Website accessibility basics: WCAG 2.2 for small firms

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are the international standard for making websites usable by people with disabilities, published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Version 2.2 became a W3C Recommendation in October 2023. It has three conformance levels: A (the minimum), AA (the level most laws and procurement rules refer to) and AAA (the most demanding, rarely required for whole sites). If you aim for one target, aim for WCAG 2.2 AA.

Why it matters for people-focused businesses

Clinics, training providers, recruiters and coaches serve the general public in all its variety: older clients with weaker eyesight, people recovering from an injury who use only a keyboard, candidates using screen readers, learners with dyslexia, and visitors reading in their second language. Accessibility improvements tend to help all of them, and usually make a site clearer for everyone else too.

There is also a legal dimension. In the EU, the European Accessibility Act has applied since 28 June 2025 to certain products and services, including many e-commerce services, with an exemption for microenterprises providing services. Public sector bodies have separate obligations. Rules vary by country and sector, so check what applies to you; even where no law applies, WCAG is the practical benchmark.

The four principles

Perceivable: people can see or hear the content in some form, for example images have text alternatives and videos have captions.
Operable: everything works with a keyboard, touch or voice, and nothing traps or rushes the user.
Understandable: text is clear, forms explain what they need, and navigation behaves predictably.
Robust: the code works with assistive technologies such as screen readers.

What WCAG 2.2 added

WCAG 2.2 keeps the criteria from 2.1, removes the old 4.1.1 Parsing criterion, and adds nine new success criteria. Six of them are at levels A and AA:

Criterion	Level	What it means in practice
2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum)	AA	A sticky header, cookie bar or chat widget must not completely hide the element that has keyboard focus
2.5.7 Dragging Movements	AA	Anything done by dragging, such as a slider, also works with a simple tap or click
2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum)	AA	Buttons and links are at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, or have enough space around them, with some exceptions
3.2.6 Consistent Help	A	Help options such as a phone number, WhatsApp button or contact link appear in the same place on each page
3.3.7 Redundant Entry	A	Do not make people re-type information they already gave in the same process
3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum)	AA	Logins must not depend on a memory or puzzle test without an alternative, and pasting passwords must work

The other three, 2.4.12, 2.4.13 and 3.3.9, are at level AAA.

A practical checklist for a small business site

Body text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 against its background; large text at least 3:1.
Icons, form borders and buttons have at least 3:1 contrast against what is around them.
Every meaningful image has alternative text; decorative images are marked as decorative.
Headings follow a logical order, with one main heading per page.
Link text says where it goes, such as book a first consultation, not read more.
You can reach and use every link, button, menu and form field with the Tab key, and you can see where the focus is.
Form fields have visible labels, and error messages say what went wrong and how to fix it.
Information is never conveyed by colour alone, for example required fields are marked with text, not only red.
Videos have captions; audio has a transcript.
The page works when zoomed to 200 percent and reflows on a narrow screen without sideways scrolling.
The page language is declared, and each language version declares its own.
Booking widgets, chat assistants and embedded maps from third parties are checked too, because visitors cannot tell where your site ends and theirs begins.
PDFs such as course brochures are tagged and readable, or the same content is also on a web page.

How to test without a large budget

Run a free automated checker such as WAVE, axe or the accessibility audit in Lighthouse. These catch only part of the problems, but they are a quick start.
Put the mouse away and use the site with only the keyboard. Book an appointment or send an enquiry from start to finish.
Try a screen reader: NVDA is free on Windows, and VoiceOver is built into Apple devices. Listen to whether headings, links and form labels make sense on their own.
Zoom the browser to 200 percent and use the site on a small phone.
If you can, ask a client or colleague who uses assistive technology to try your main tasks and tell you where they got stuck.

Trade-offs and common mistakes

Accessibility overlays, the plug-ins that add a toolbar and promise instant compliance, do not fix underlying code problems and can get in the way of the assistive tools people already use. Fixing the site itself is more reliable. Third-party tools are another common gap: a fully accessible page with an inaccessible booking widget still blocks the client at the decisive step. And accessibility is not a one-off task, because every new page, image and form can add new issues. A short accessibility statement explaining what you have done and how to report a problem is good practice.

Next steps

Run the checklist on your current site this week and note the gaps. When we build websites for people-focused businesses, we design for these points from the start, including consistent placement of your phone, WhatsApp and contact options. You can compare the website packages, read how to make the first conversation work in designing AI intake, or ask us to look at a specific accessibility concern.

Questions and answers

Is WCAG 2.2 a legal requirement for my business?

It depends on your country, sector and size. The European Accessibility Act covers certain services, including many e-commerce services, with an exemption for microenterprises providing services, and public bodies have their own rules. WCAG 2.2 AA is the usual technical benchmark either way.

Will an accessibility plug-in make my site compliant?

No plug-in can fix missing labels, poor structure or inaccessible third-party widgets on its own. Automated tools and overlays can help find issues, but conformance comes from how the site is built and maintained.

What is the minimum tap target size in WCAG 2.2?

Success criterion 2.5.8 at level AA asks for targets of at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, or enough spacing so that a 24-pixel circle around each target does not overlap another, with some exceptions such as links within a sentence.

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Website accessibility basics: WCAG 2.2 for small businesses