The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a set of guidelines developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to ensure that web content is accessible to people with disabilities. These guidelines provide recommendations for making web content more accessible to users with various disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.
WCAG is organized around four principles, which are:
- Perceivable: Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. This includes providing text alternatives for non-text content, such as images, videos, and audio.
- Operable: User interface components and navigation must be operable. This means ensuring that users can navigate and interact with the website using a variety of input methods, such as keyboard, mouse, or touch screen.
- Understandable: Information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. This involves making content clear and easy to comprehend, as well as ensuring consistency in design and functionality throughout the website.
- Robust: Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. This means using coding practices that are compatible with different browsers and devices, as well as ensuring compatibility with assistive technologies like screen readers and speech recognition software.
WCAG is organized into three levels of conformance: A (the lowest), AA, and AAA (the highest). Conformance with WCAG is often required by law in many countries and regions, and it’s considered best practice for creating inclusive and accessible web content for all users.
