WCAG 2.2 Compliance Guide

Is your website
WCAG 2.2 compliant?

WCAG 2.2 is the current W3C accessibility standard. It's referenced by the ADA, EAA, Section 508, and AODA — making it the global benchmark for web accessibility compliance.

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4,800+ADA lawsuits filed in 2024
$35KAverage ADA lawsuit settlement
June 2025WCAG 2.2 took full effect
78%WCAG issues detected automatically

Overview

What is Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2?

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 was published by the W3C in October 2023. It supersedes WCAG 2.1 and adds 9 new success criteria — 6 at Level AA and 3 at Level A and AAA. WCAG 2.2 focuses especially on users with cognitive disabilities and mobile accessibility, introducing new criteria around focus appearance, dragging movements, and consistent help. Every major accessibility law references WCAG as its technical standard: the ADA (WCAG 2.1 AA), the EU's EAA (WCAG 2.1 AA via EN 301 549), Section 508 (WCAG 2.0 AA), and Canada's AODA (WCAG 2.0 AA). Meeting WCAG 2.2 AA satisfies all of them.

Technical standard

WCAG 2.2 Level AA

Scope

Any organization covered by WCAG 2.2

Enforcement

Complaints, audits, civil litigation

ADAGuard covers

WCAG 2.2 AA — 22 check categories

Scope

Who does WCAG 2.2 apply to?

If your organization matches any category below, you are legally required to comply.

1

ADA (US) — Title II government websites

WCAG 2.1 AA required by 2026 rule; 2.2 is best practice

2

ADA (US) — Title III private businesses

WCAG 2.1 AA de facto standard in litigation

3

EAA (EU) — digital services to EU consumers

WCAG 2.1 AA via EN 301 549 (as of June 2025)

4

Section 508 (US federal contractors)

WCAG 2.0 AA; update to 2.1/2.2 anticipated

5

AODA (Ontario, Canada)

WCAG 2.0 AA; 2.2 is forward-compatible

6

EN 301 549 (EU harmonized standard)

WCAG 2.1 AA; update to 2.2 in progress

Technical checklist

What does WCAG 2.2 require?

These are the specific technical obligations your website must meet. ADAGuard automatically checks most of these on every scan.

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Focus not obscured — focused components must not be entirely hidden by author-created content (2.4.11 — NEW)

Focus appearance — keyboard focus indicator must have sufficient size and contrast (2.4.12 — NEW)

Dragging movements — all drag-based functionality must have a pointer alternative (2.5.7 — NEW)

Target size minimum — interactive targets must be at least 24×24 CSS pixels (2.5.8 — NEW)

Consistent help — help mechanisms (chat, phone, FAQs) must appear in consistent locations (3.2.6 — NEW)

Redundant entry — users should not have to re-enter information within a process (3.3.7 — NEW)

Accessible authentication — no cognitive tests required to log in (3.3.8 — NEW)

All WCAG 2.2 AA criteria (55 success criteria total at Level A and AA)

Alternative text for all meaningful images (1.1.1)

Color contrast 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text (1.4.3)

Full keyboard accessibility — no mouse required (2.1.1)

Captions for prerecorded video (1.2.2)

Risk

The cost of
non-compliance

WCAG itself is a technical standard, not a law. But failing WCAG 2.1/2.2 AA means failing the laws that reference it — which carry real penalties.

ADA lawsuits: 4,800+ federal cases filed in 2025; settlements average $25,000–$75,000

EAA fines: up to 5% of annual turnover for large EU-market businesses

Section 508: disqualification from federal contracts for non-compliant vendors

AODA penalties: up to $100,000/day for Ontario corporations

Your path to compliance

How to become WCAG 2.2 compliant

Run your free scan

Paste your URL and run a free WCAG 2.2 AA scan. ADAGuard checks 22 categories of WCAG 2.2 requirements in under 60 seconds.

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Review violations

Get a prioritized list of every violation with the failing element, the WCAG criterion, and before/after code examples to fix it.

Fix & document

Fix violations with your dev team, re-scan to verify, and download a dated audit report as evidence of your compliance effort.

Why ADAGuard

Everything you need for WCAG 2.2 compliance

One platform to scan, fix, document, and monitor your accessibility compliance.

WCAG 2.2 AA scanning

22 check categories. Real browser rendering. Not a simulated or partial test.

Element-level guidance

Every issue includes the failing HTML, the WCAG criterion, and a before/after code fix.

Compliance reports

Dated PDF audit reports to show regulators, clients, or your legal team.

Continuous monitoring

Scheduled rescans alert you when new issues appear after deploys or content updates.

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FAQ

Common questions about WCAG 2.2 compliance

Don't wait for a lawsuit.
Find out where you stand today.

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