Digital accessibility, how do I get started?

What is WCAG?

WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These guidelines are designed to make web content more accessible to everyone; including people with disabilities.

The European Accessibility Act is based on guidelines drawn up by the World Wide Web Consortium, W3C for short. The Web Accessibility Initiative department of the W3C has already published the guidelines in different versions. Version 2.1. is the latest version of this. This release includes additional, non-technology-specific success criteria, which also apply to mobile devices and tablets.

As the European Accessibility Act is based on version 2.1, all European websites must comply with it by 28 June 2025.

WCAG divided into principles and levels

Web content accessibility rules are based on four principles that make up the POUR model:

Each guideline under these principles falls under one of three levels:

• Level A: basic accessibility to achieve the minimum level of accessibility
• Level AA: strong accessibility to address the biggest and most common accessibility barriers
• Level AAA: excellent accessibility that provides the strictest and highest level of accessibility

The principles of WCAG in detail

As mentioned earlier in this blog post, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are divided into four principles.

The guidelines under the "observable" principle ensure that all users can perceive and understand the information on a web page. For example, non-text content should be readable by a screen reader so that visually impaired users can experience the content in the same way as sighted users. Non-textual content includes images, charts, icons, sound, video, and so on.

Digital services must be easy to operate for all users. For example, users should be able to navigate the website with the tab key and easily purchase products on an e-commerce website. The principle of "operable" also means that users are given enough time to read, understand, and interact with content, especially with temporary content or animations. This principle also contains guidelines to protect people with (light-sensitive) epilepsy from harmful flashes.

The readability of digital services ensures that both users and screen readers can read and understand the web content. This means, among other things, that a website should work in predictable ways. An example is keeping repeated elements like the order of a navigation consistent. The principle also emphasizes that users should be given sufficient information to avoid mistakes or, if they do make mistakes, to know where to correct them. Think, for example, of incorrectly filled in fields in a form or searches without results.

The principle of 'robust' means that digital applications must work in different web browsers and with assistive technologies such as screen readers. For example, do you provide status messages? Then you need to make sure that they are properly encoded so that a screen reader can read it and the user is notified of the status message.

Conclusion

The WCAG guidelines are useful not only for people with disabilities, but also for users without disabilities. They simplify the logic of a website by using a clear and consistent structure. In addition, they facilitate key navigation for users who prefer the keyboard to a mouse.

Excessive animations and flickering are abolished, which is not only pleasant for people with photosensitivity, but also for users who prefer a quieter visual experience. The new color regulations provide better contrast, which improves readability for everyone.

Finally, it is possible to improve a website's SEO score by following the WCAG guidelines.

: In summary, these guidelines ensure that websites reach a wider audience if the criteria are applied correctly.