This checklist uses the The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as a reference point. The WCAG is a shared standard for web content accessibility for individuals, organizations, and governments.
There are three levels of accessibility compliance in the WCAG, which reflect the priority of support:
- A: Essential. If this isn’t met, assistive technology may not be able to read, understand, or fully operate the page or view.
- AA: Ideal support. Now required for EU government and public body websites.
- AAA: High-level support. This is typically reserved for sites that serve a specialized audience.
This checklist targets many, but not all level A and AA concerns. Note that the different levels of WCAG support do not necessarily indicate an increased level of difficulty to implement.
Success criteria
Each item on this checklist has a corresponding WCAG “success criterion.” Success criterion are the specific, testable rules that power the WCAG, described by a reference number and short title. For example, the rule about text resizing is called 1.4.4 Resize text.
Some accessibility issues may have multiple success criterion apply to them. We have identified the most relevant for each checklist item.
Does this checklist guarantee my site is accessible?
No. However, addressing the issues called out in this checklist will help improve the experience for everyone who uses your site.
The issues this checklist prompts you to check for covers a wide range of disability conditions. There is no such thing as “perfect accessibility” or a site being “100% accessible”. You should be wary of companies and services that make such promises. If you need professional accessibility help, use professional accessibility services.