Web content Accessibility Guidelines - wikipedia Web content Accessibility Guidelines The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ( WCAG ) are part of a series of web accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative ( WAI ) of the World Wide Web Consortium ( W3C ), the main international standards organization for the Internet. They are a set of guidelines that specify how to make content accessible, primarily for people with disabilities -- but also for all user agents, including highly limited devices, such as mobile phones. The current version, WCAG 2.0, was published in December 2008 and became an ISO standard, ISO / IEC 40500 : 2012 in October 2012. WCAG 2.1 is a `` Proposed Recommendation '' as at April 2018. Contents 1 Earlier guidelines 2 WCAG 1.0 2.1 WCAG Samurai 3 WCAG 2.0 3.1 Principles 3.1. 1 Perceivable 3.1. 2 Operable 3.1. 3 Understandable 3.1. 4 Robust 3.2 Document history 4 Legal obligations 4.1 United States 4.2 European Union 4.3 United Kingdom 4.4 Canada 4.5 Australia 4.6 Israel 5 References 6 External links 6.1 Historic Earlier Guidelines The first web accessibility guideline was compiled by Gregg Vanderheiden and released in January 1995, just after the 1994 Second International Conference on the World - Wide Web ( WWW II ) in Chicago ( where Tim Berners - Lee first mentioned disability access in a keynote speech after seeing a pre-conference workshop on accessibility led by Mike Paciello ). Over 38 different Web access guidelines followed from various authors and organizations over the next few years. These were brought together in the Unified Web Site Accessibility Guidelines compiled at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Version 8 of the Unified Web Site Accessibility Guidelines, published in 1998, served as the starting point for the W3C 's WCAG 1.0. WCAG 1.0 The WCAG 1.0 was published and became a W3C recommendation on 5 May 1999. They have since been superseded by WCAG 2.0. WCAG 1.0 consist of 14 guidelines -- each of which describes a general principle of accessible design. Each guideline covers a basic theme of web accessibility and is associated with one or more checkpoints that describes how to apply that guideline to particular webpage features. Guideline 1 : Provide equivalent alternatives to auditory and visual content Guideline 2 : Do n't rely on colour alone Guideline 3 : Use markup and style sheets, and do so properly Guideline 4 : Clarify natural language usage Guideline 5 : Create tables that transform gracefully Guideline 6 : Ensure that pages featuring new technologies transform gracefully Guideline 7 : Ensure user control of time sensitive content changes Guideline 8 : Ensure direct accessibility of embedded user interfaces Guideline 9 : Design for device independence Guideline 10 : User interim solutions Guideline 11 : Use W3C technologies and guidelines Guideline 12 : Provide context and orientation information Guideline 13 : Provide clear navigation mechanisms Guideline 14 : Ensure that documents are clear and simple Each of the in total 65 WCAG 1.0 checkpoints has an assigned priority level based on the checkpoint 's impact on accessibility : Priority 1 : Web developers must satisfy these requirements, otherwise it will be impossible for one or more groups to access the Web content. Conformance to this level is described as A. Priority 2 : Web developers should satisfy these requirements, otherwise some groups will find it difficult to access the Web content. Conformance to this level is described as AA or Double - A. Priority 3 : Web developers may satisfy these requirements to make it easier for some groups to access the Web content. Conformance to this level is described as AAA or Triple - A. WCAG Samurai In February 2008, The WCAG Samurai, a group of developers independent of the W3C, and led by Joe Clark, published corrections for, and extensions to, the WCAG 1.0. WCAG 2.0 WCAG 2.0 was published as a W3C Recommendation on 11 December 2008. It consists of twelve guidelines ( untestable ) organized under four principles ( websites must be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust ). Each guideline has testable success criteria ( 61 in all ). The W3C 's Techniques for WCAG 2.0 is a list of techniques that support authors to meet the guidelines and success criteria. The techniques are periodically updated whereas the principles, guidelines and success criteria are stable and do not change. Principles Perceivable Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. Guideline 1.1 : Provide text alternatives for any non-text content so that it can be changed into other forms people need, such as large print, braille, speech, symbols or simpler language. Guideline 1.2 : Time - based media : Provide alternatives for time - based media. Guideline 1.3 : Create content that can be presented in different ways ( for example simpler layout ) without losing information or structure. Guideline 1.4 : Make it easier for users to see and hear content including separating foreground from background. Operable User interface components and navigation must be operable. Guideline 2.1 : Make all functionality available from a keyboard. Guideline 2.2 : Provide users enough time to read and use content. Guideline 2.3 : Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures. Guideline 2.4 : Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are. Understandable Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable. Guideline 3.1 : Make text content readable and understandable. Guideline 3.2 : Make web pages appear and operate in predictable ways. Guideline 3.3 : Help users avoid and correct mistakes. Robust Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. Guideline 4.1. : Maximize compatibility with current and future user agents, including assistive technologies. WCAG 2.0 uses the same three levels of conformance ( A, AA, AAA ) as WCAG 1.0, but has redefined them. The WCAG working group maintains an extensive list of web accessibility techniques and common failure cases for WCAG 2.0. Document history The first concept proposal of WCAG 2.0 was published on 25 January 2001. In the following years new versions were published intended to solicit feedback from accessibility experts and members of the disability community. On 27 April 2006 a `` Last Call Working Draft '' was published. Due to the many amendments that were necessary, WCAG 2.0 was published again as a concept proposal on 17 May 2007, followed by a second `` Last Call Working Draft '' on 11 December 2007. In April 2008 the guidelines became a `` Candidate Recommendation ''. On 3 November 2008 the guidelines became a `` Proposed Recommendation ''. WCAG 2.0 was published as a W3C Recommendation on 11 December 2008. A comparison of WCAG 1.0 checkpoints and WCAG 2.0 success criteria is available. In October 2012, WCAG 2.0 was accepted by the International Organization for Standardization as an ISO International Standard, ISO / IEC 40500 : 2012. In early 2014, WCAG 2.0 's Level A and Level AA success criteria were incorporated as references in clause 9.2 ( `` Web content requirements '' ) of the European standard EN 301 549 published by ETSI. EN 301 549 was produced in response to a mandate that the European Commission gave to the three official European standardisation bodies ( CEN, CENELEC and ETSI ) and is the first European standard for ICT products and services. Legal obligations Businesses that have an online presence should provide accessibility to disabled users. Not only are there ethical and commercial justifications for implementing the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, in some countries and jurisdictions, there are also legal reasons. Under UK law, if a business 's website is not accessible, then the website owner could be sued for discrimination. United States In January 2017, the U.S. Access Board approved a final rule to update Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The new rule adopts seventeen WCAG 2.0 success criteria, but 22 of the 38 existing A-level and AA - level criteria were already covered by existing Section 508 guidelines. The rule requires adherence to the new standards twelve months from its date of publication in the federal register. In 2017, a Federal Court in Florida identified the WCAG guidelines as the `` industry standard '' for website accessibility and found that Winn Dixie Store, Inc., violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to render its website accessible to the sight impaired. European Union In October 2016, the European Parliament approved the directive 2016 / 2102 that requires websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies to conform with WCAG 2.0 Level AA. New websites must comply from 23 September 2019 on, old websites from 23 September 2020 on and mobile applications from 23 June 2021 on. United Kingdom In January 2012, the Royal National Institute for the Blind ( RNIB ) in the United Kingdom issued a press release stating that it had served legal proceedings against low - cost airline Bmibaby over their `` failure to ensure web access for blind and partially sighted customers ''. As of October 2011, at least two actions against websites had been initiated by the RNIB, and settled without the cases being heard by a court. An employment tribunal finding against the Project Management Institute ( PMI ), was decided in October 2006, and the company was ordered to pay compensation of £ 3,000 for discrimination. Canada The 2010 / 2012 Jodhan decision caused the Canadian federal government to require all online web pages, documents and videos available externally and internally to meet the accessibility requirements of WCAG 2.0. Australia The Australian government has also mandated via the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 that all Australian government websites meet the WCAG accessibility requirements. Israel The Israeli Ministry of Justice published regulations in early 2014, requiring Internet websites to comply with Israeli Standard 5568, which is based on the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0. The main differences between the Israeli standard and the W3C standard concern the requirements to provide captions and texts for audio and video media. The Israeli standards are somewhat more lenient, reflecting the current technical difficulties in providing such captions and texts in Hebrew. References Jump up ^ `` Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ( WCAG ) 2.1 ''. W3C. Retrieved 2018 - 05 - 02. Jump up ^ Vanderheiden, Gregg C. ( 31 January 1995 ). `` Design of HTML ( Mosaic ) Pages to Increase their Accessibility to Users with Disabilities ; Strategies for Today and Tomorrow ''. Trace Center, University of Wisconsin -- Madison. Retrieved 2012 - 09 - 22. Jump up ^ `` References : Designing Accessible HTML Pages -- guidelines and overview documents ''. World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved 2012 - 09 - 22. Jump up ^ `` Trace Center ''. Trace Center, University of Wisconsin -- Madison. Retrieved 2012 - 09 - 22. Jump up ^ Vanderheiden, Gregg C. ; Chisholm, Wendy A., eds. ( 20 January 1998 ). `` Unified Web Site Accessibility Guidelines ''. Trace Center, University of Wisconsin -- Madison. Retrieved 2012 - 09 - 22. Jump up ^ `` Home Page ''. WCAG Samurai. Archived from the original on 2013 - 01 - 13. Jump up ^ `` Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ( WCAG ) 2.0 -- W3C Recommendation 11 December 2008 ''. W3.org. Retrieved 27 July 2013. Jump up ^ W3C : W3C Web Standard Defines Accessibility for Next Generation Web ( press release, 11 December 2008 ). Jump up ^ `` Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ( WCAG ) 2.0 ''. W3C. Retrieved 2014 - 12 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Techniques for WCAG 2.0 ''. W3C. Retrieved 2014 - 12 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Understanding Techniques for WCAG Success Criteria ''. W3C. Retrieved 2014 - 12 - 17. Jump up ^ `` Techniques for WCAG 2.0 ''. W3.org. Retrieved 27 July 2013. Jump up ^ `` Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 -- W3C Working Draft 27 April 2006 ''. W3C. Jump up ^ `` Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 -- W3C Working Draft 17 May 2007 ''. W3C. Jump up ^ `` Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 -- W3C Working Draft 11 December 2007 ''. W3C. Jump up ^ `` WCAG 2.0 Candidate Recommendation Implementation Information ''. W3C. Jump up ^ `` Comparison of WCAG 1.0 Checkpoints to WCAG 2.0, in Numerical Order ''. W3.org. Retrieved 27 July 2013. Jump up ^ Henry, Shawn ( 2012 - 10 - 15 ). `` WCAG 2.0 is now also ISO / IEC 40500 ! ''. World Wide Web Consortium. Retrieved 23 October 2012. Jump up ^ `` W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 approved as an ISO / IEC International Standard ''. World Wide Web Consortium. 2012 - 10 - 15. Retrieved 23 October 2012. Jump up ^ `` ISO / IEC 40500 : 2012 - Information technology -- W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ( WCAG ) 2.0 ''. ISO. Retrieved 23 October 2012. Jump up ^ ETSI : EN 301 549 V1. 1.1 ( 2014 - 02 ) : Accessibility requirements suitable for public procurement of ICT products and services in Europe. Accessed 27 November 2015. Jump up ^ CEN - CENELEC : New European Standard will help to make ICT products and services accessible for all. 19 February 2014. Accessed 27 November 2015. Jump up ^ CEN - CENELEC : Mandate 376. ( No date ). Accessed 27 November 2015. Jump up ^ `` Commercial Justifications for WCAG 2.0 ''. Isamuel.com. 2012 - 04 - 12. Archived from the original on 5 April 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2013. CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown ( link ) ^ Jump up to : `` Disabled access to websites under UK law ''. Out-Law.com. October 2011. Retrieved 15 January 2015. Jump up ^ `` Information and Communication Technology ( ICT ) Final Standards and Guidelines '' ( PDF ). United States Access Board. 9 Jan 2017. Retrieved 10 Jan 2017. Jump up ^ `` Final Regulatory Impact Analysis : Final Rule to Update the Section 508 Standards and Section 255 Guidelines ''. United States Access Board. 5 Jan 2017. Retrieved 10 Jan 2017. Jump up ^ https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=6744502269111605689&q=257+F.Supp.3d+1340&hl=en&as_sdt=20006 Jump up ^ `` COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294 ( 6 ) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies ''. Publications Office of the European Union. 2016 - 07 - 18. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 10. Jump up ^ `` DIRECTIVE ( EU ) 2016 / 2102 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 26 October 2016 on the accessibility of the websites and mobile applications of public sector bodies, Article 12 ''. Publications Office of the European Union. 2016 - 10 - 26. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 10. Jump up ^ `` serves legal proceedings on bmibaby ''. RNIB. 2012 - 01 - 27. Retrieved 27 July 2013. Jump up ^ `` Computer - based exam discriminated against blind candidate ''. Out-law.com. Retrieved 27 July 2013. Jump up ^ `` Jodhan decision ''. Ccdonline.ca. 2012 - 05 - 30. Retrieved 27 July 2013. Jump up ^ `` Canadian Treasury Board Secretariat Standard on Web Accessibility ''. Tbs-sct.gc.ca. 2011 - 08 - 01. Retrieved 27 July 2013. Jump up ^ `` Accessibility ''. Web Guide. Retrieved 27 July 2013. Jump up ^ `` Israel Technology Law Blog, Website Accessibility Requirements ''. External links W3C -- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ( WCAG ) 2.0 W3C -- Web Accessibility Initiative ( WAI ) introduction to WCAG Mauve, an accessibility validator developed by HIIS Lab -- ISTI of CNR of Pisa ( Italy ). WAVE -- Online accessibility validator WCAG 2.0 checklist Achieving WCAG 2.0 with PDF / UA -- Document published by the Association for Information and Image Management ( AIIM ) WCAG for eLearning - Training Accessibility Guidelines Digital Accessibility WCAG AA Checklist : 10 Critical Elements to Evaluate for Website Accessibility Historic W3C -- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines ( WCAG ) 1.0 `` Introduction ''. WCAG Samurai. Archived from the original on 2013 - 01 - 13. World Wide Web Consortium ( W3C ) Products and standards Recommendations ActivityPub ARIA Canonical XML CDF CSS DOM Geolocation API HTML ( HTML5 ) ITS JSON - LD Linked Data Notifications MathML Micropub OWL P3P PLS RDF RDF Schema SISR SKOS SMIL SOAP SRGS SRI SSML SVG SCXML SPARQL Timed text VoiceXML Web storage WSDL Webmention WebSub XForms XHTML XHTML + RDFa XInclude XLink XML XML Base XML Encryption XML Events XML Information Set XML namespace XML Schema XML Signature XOP XPath XPath 2.0 XPointer XProc XQuery XSL XSL - FO XSLT ( elements ) Notes IndieAuth JF2 Post Type Discovery XAdES XHTML + SMIL XUP Working drafts CCXML CURIE EME InkML MSE RIF SMIL Timesheets sXBL WICD XFDL XFrames XBL XMLHttpRequest Guidelines Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Initiative Multimodal Interaction Activity ( MMI ) Markup Validation Service Web Accessibility Initiative WebPlatform Deprecated C - HTML HDML JSSS PGML VML XHTML + MathML + SVG Organizations Advisory Committee ( AC ) World Wide Web Foundation Elected groups Advisory Board ( AB ) Technical Architecture Group ( TAG ) Web Incubator Community Group ( WICG ) Working groups CSS Geolocation Social Web SVG Web Hypertext Application Technology ( WHATWG ) Web Platform Closed groups Device Description ( DDWG ) HTML WebOnt ( Semantic Web Activity ) Software CERN httpd Libwww Browsers Line Mode ( 1990 -- ) Arena ( 1993 -- 98 ) Agora ( 1994 -- 97 ) Argo ( 1994 -- 97 ) Amaya ( browser / editor, 1996 -- 2012 ) Conferences International World Wide Web Conference ( IW3C ) Steering Committee ( IW3C2 ) First conference ( `` WWW1 '', 1994 ) ISO standards by standard number List of ISO standards / ISO romanizations / IEC standards 1 -- 9999 5 6 7 9 16 17 31 - 0 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 128 216 217 226 228 233 259 269 302 306 361 428 500 518 519 639 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 5 - 6 646 657 668 690 704 732 764 838 843 860 898 965 999 1000 1004 1007 1073 - 1 1155 1413 1538 1629 1745 2014 2015 2022 2033 2047 2108 2145 2146 2240 2281 2533 2709 2711 2720 2788 2848 2852 3029 3103 3166 - 1 - 2 - 3 3297 3307 3601 3602 3864 3901 3950 3977 4031 4157 4165 4217 4909 5218 5426 5427 5428 5725 5775 5776 5800 5964 6166 6344 6346 6385 6425 6429 6438 6523 6709 6943 7001 7002 7010 7027 7064 7098 7185 7200 7498 - 1 7736 7810 7811 7812 7813 7816 7942 8000 8093 8178 8217 8373 8501 - 1 8571 8583 8601 8613 8632 8651 8652 8691 8805 / 8806 8807 8820 - 5 8859 - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 8 - I - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 8879 9000 / 9001 9036 9075 9126 9141 9227 9241 9293 9314 9362 9407 9506 9529 9564 9592 / 9593 9594 9660 9797 - 1 9897 9899 9945 9984 9985 9995 10000 -- 19999 10005 10006 10007 10116 10118 - 3 10160 10161 10165 10179 10206 10218 10303 - 11 - 21 - 22 - 28 - 238 10383 10487 10585 10589 10646 10664 10746 10861 10957 10962 10967 11073 11170 11179 11404 11544 11783 11784 11785 11801 11898 11940 ( - 2 ) 11941 11941 ( TR ) 11992 12006 12182 12207 12234 - 2 13211 - 1 - 2 13216 13250 13399 13406 - 2 13450 13485 13490 13567 13568 13584 13616 14000 14031 14224 14289 14396 14443 14496 - 2 - 3 - 6 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 14 - 17 - 20 14644 14649 14651 14698 14750 14764 14882 14971 15022 15189 15288 15291 15292 15398 15408 15444 - 3 15445 15438 15504 15511 15686 15693 15706 - 2 15707 15897 15919 15924 15926 15926 WIP 15930 16023 16262 16612 - 2 16750 16949 ( TS ) 17024 17025 17100 17203 17369 17442 17799 18000 18004 18014 18245 18629 18916 19005 19011 19092 ( - 1 - 2 ) 19114 19115 19125 19136 19407 19439 19500 19501 19502 19503 19505 19506 19507 19508 19509 19510 19600 19752 19757 19770 19775 - 1 19794 - 5 19831 20000 + 20000 20022 20121 20400 21000 21047 21500 21827 : 2002 22000 23270 23271 23360 24517 24613 24617 24707 25178 25964 26000 26300 26324 27000 series 27000 27001 27002 27006 27729 28000 29110 29148 29199 - 2 29500 30170 31000 32000 38500 40500 42010 55000 80000 - 1 - 2 - 3 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Web_Content_Accessibility_Guidelines&oldid=846498098 '' Categories : Web accessibility Game accessibility ISO standards Hidden categories : CS1 maint : BOT : original - url status unknown Use dmy dates from January 2012 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Čeština Deutsch Español Íslenska Italiano Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Polski Português Српски / srpski Svenska ไทย 5 more Edit links This page was last edited on 19 June 2018, at 03 : 57 ( UTC ). 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Question: when was the wcag 2.0 guidelines rolled out
Answer: December 2008