WCAG 2.1 Compliance and the Americans with Disabilities Act
The first thing you need to know about the WCAG or Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is that it is not a set of laws or even part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). However, the WCAG does serve as an essential guideline for website compatibility standards that have been used in American courts and by many worldwide legislations. It has been adopted as the standard for accessibility laws worldwide, beginning as early as 2010 by the European Union (EU). What is interesting about what we know of as WCAG 2.1 compliance today is that it was born from a series of protocols and website compatibility standards created by the World Wide Web Consortium, known as the W3C. With roots in the Laboratory of Computer Science at MIT, the organization’s initial founding members had a shared goal of establishing standards to ensure compatibility between websites and web tools, such as browsers, devices, and programs.
Three Levels of Compliance
Like the W3C, the WCAG 2.1 compliance includes three specific levels ranging from A to AAA. Currently, most courts in the United States require websites to comply with the WCAG at level AA compliance standards. This stems from the updated version of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which requires every online platform run by federal entities or organizations that receive federal funding to be accessible for all users. This includes all federal, state, and local government agencies and departments. Additionally, whenever lawsuits have been filed by individuals or groups in the United States to sue businesses with websites that are not accessible, the courts have required those websites to achieve a level AA compliance standard. Another term that is frequently used with discussing web content accessibility is WCAG ADA compliance, which simply means that complying with the WCAG will help organizations achieve ADA standards for compliance.
Other examples of WCAG 2.1 compliance standards include the adoption of WCAG 2.0 level AA compliance for all official European Union websites. In 2016, those standards requirements expanded to include all public sector web platforms to meet the new WCAG 2.1 standards, set to become law in 2025 as part of the European Accessibility Act (EAA). The Australian Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) was enacted in 1992, and similar to the ADA in the United States, it was eventually expanded to include online services. Currently, it is “strongly encouraged” for all business and service websites to meet the latest WCAG 2.1 compliance standards to avoid violations of the DDA. In 2017, the Israeli government established the Israel Standard (IS) 5568, which requires most businesses to make websites accessible based on WCAG. In 2019, the Canadian government passed the Accessible Canada Act (ACA), followed by several provincial accessibility laws, which all require WCAG for compliance standards.
The Basic Standards of WCAG
At first glance, you will notice that the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are extremely lengthy and complex, offering a great deal of information regarding the various requirements. However, when these guidelines are broken down, it becomes clear that four primary principles must be obeyed in order to achieve compliance. Those principles include perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust, which all relate to the experience that an individual has when visiting a website. The term perceivable covers the different ways that a user can perceive content via a website, including sight, sound, and touch. This helps cover specific issues, such as adjusting text for contrast, color, size, spacing, and font to make it easier to read.
The term operable is used to describe the way that an individual can use or interact with the website. This is essential for those who may have physical or motor disabilities and provides that the website must be navigable by tools other than the traditional mouse. The third principle is understandable, which means designing sites that are easy for everyone to understand. Avoiding complicated technical terms and language or instructions that are difficult to follow will eliminate confusion for visitors. The final principle is robust, which includes two specific areas of compliance. The use of clean HTML and CSS code, which meets the recognized standards set by the W3C and compatibility with assistive tools and technology used by people with disabilities to browse online, are all included in this principle.
Is Your Website WCAG ADA Compliant?
To determine if your business or organization meets website compatibility standards for web content accessibility under ADA regulations and WCAG 2.1 level AA compliance, get scanned for FREE with Accessible Internet. Our free Accessibility Scanning Tool can help you take the first essential step toward becoming compatible with the Americans with Disabilities Act to protect your website and offer equal opportunities and access for all. You can also contact our team at 1-800-999-9999 to learn more about the cutting-edge technology we use to ensure our clients meet compliance standards set by WCAG 2.1 AA, ADA Title III, Section 508, and EAA/EN 301549.