Did you know that 1 in 4 people have a disability, and that 80% of disabilities are invisible?
If you want to create digital products and experiences that can be enjoyed by everyone, you must design with accessibility in mind. Otherwise, you’re excluding a huge portion of the population.
Interestingly, 70-80% of accessibility issues can be avoided at the design stage, and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) can help you.
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, are a set of universal rules and standards created to make digital content more accessible and inclusive.
In this guide, we’ll explain exactly what the WCAG are, why they’re so important, and how to use them within your design practice. Consider this essential reading if you’re involved in the design or development of any kind of digital product.
What are the WCAG guidelines?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, or WCAG, are a set of guidelines designed to make digital content more accessible to people with disabilities.
The purpose of the WCAG is to ensure that websites, apps, and digital tools can be used by as many people as possible, including those who are blind or visually impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, or have cognitive or motor disabilities.
Who is responsible for the WCAG, and where do they come from?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are published by the World Wide Web Consortium (or W3C, as it’s more commonly known). The W3C was founded by Tim Berners-Lee (who also invented the World Wide Web!), and it’s the main international organisation that develops open standards for the web. That is: technical rules and guidelines that are publicly available to everyone, and developed through a collaborative, transparent process involving experts, organisations, and the public. Ultimately, you can think of the WCAG as a set of common standards and rules for how the web should function in a way that’s fair, accessible, and inclusive for everyone.
We’ll talk more about the WCAG’s core principles later on. But first, let’s consider why these guidelines are so important.
Why are the WCAG guidelines more important than ever in 2025?
The WCAG have been around for years. The very first version, WCAG 1.0, was published way back in 1999, so the idea of digital accessibility is certainly nothing new. But, in light of the European Accessibility Act, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are now very much in the spotlight.
So what exactly is the European Accessibility Act (EAA) and what’s it got to do with WCAG?
The European Accessibility Act is an EU directive aimed at enhancing the accessibility of key products and services for people with disabilities. The Act covers a broad range of products and services, like websites, mobile apps, ATMs, ticket machines, and e-books, with the goal of establishing a universal standard across all EU member states. While the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines aren’t directly referenced in the legislation, aligning with WCAG will be crucial for ensuring compliance with the European Accessibility Act. And, with two important EAA compliance deadlines on the horizon, getting to grips with the WCAG is more important than ever. If you’re affected by the European Accessibility Act (i.e. if you’re based in one of the EU member states, or selling products and services to customers who are based in the EU), there are two key deadlines you need to be aware of:
- 28th June 2025: As of this date, any new products and services must fully comply with the European Accessibility Act.
- 28th June 2030: By this point, all affected products and services — whether new or old — must be fully compliant with the European Accessibility Act.
As these compliance deadlines draw closer, there’s a renewed sense of urgency around digital accessibility — and, consequently, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Read also: News alert: Businesses at risk of legal claims as EU accessibility deadline looms. If you’re not familiar with the European Accessibility Act, we’ve written about it in more detail here: What is the European Accessibility Act and what does it mean for the design industry?
Who needs to comply with WCAG — and what happens if you don’t?
From a legal standpoint, anyone who is required to comply with the European Accessibility Act must ultimately comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. This includes:
- Businesses based in a country within the European Union and offering products/services within the affected categories
- Businesses offering digital products and services to customers who are based in the EU (even if the business itself is outside of the EU)
For such organisations, aligning with the WCAG is the clearest and most effective route to EAA compliance, and failure to do so could result in fines, penalties, or being excluded from public procurement opportunities. But adhering to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines isn’t just a matter of legal compliance; it’s a matter of responsibility. Regardless of whether or not you’re impacted by the EAA, if you’re creating any type of digital product, service, or content, you should care about accessibility. Why? Because accessible design is ultimately good design. When you prioritise accessibility, you’re creating experiences that everyone can enjoy — and isn’t that what we want for all products and services? If you ignore accessibility, you risk excluding people, creating a subpar user experience, and missing out on valuable customers. That’s not great for your reputation — and it’s certainly not great from a financial perspective. So, if you care about good business and good design, you need to care about accessible design, and complying with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines is the best place to start. With that, let’s explore the key principles that underpin the WCAG.
The four key principles of WCAG (the POUR principles)
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are built on four main principles. According to these principles, all digital content must be:
1. Perceivable: All information and user interface components (buttons, menus, forms, and so on) must be presented in ways that people can perceive or “take in” — regardless of their sensory abilities. This means providing alternative text for images, captions for videos, and generally ensuring that content can be presented in different formats without losing its meaning.
2. Operable: Users should be able to navigate and interact with the product interface in a way that works for them. That might involve using a keyboard instead of a mouse, being able to pause moving content, or making buttons large enough that they can be tapped easily on a touchscreen without error.
3. Understandable: This principle is all about clarity and predictability. It includes things like using plain language and avoiding jargon, providing helpful instructions and feedback, and using consistent and intuitive layouts and navigation.
4. Robust: Digital content must perform reliably across a range of browsers, devices, and assistive technologies — not only right now, but also as tech evolves. This means using clean code and building digital products with flexibility in mind.
Within these four principles, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines can be translated into concrete design decisions that impact how people experience your product. That includes things like:
- Making sure text is easy to read with clear fonts, adequate spacing, and appropriate font sizes
- Ensuring sufficient colour contrast between text and background so that content remains visible to people with low vision or colour blindness
- Providing alternative text (alt text) for images so that screen readers can accurately describe them
- Ensuring all functionality is available with a keyboard (not just with a mouse or touchscreen)
- Avoiding flashing content that could trigger seizures
- Writing clear, concise copy and using a logical structure to guide users
- Writing helpful error messages and paying attention to form design, ensuring forms are easy to complete
- Creating content that works well with assistive technology, like screen readers or voice input tools
Those are just a few examples of what the WCAG might look like in practice. We’ll share tools and resources to help you align with the WCAG in a later section — but before that, let’s consider the various levels of compliance.
Understanding the three levels of WCAG compliance: A, AA, and AAA
The Website Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are organised into three levels of compliance: A, AA, and AAA. Note that these levels relate to WCAG 2.1, which is the version you’ll need to comply with under the European Accessibility Act. However, the latest version is 2.2, which was released in 2023. Ok, so what do each of these compliance levels mean? Let’s take a look:
Level A: This represents the minimum level of accessibility required for a website. It addresses the most basic barriers that would prevent someone from using a website or app, and it covers requirements such as providing alt text for images and enabling keyboard navigation. To reach Level A compliance with WCAG 2.1, you’ll need to meet a total of 30 success criteria.
Level AA: Level AA builds on the previous level to cover a wider range of accessibility issues. It includes requirements such as colour contrast ratios, clear focus indicators, and meaningful headings and labels. Most organisations aim to meet at least level AA, and this is the required level for compliance with the European Accessibility Act. To comply at this level, you’ll need to meet a total of 50 criteria.
Level AAA: This is the most advanced level of compliance. It includes more rigorous standards, such as providing sign language interpretation for videos or allowing users to customise how text is displayed. To reach this level, you’d need to fulfil a total of 78 criteria. And, while AAA conformance is encouraged, it’s often not feasible to meet every AAA requirement across an entire site or product. To be on the safe side, it’s best to aim for AA level compliance. To help you do so, we’ve put together a compliance checklist in the next section, followed by some useful tools and resources.
Your WCAG 2.1 compliance checklist for 2025
Before we go into our checklist, bear in mind that full WCAG compliance can be complicated; you’ll need to dive much deeper than the overview we’re about to provide. Consider this checklist your starting point — your first step towards WCAG compliance and, ultimately, a better digital product or service:
Text and visuals
- Is your text easy to read in terms of font style, size, and spacing?
- Is there enough colour contrast between text and background?
- Do all images have meaningful alt text?
Navigation and interaction
- Can people navigate your site using only a keyboard?
- Are focus indicators visible for interactive elements?
- Is it clear where each link will take the user?
Content clarity
- Does your content follow a logical structure and hierarchy, with clear headings?
- Is the language plain, clear, and jargon-free?
- Are form fields clearly labelled?
- Are error messages helpful and informative?
Mobile and device compatibility
- Does your content adapt and perform seamlessly across different devices and screen sizes?
- Can users zoom in without breaking the layout?
- Is your content compatible with assistive technology, such as screen readers?
And remember: this is just a starting point. If you’re serious about creating accessible, inclusive products and staying compliant, the UX Design Institute’s Professional Certificate in Designing for Accessibility covers everything you need to know — from conducting accessibility audits and more inclusive user research, through to advocating for accessibility and getting stakeholder buy-in.
Tools and resources to ensure WCAG compliance
Once you’re familiar with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and why they matter, it’s time to put them into practice. Together with our compliance checklist (shared in the previous section), here are some additional tools and resources to help you get started.
Accessibility tools
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- Contrast checker tools like WebAIM’s Contrast Checker to make sure your colour choices meet minimum contrast ratios.
- Figma plugins like Able, Stark, and Contrast — these enable you to test the accessibility of your designs throughout the design process.
- Browser extensions and testing tools like axe DevTools, Lighthouse, and WAVE to catch accessibility issues on live pages or prototypes.
Guides and best practices
Beyond tools and plugins, it’s important to develop a solid understanding of industry best practices — both for accessible design and for good UX in general (the two often go hand-in-hand).
Check out the following resources for more practical guidance on designing more accessible, inclusive products:
- What exactly is accessible design and why does it matter?
- How to optimise your website for user experience accessibility
- How to design accessible and inclusive content
- Making accessibility real: practical insights from Skyscanner’s Head of Accessibility, Heather Hepburn
Formal training and skill development
Tools and resources are incredibly helpful, but accessibility really comes down to the mindset and skills behind your design decisions.
If you want to build a solid understanding of accessible design — and learn how to put it into practice — consider the UX Design Institute’s Professional Certificate in Designing for Accessibility.
UX Design Institute CEO Colman Walsh introduces the course here — check it out to learn more about what’s included and who it’s for.
Key takeaways and next steps
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) serve as the global standard for making digital content accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
If the European Accessibility Act applies to you, you’ll need to comply with WCAG sooner rather than later. And even if you’re not affected by the Act, you should use the WCAG framework to guide your design decisions and advocate for better, more inclusive design.
So what’s next? If you haven’t already, now’s the time to review your digital products and make sure they’re up to speed with WCAG. As a rule of thumb, aim for AA level compliance with WCAG 2.1 — and keep up with the guidelines as they continue to evolve and release new versions.
At the same time, reflect on your design practice. Do you have the knowledge, skills, and tools to build accessible design into your process and champion inclusivity throughout?
If you’re ready to level up your skills and become a truly inclusive, accessibility-first designer, check out the UX Design Institute’s Professional Certificate in Designing for Accessibility. For more industry insights, check out the following:
- Accessible vs. inclusive vs. universal design: what’s the difference?
- How to optimise your website for user experience accessibility
- A guide to sustainable product design in the digital world
Emily is a professional writer and content strategist with an MSc in Psychology. She has 8+ years of experience in the tech industry, with a focus on UX and design thinking. A regular contributor to top design publications, she also authored a chapter in The UX Careers Handbook. Emily also holds a BA in French and German and is passionate about languages and continuous learning.
