Step-by-Step WCAG 2.0 Compliance Guide
Tags: a11y, wcag, accessibilitycompliance, wcag2
Published: 2024-03-14 09:43:43

What is the idea of developing WCAG compliance? Is it the basis for creating the most robust and consistent website for easy accessibility? Accessibility depends on the W3C procedure or initiative as per the World Wide Web. By following this, it is possible to establish an inclusive website. It also assures that digital content reaches many users, no matter their physical disabilities.

Every organization should adhere to compliance standards when creating digital content. This helps design content that integrates well with the latest technology and is accessible to disabled users.
 
## What are the Steps to Make Website Compliant?
As per the [WCAG 2.0 compliance](https://www.acadecraft.com/accessibility/wcag-compliance/) guide, there are specific steps to follow:

### Check the Basic Theme:
Start by checking how much your team knows about using WCAG 2.0 guidelines. 

- Create an accessibility policy and try to stick to it to achieve improvement.
- Website updating should plan towards making it accessible
- Decide a budget and focus on the priorities to ensure that the process works effectively 

### Choose the Right Tools:
Now, it is about choosing the right automatic or manual tool to show the best results. Here, accessibility checking is possible with keyboards and screen readers. You can also seek [professional assistance](https://www.acadecraft.com/contact-us/) to guide you with website remediation. It can further suggest practical ways to fill in the gaps. It will figure out the content issues and fix them. Consider the users who will use the information and want accessible website content.

### Start With Remediation:
Perform audit segment-wise, which helps find the actual issues that need remediation. The segments are developer problem fixing, content problems, and ownership issues. Solve the problems, create a report and re-run the process to ensure complete accessibility. Look for deviation and fix it right using the right tools.

### Constant Monitoring for Accessibility:
Monitoring websites and content for accessibility helps address the problems. Try to fix it and train your team to create an accessible website. They should also know how to monitor a website and find the obstacles that hinder smooth web page access.
 
After this, run a website test and know the level of accessibility for better outcomes. Maintain testing reports so that it helps improve the accessibility and ensure that a website is built right the next time you start doing the same.

## How Can a Website Meet WCAG 2.0 Compliance?
In other words, for the website to meet WCAG 2.0 compliance, it must ensure that every user, no matter their physical disabilities, can access the website content. There should not be any obstacle to reading, opening, downloading, or sharing content, as necessary. The guidelines mainly depend on four principles: POUR, which means content has to be perceivable, operable, understandable, and readable.

### Perceivable Content: 
Any user should perceive content easily, regardless of their disabilities. It is possible to use the following:

- Decorative Image - A decorative image should have empty alt text or use ‘presentation’ as its attribute. It indicates that the user skips comprehending the image. 
- Alternative Text - One of the main things to ensure accessibility is to implement alt text correctly. It should state the purpose and content that an image wants to convey to the users. Make it effective, concise and to the point to help users understand it easily.
 
This is how an image can be easily perceived per the accessibility guidelines. 

### Operable Content: 
Any digital content should be accessible for every user to operate. Ensure easy keyboard operation to help create accessible content. It is easy to access image content using a keyboard, which retains users' attention and focus without skipping the content or visiting another website for the relevant content.
 
### Understandable Content: 
Content should be easy to use and have an intuitive interface for moving from one feature to another. For example, users should be able to easily access an image on the website. A consistent web design brings better navigation, a prerequisite for a website.

### Robust Content: 
Every content should have proper context and maintain a consistent structure. This will help users to access website information using assistive technology easily. Use of correct semantic elements can help create robust content. This is how a website can achieve web content accessibility.

## How can You Test for Accessibility?
There is software that disabled users use for accessibility. These are screen readers and assistive technology. The ways to test for accessibility are:

- Use of Auditing Tools - Use the correct auditing tools to test compliance. This can identify issues and suggest ways for improvement.
- Test of Screen Reader - Use a screen reader to test the accessibility of digital content. This will help you understand how a user of a screen reader will perceive the content.

## Wrap it Up 
Other than just the WCAG compliance, it is important to implement practices that ensure image accessibility on the website. It is to use the correct background color, alt text, and other elements for better results. Every business owner should prioritize creating an accessible website so every digital user can easily use it.