners. New in 2.2.
• 2.5.1 Pointer Gestures A - Swipe, pinch and other path-based gestures have single-tap alternatives.
• 2.5.2 Pointer Cancellation A - Actions complete on release, not on press, so a wrong tap can be cancelled.
• 2.5.3 Label in Name A - A control's accessible name contains its visible label (voice control depends on it).
• 2.5.4 Motion Actuation A - Anything triggered by shaking or tilting the device has a conventional control too.
• 2.5.7 Dragging Movements AA - Every drag-and-drop action has a simple click or tap alternative. New in 2.2.
• 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) AA - Targets are at least 24×24 CSS pixels, or spaced far enough apart. New in 2.2.

Understandable - 13 criteria (7 A, 6 AA)

Content and controls must behave predictably, read clearly, and forgive mistakes.

• 3.1.1 Language of Page A - The page declares its language (lang attribute on the html element).
• 3.1.2 Language of Parts AA - Passages in another language are marked with their own lang attribute.
• 3.2.1 On Focus A - Focusing an element never triggers an unexpected change of context.
• 3.2.2 On Input A - Changing a field or setting never submits or redirects by surprise.
• 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation AA - Repeated navigation appears in the same order on every page.
• 3.2.4 Consistent Identification AA - The same function is named and labeled the same way everywhere.
• 3.2.6 Consistent Help A - Help options - contact details, chat, FAQ - sit in the same place on every page. New in 2.2.
• 3.3.1 Error Identification A - Errors are identified in text that says which field failed and why.
• 3.3.2 Labels or Instructions A - Every input has a visible label or clear instructions.
• 3.3.3 Error Suggestion AA - Error messages suggest how to fix the problem.
• 3.3.4 Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data) AA - Legal, financial and data submissions can be reviewed, corrected or reversed.
• 3.3.7 Redundant Entry A - Information already entered in a process is never demanded again. New in 2.2.
• 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum) AA - Logging in never requires memorizing or transcribing; paste and password managers are allowed. New in 2.2.

Robust - 2 criteria (1 A, 1 AA)

Content must keep working as browsers and assistive technologies evolve.

• 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value A - Custom components expose their name, role and state to assistive technology.
• 4.1.3 Status Messages AA - Status updates ("Added to cart", "3 results found") are announced without stealing focus.

Robust used to hold a third criterion: 4.1.1 Parsing was removed in WCAG 2.2 because modern browsers already repair the markup errors it targeted. If your old checklist still lists it, cross it off.

The 9 new success criteria in WCAG 2.2

If your site already met WCAG 2.1 AA, these are the only additions between you and 2.2 - six at A/AA (on the checklist above) and three at AAA (beyond the legal target, listed for completeness):

Checking the checklist: automated vs manual

The honest split for verifying these 55 items:

• Automation tests about a third of them. Criteria with machine-decidable answers - contrast ratios, missing alt text, unlabeled fields, missing lang, broken ARIA - are exactly what scanners catch. Run the free accessibility checker on any page for an instant WCAG report, and keep monitoring on so a passing item cannot quietly regress after the next release.
• People verify the rest. Focus order, alt-text quality, gesture alternatives, error handling, reading sequence - roughly two thirds of the criteria are judgement calls. Certified auditors work the full list criterion by criterion and hand you a documented audit report, which doubles as your compliance evidence.

The split is the same whether your target is ADA compliance, the European Accessibility Act or a national standard - they all resolve to these WCAG criteria, and full WCAG compliance always takes both halves. For the how-to on each half, see WCAG testing.

Frequently asked questions

Last updated 17 August 2026. Reviewed by the EqualWeb accessibility team.