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Getting to grips with WCAG 2.0

July 15, 2008

There is much more information in WCAG 2.0 than WCAG 1.0. In fact it’s really quite overwhelming. Whereas WCAG 1.0 contained guidelines, checkpoints and techniques, WCAG 2.0 contains principles, guidelines, success criteria, techniques and common failures. More information is welcome; but it’s only a good thing if it’s easily digestible and people are prepared to get to grips with it. Here’s a brief guide to finding you way in.

The good news is that you don’t have to read all of WCAG 2.0. There is something in there for everybody, so where to go first depends on what you want to achieve.

For most people the best place to start is the WCAG 2.0 Overview. At first the sheer number of links will appear quite daunting. But put those aside for a moment and you will see a description of where the process stands (bearing in mind that, at the time of writing this article, WCAG 2.0 is not yet formally adopted), what’s happening next and how, at a very high level, WCAG 2.0 differs from WCAG 1.0.

If you want to go deeper into the guidelines, look at Understanding WCAG 2.0. Here you will find information on the relationship of specific techniques to each success criterion. Techniques may be sufficient or advisory. The document is divided into a series of guidelines (Time-based Media, Adaptable, Distinguishable, Keyboard Accessible, etc.), then sub-divided into success criteria, each of which is further divided into sufficient and advisory techniques.

For a much more detailed description of the techniques, look at Techniques for WCAG 2.0. This is an in-depth discussion of each technique that covers failures, examples and tests.

A particularly useful document is the How to Meet WCAG 2.0 quick reference. This is a customisable document that details the guidelines, success criteria, techniques and failures. There are further links to descriptions, examples and resources. It’s designed to enable you to go straight to those areas that are most important to you and have all the information at your fingertips.

If your primary interest is the conformance level rather than specific guidelines and techniques, look at the Conformance document. It lists the requirements for conformance to WCAG 2.0 and gives information on how to make conformance claims. From here you can determine the guidelines that will be relevant to you.

For those who are already adhering to WCAG 1.0 and are comparing to WCAG 2.0, look at the Comparison of WCAG 1.0 checkpoints to WCAG 2.0 document. This maps WCAG 1.0 checkpoints to their WCAG 2.0 equivalents. You can see which ‘1.0’ checkpoints have been removed or updated and identify those that are new in ‘2.0’.

Filed in: Accessibility