03.5.5 · Skill in Accessibility

WCAG principles

The web accessibility guidelines, built on four principles.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines set the reference standard, and many laws point to them. Knowing the four principles and the common success criteria covers most everyday work. Automated checkers find only part of the problems.

Your status · WCAG principles

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Resources

docsStart here
Quick reference to web accessibility principles ↗
WebAIM · 2023 · 3 min
The main WCAG principles on one printable page.
articleGo deeper
Contrast and color accessibility: understanding WCAG 2 requirements ↗
WebAIM · 2021 · 12 min
The contrast rules explained in detail, including large text and not relying on color alone.
articleGo deeper
Web accessibility evaluation guide ↗
WebAIM · 2024 · 12 min
A step-by-step manual review that catches what automated tools miss.

Tools

ToolFree
WAVE
wave.webaim.org ↗
Free accessibility evaluation tool that marks problems directly on the page.
ToolFreemium
axe DevTools
deque.com ↗
Automated accessibility checks in the browser and in tests, built on the open-source axe-core engine.