# [Mastering web and app accessibility: A guide to WCAG 2.2, inclusive design, and accessibility laws](https://usercentrics.com/knowledge-hub/mastering-web-app-accessibility-wcag2-2-and-inclusive-design/) **Building trust with customers takes many forms. In addition to meeting WCAG requirements, provide clear information and consent options.** [Start now](https://usercentrics.com/free-trial/) --- **Author:** Tilman Harmeling · **Read time:** 9 mins · **Published:** Feb 25, 2025 **Summary:** The Web Accessibility Initiative released its latest recommendations for digital accessibility and inclusive design with the WCAG 2.2. We explore the WCAG requirements and recommendations, what accessibility laws require, and how you can provide better user experience to your full audience. Accessible design is just as important online as it is in the physical world to ensure as many people as possible can work, play, learn, and feel included. But who decides what reasonable digital accessibility looks like and how to achieve it? That's what the [Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/), published by the [Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)](https://www.w3.org/WAI/) of the [World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)](https://www.w3.org/), are meant to accomplish. The most recent version, WCAG 2.2, was released in October 2023. We look at the importance of digital accessibility, how businesses can achieve and maintain it, and how it dovetails with consent management. We'll also dig into how accessibility standards and requirements are evolving with changes in the law and societal expectations. And we'll explore the WCAG 2.2 specifically — with its highlights and implications for design and development of websites and apps. --- ## Why digital accessibility matters Digital spaces and tools have become essential for how many people around the world learn, work, create, socialize, and more. We have standards and tools to ensure that as many websites and apps as possible work well with the most systems and devices. Similarly, we have accessibility standards and legal frameworks to ensure that as many websites and apps as possible work for the largest number of people, regardless of their abilities or accommodation needs. The [World Health Organization (WHO)](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/disability-and-health) estimates that about one in six people, about 1.3 billion of us, will experience significant disability in our lifetimes, which is a very large audience to potentially exclude from equity and access online, not to mention a large potential customer base. A lack of digital accessibility can prevent people from getting educated and staying informed, earning an income, and being a part of social groups. Digital accessibility standards and requirements address and provide accommodation for a variety of physical, cognitive, and other disabilities. By implementing and maintaining digital accessibility standards, we can help to ensure that online spaces are more fair and welcoming for everyone. While ideally all websites and apps would be designed and maintained using accessibility best practices, in this as in many things, regulation is required to ensure standards are met and maintained. We will look at legal pressures and laws that have been applied to improve digital accessibility, as well as the standards themselves and their evolution. --- ## What is the WCAG 2.2? WCAG 2.2 is the latest version of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines recommendations, released in October 2023. The most recent updates to this version came out December 12, 2024. The recommendations build on WCAG 2.0 and 2.1. WCAG 2.2 addresses accessibility considerations for people with motor disabilities, cognitive and learning disabilities, and low vision. It introduces additional success criteria for web developers, like simplified navigation and text that is easy to understand, to improve accessibility and inclusivity. There is also a focus on improving consistency of experience across websites, especially for those using assistive technologies. WCAG 2.2 also refines the existing guidelines for clarity and to make implementation easier. --- ## What are the key updates with WCAG 2.2? The key updates include guidelines with a focus on user customization, reduced reliance on memory, refinements to existing criteria, and new success criteria. ### Focus on user customization This update stresses the importance of enabling users to customize their content experience, making adjustments to text sizes, fonts, colors, and other elements to better meet their needs. ### Reduced reliance on memory This update aims to ensure that users don't have to remember information across multiple pages. This is particularly meant to assist users with cognitive disabilities who may have difficulty recalling previous actions or interactions, or information they obtained from elsewhere on a website. ### Refining existing criteria These include refinements to existing success criteria from WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 to improve clarity and applicability. - **Improved clarification around focus management**: to ensure that changes in focus are managed in a predictable and accessible way, particularly to benefit users relying on keyboard navigation or screen readers. - **Refinements to requirements for visual contrast**: to ensure content is sufficiently distinguishable from its background, particularly for users with color blindness or low vision. ### WCAG 2.2 new success criteria New success criteria in WCAG 2.2 aim to improve accessibility for people with cognitive impairments and motor disabilities. - **Consistent help**: To ensure consistent help, guidance, and documentation across a website or app, meant to make assistance and instructions easier to locate and follow to reduce cognitive load. - **Pointer gestures**: To ensure that users relying on pointer gestures (e.g. via touch or a mouse) can perform the same actions with simple, uncomplicated gestures, particularly to make actions easier for those with motor disabilities. - **Dragging movements**: To ensure an alternative means of completing a dragging movement like adjusting a slider, such as via a single tap or click at point A and at point B of the drag, to make such actions easier for those with motor disabilities. - **Focus not obscured**: To ensure that focus is never completely hidden or lost behind other content, e.g. when tabbing through a website, such as when a footer is "sticky". - **Target size**: To ensure that interactive targets, such as linked icons, are large enough (at least 24 x 24 CSS pixels) that users are unlikely to miss the target or click the wrong element. - **Accessible authentication**: To ensure understandable and easily navigable authentication processes, such as logging in to an account, to reduce confusion and cognitive load for those with cognitive disabilities. - **Redundant entry**: To ensure that previously entered information remains available via auto-complete or selection when filling out a form, to prevent the need to re-enter previously provided information. - **Accessible notifications**: To ensure when changes on a web page are clearly communicated to users to reduce confusion, like when a new page loads or an error message is displayed, particularly for those with visual or auditory processing disabilities. --- ## Accessibility laws and WCAG 2.2 compliance Around the world there are a variety of laws to protect people with disabilities, enforce their rights, and facilitate their equitable participation in society. We look at some regulations that are relevant to digital accessibility and with connections to the WCAG. ### Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) The [Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)](https://www.ada.gov/) is a federal civil rights law enacted in the United States in 1990 to protect American citizens with disabilities from discrimination. It is divided into five sections: - **Title I**: Employment - **Title II**: Public Services (State and Local Government) - **Title III**: Public Accommodations and Services Operated by Private Entities - **Title IV**: Telecommunications - **Title V**: Miscellaneous Provisions In April 2024, the Department of Justice updated its regulations for Title II, publishing the Web & Mobile Application Accessibility Rule, which sets technical requirements for state and local governments to follow to ensure that their websites and mobile apps are accessible to people with disabilities. The ADA doesn't explicitly reference the WCAG or directly influence the recommendations, but both have similar goals and are updated to reflect changes in the digital landscape to improve accessibility. ### Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is a federal law in the United States, and was the first major civil rights law there addressing the needs of people with disabilities. It aims to ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal access to opportunities in public life, such as education, employment, and public services. [Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act](https://www.section508.gov/manage/laws-and-policies/) is an amendment from 1998 that requires federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. This includes websites, documents, printers or other hardware interfaces like TVs, and desktop or mobile software. Among the products and services covered are those for which digital accessibility is critical, including: - Computers and operating systems - ATMs, ticketing and check-in machines - Smartphones - TV equipment related to digital television services - Telephony services and related equipment - Access to audio-visual media services such as television broadcast and related consumer equipment - Services related to air, bus, rail and waterborne passenger transport - Banking services - ebooks - ecommerce As of June 28, 2025, all businesses will have to be fully compliant with the Act's accessibility requirements, and enforcement with potential penalties for noncompliance will begin. ### EU Web Accessibility Directive The [EU Web Accessibility Directive (WAD)](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/web-accessibility-directive-standards-and-harmonisation) is an EU-wide law that came into force in 2021 to address digital accessibility for websites and mobile apps of public sector bodies and ensure that websites and mobile apps are accessible to people with disabilities. To ensure a consistent definition of accessibility, the WAD is supported by a [harmonized technical standard](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32021D1339). Websites or mobile apps that meet all the applicable technical requirements in the standard are assumed to be compliantly accessible under the WAD. The standard has been based on the WCAG 2.1 and the WAD has a specific focus on WCAG 2.1 Level AA compliance. It's expected that the WAD will be updated to align with the WCAG 2.2. --- ## Why accessibility matters for consent management We believe that privacy is a human right, as is choice. It's also codified by an increasing number of laws around the world. This is why it's important for consent management platforms (CMP) to implement and maintain accessibility standards. A CMP with poor accessibility excludes users with disabilities, which can be a legal violation in addition to bad user experience that alienates audiences and can negatively impact your business's reputation. If a user can't easily access or read legally required notifications about what data your business collects, why it's processed, and what their rights are and how to exercise them, legally can their consent be considered informed? If a user can't easily express choices about what cookie uses they consent to, legally can their consent be considered explicit under laws like the [GDPR](https://usercentrics.com/gdpr/)? Beyond questions of consent, delivering a worse website experience for some users could be construed as discriminatory, violating requirements of various laws meant to protect users with disabilities. In addition to legal issues, poor accessibility sends a loud, clear message that your website or app — and by extension, your company — doesn't care about a substantial audience or their privacy rights, and doesn't want them as visitors or customers. If a company doesn't care about that, users may wonder what other legal requirements a company is ignoring or corners they might be cutting. In some cases, such a lack of accessibility would be a clear signal for people to take their engagement, personal data, and wallets elsewhere. In other cases, there may not be other options, and users would be prevented from doing important things online or exercising their legal rights to privacy and choice. As outlined above, CMPs need to address a diverse set of needs, whether it's reducing the cognitive load of navigation, making buttons easy to read and click, or providing a well integrated experience for users relying on assistive technologies. Delivering on these workflows and functions shows attention to detail, respect for the law, care for your audience, and builds trust. ### How a WCAG 2.2-qualified CMP like Usercentrics CMPs works Usercentrics is WCAG 2.2 AA certified for the Web CMP, and working toward certification for Usercentrics App CMP. In addition to our websites, our CMP products meet digital accessibility standards. These include following accessible design principles for user interfaces and consent workflows; testing to ensure compatibility and interoperability with assistive technologies like voice control or screen readers; and flexible, user-friendly interfaces with focus management and enhanced keyboard navigation. International data privacy laws require that users have easy access to clear notifications about what data is collected, how it's used, who it may be shared with, and other factors, including what users' rights are and how to exercise them. To meet digital accessibility standards users with disabilities need to be able to easily find, navigate to, and read or listen to this information in consent banners. Once informed, users with disabilities need to be able to make choices to accept use of all cookies, some cookies for specific purposes, or deny all but essential cookie use. This requires them to be able to easily find, navigate to, and perform explicit actions like clicking a button or moving a toggle or slider. Many laws also require them (and all users) to be able to return to that functionality to change their consent preferences in the future. Individuals with disabilities need to be able to access this information and complete these functions as easily as all other users, for all relevant interfaces, including websites, apps, and other connected platforms. Companies banking on continued growth need to prioritize digital accessibility standards for audiences of all abilities and in all jurisdictions. European users with disabilities need the same access to manage granular consent under the GDPR as users in California do to opt out of the sharing or sale of their personal data, even if they don't have to provide prior consent in most cases. Usercentrics [Web CMP](https://usercentrics.com/website-consent-management/) and [App CMP](https://usercentrics.com/in-app-sdk/) meet WCAG standards to enable your business to provide users with disabilities with an equal and user-friendly website or app experience to get informed about consent and exercise their choices. Meet data privacy and accessibility regulatory requirements, provide great user experience, and build long-term trust with your audience. --- ## Frequently asked questions ### What is WCAG? The WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines which have been designed to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. The WCAG is developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) via the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The guidelines apply to websites, apps, and other digital platforms and content, with the goal to ensure they are accessible and user-friendly to as many people online as possible. Some types of disabilities addressed by the guidelines include visual, auditory, cognitive, and motor disabilities. ### What is WCAG compliance? WCAG compliance refers to meeting the requirements of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This helps ensure that as many users as possible can access and use websites, apps, and other digital platforms. Websites and apps need to meet certain standards and criteria outlined in the WCAG to accommodate users with sensory, motor, or cognitive disabilities. There are three levels for compliance, A, AA, and AAA, which is the highest accessibility standard. ### What is WCAG compliance level access? WCAG compliance level access refers to the three levels of conformance that a website, app, or other platform and its digital content can work toward and achieve when following the WCAG. There are three levels: A, AA, and AAA, with the latter being the highest standard. ### What is WCAG AA compliance? WCAG AA compliance refers to the second of three levels of accessibility conformance organizations can achieve when implementing WCAG recommendations. It means that the site, app, etc. meets a higher standard than for A compliance, but not as high as for AAA. ### What is WCAG AAA? WCAG AAA is the highest accessibility standard that organizations can achieve when implementing WCAG guidelines. It means that an organization is doing the most to accommodate the most users and assist those with sensory, cognitive, and/or motor disabilities on websites, apps, and other digital platforms. ### What's included in a WCAG 2.2 checklist? The WCAG 2.2 contains many recommendations, but criteria that should be included in in a checklist would be: - Perceivable, e.g. providing alternatives for text-based options and making elements adjustable and adaptable - Operable, e.g. enabling users to easily perform functions or move from one function to the next, including keyboard or mouse use, gestures, etc. - Understandable, e.g. readability and clarity of text, whether informative or instructional - Robust, e.g. compatibility with assistive technologies, including interactions with on-screen elements like form controls ### Does WCAG apply to mobile apps? Yes, WCAG guidelines apply to mobile apps. The guidelines were originally developed for websites and web content, but the mobile platform continues to grow in popularity. Version 2.0 and 2.1 were web-centric, but 2.2 has more mobile-specific recommendations that apply to web viewing, in-app browsers, and mobile screen interactions. ### When was WCAG 2.2 released? WCAG 2.2 was released in October 2023. The latest updates were released in December 2024. ### Is WCAG a legal requirement? WCAG guidelines are not explicitly a legal requirement. However, complying with WCAG and implementing the recommendations can help fulfill legal obligations in many jurisdictions, as governments and organizations often use WCAG as a standard for accessibility. 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