Elgarde
Regulations

WCAG 2.1 Level AA

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 — Level AA

In force since

2018 (W3C Recommendation); legally binding via EAA/WAD transpositions from 2025

Scope

Web content; the technical benchmark referenced by the EAA, WAD, and ADA enforcement

Primary source

Official text

Enforcement bodies

EU National EAA enforcement bodies — Via EN 301 549, which incorporates WCAG 2.1 AA
US DOJ / private litigation — ADA Title III enforcement increasingly references WCAG

What this standard requires

WCAG 2.1 is organized around four principles — content must be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR). Level AA includes 50 success criteria covering:

  • Perceivable: text alternatives for images, captions for video, sufficient color contrast, content reflow for small screens
  • Operable: keyboard accessibility, enough time to read content, no seizure-inducing content, clear navigation
  • Understandable: readable text, predictable behavior, input assistance for forms
  • Robust: compatibility with assistive technologies, valid HTML structure

How WCAG becomes legally binding

WCAG itself is a W3C Recommendation — a technical standard, not legislation. It becomes legally binding through:

  1. EN 301 549 v3.2.1 — the harmonised European standard that incorporates WCAG 2.1 AA for web content. Compliance with EN 301 549 creates a presumption of conformity with the EAA and WAD.
  2. DOJ 2024 final rule (US) — mandates WCAG 2.1 AA for state and local government websites under ADA Title II.
  3. Private litigation (US) — federal courts have increasingly accepted WCAG 2.1 AA as the relevant standard for ADA Title III cases against private businesses.

Most common violations

Based on the WebAIM Million annual study and Elgarde’s own scan data, the most frequently detected WCAG violations are:

  1. Insufficient color contrast (1.4.3) — text that is hard to read against its background
  2. Missing alternative text (1.1.1) — images without alt attributes
  3. Missing form labels (1.3.1, 4.1.2) — form inputs not associated with visible labels
  4. Empty links (2.4.4) — links with no accessible name
  5. Missing document language (3.1.1) — no lang attribute on <html>

What Elgarde checks

The scanner runs axe-core — the industry-standard open-source accessibility engine — against the target page. Each detected issue is mapped to the specific WCAG success criterion it violates and rated by impact (critical, serious, moderate, minor).

The accessibility grade is computed from a weighted score: critical issues (10 points), serious (5), moderate (2), minor (1). Grade A means zero violations. Grade F means the weighted score exceeds 50.

Sources

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