Issue link: https://essentialaccessibility.ufcontent.com/i/1422377
What's Different About WCAG 2.1? WCAG 2.0, released nearly 10 years ago, contains 12 guidelines for digital accessibility, divided among four principles with the acronym P.O.U.R: Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust. Each guideline has a list of "success criteria," or requirements (61 in total), for making content – including text, images, sounds, code and markup – more accessible. In addition, WCAG 2.0 has three levels of conformance: A (minimum accessibility), AA (addresses the major, most common accessibility issues) and AAA (the highest standard). The success criteria found in WCAG 2.0 are included in WCAG 2.1 – the wording of those criteria has not changed. That means that WCAG 2.1 is "backwards compatible" or, as W3C puts it, "content that conforms to WCAG 2.1 also conforms to WCAG 2.0." What's new about WCAG 2.1 is that it includes 17 new success criteria related to mobile accessibility, as well as provisions that will benefit more people. SUCCESS CRITERIA Level WCAG 2.0 WCAG 2.1 TOTAL WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 A The most basic web accessibility features 25 5 30 AA Deals with the biggest and most common barriers for users with disabilities 13 7 20 AAA The highest (and most complex) level of web accessibility 23 5 28 Total 61 17 78 Should You Follow WCAG 2.0 or 2.1? WCAG 2.1 doesn't supersede or cancel out WCAG 2.0 – they are both "existing standards" – but W3C encourages organizations to use the most recent version of WCAG when developing or updating their content or digital accessibility policy. Authorities that enforce major accessibility laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), continue to require that organizations comply with WCAG 2.0, conformance level AA. However, this could change in the future. If your company is in the process of making its website and other digital tools and technologies accessible and conform to WCAG 2.1 Level A and AA, it's a good idea to implement the additional 17 success criteria now to ensure maximum accessibility. 3 | essentialaccessibility.com