Documentation / Platform glossary / WCAG 2.1 AA
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the W3C standard for making digital content usable by people with disabilities. Version 2.1 organizes requirements under four principles — perceivable, operable, understandable, robust — across three conformance levels. Level AA is the tier most procurement and regulation actually reference.
WCAG's four principles are the frame; the substance lives in testable success criteria beneath them. Perceivable covers text alternatives, captions, and contrast. Operable covers keyboard access, sufficient time, and navigation. Understandable covers readability, predictability, and input assistance. Robust covers compatibility with assistive technology, chiefly correct name, role, and value for interface components.
Conformance levels are cumulative. Level A is the minimum, AA adds the criteria that address the most common substantial barriers, and AAA is aspirational and not expected across a whole product. AA is where obligations concentrate: it includes 4.5:1 contrast for body text, visible focus indicators, meaningful headings and labels, and content that reflows without loss of function.
Version 2.1 added criteria for mobile and cognitive accessibility that 2.0 lacked — orientation, pointer gestures, target size, and content on hover or focus. This is why "WCAG 2.1 AA" rather than "WCAG AA" is the precise ask.
AA conformance is the reference point for the ADA in US practice, Section 508 procurement, the EU's EN 301 549, and the European Accessibility Act. For any system used by an entire workforce, accessibility is a condition of the system being usable at all, not a feature tier.
Automated testing detects perhaps a third of AA criteria. Keyboard-only operation and screen-reader review are not optional additions to a tooling scan.
QueryTek treats WCAG 2.1 AA as the accessibility target for its public and product surfaces, and documents the criteria so teams can frame accessibility questions concretely. Conformance evidence for a specific surface is provided through direct engagement rather than asserted here.
