Standards

WCAG 2.2

The current published version of WCAG (October 2023). Adds nine new success criteria over WCAG 2.1, mostly around focus visibility, drag operations, and accessible authentication.

WCAG 2.2 became a W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023. It is the current published version of WCAG and the version most new accessibility regulations, RFPs, and VPATs now cite. Everything in WCAG 2.1 carries forward; 2.2 adds nine new success criteria and removes one (4.1.1 Parsing was retired because modern parsers handle malformed markup gracefully).

What’s new since WCAG 2.1

Focus visibility (A and AA):

  • 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) — when an element receives keyboard focus, it must not be entirely hidden by author-created content (sticky headers, cookie banners, chat widgets). At least part of the focused element must remain visible.
  • 2.4.12 Focus Not Obscured (Enhanced) — AAA upgrade: no part may be obscured.
  • 2.4.13 Focus Appearance — the focus indicator must meet a defined minimum area and contrast against adjacent pixels.

Interaction (A and AA):

  • 2.5.7 Dragging Movements — any drag-and-drop interaction must have a single-pointer alternative (a click, tap, or keypress). This catches custom sliders, kanban boards, and card-shuffle puzzles.
  • 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) — most interactive targets must be at least 24 × 24 CSS pixels, with explicit exceptions for inline links and user-configurable layouts.

Authentication and cognitive load (A and AA):

  • 3.2.6 Consistent Help — if help (contact info, FAQ, search) appears on multiple pages, it must appear in the same relative order on each.
  • 3.3.7 Redundant Entry — within a single process, information already entered shouldn’t have to be re-entered.
  • 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum) — sign-in flows cannot depend on cognitive function tests (memorising character sequences, transcribing CAPTCHAs) without an exemption or alternative.
  • 3.3.9 Accessible Authentication (Enhanced) — the AAA version with no cognitive-test fallback at all.

Why this version matters

Three of the new criteria — 2.5.7 (drag), 2.4.11 (focus obscured), and 3.3.8 (authentication) — address real failure patterns that turn up in litigation. Auditors flag them constantly under the 2.1 / 2.2 transition window. If your contract is written against “WCAG 2.x AA, latest stable,” 2.2 is what 2.x resolves to.

Adoption timeline

EN 301 549 has not yet updated to reference WCAG 2.2; it currently points to 2.1 (revision 3.2.1). The next EN 301 549 revision will pick up 2.2, at which point EAA enforcement implicitly tracks 2.2. The US DOJ’s 2024 Title II rule cites WCAG 2.1 AA; Title III continues to reference WCAG through case law rather than regulation.