WCAG Overview

To meet the requirement of the Web Accessibility Policy, University Websites should comply with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2 Level AA.

The WCAG 2 is a “stable, referenceable, technical standard” developed by the World Wide Web Consortium intended to guide the creation of accessible websites and web content. WCAG is divided into four principles: perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. Each principle is ultimately divided into testable success criteria. Success criteria are rated A, AA, or AAA depending on how important and how demanding achieving the required standard is. Yale websites should meet A and AA criteria.

By satisfying the WCAG 2 level AA standard, you can be confident that your website is accessible to most people with disabilities.

Yale has summarized WCAG criteria in its WCAG Checklist. Yale also provides best practices explaining accessibility concepts to help meet WCAG criteria.