# Introduction to WCAG 2.x

DevFeed: [Introduction to WCAG 2.x](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/introduction-to-wcag-2-x-9423.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://a11yproject.com/posts/wcag2-documents/>)

Author: Hamsa Harcourt

Published: 2020-10-14T00:00:00Z

Content type: article

Language: en

Sources: [The A11Y Project](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/the-a11y-project.md>)

Topics: [Web Content Accessibility Guidelines](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web-content-accessibility-guidelines.md>), [Web Accessibility (a11y)](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web-accessibility.md>), [Accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/accessibility.md>), [Web](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/web.md>)

Tags: [accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/accessibility.md>), [techniques](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/techniques.md>), [web](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web.md>), [web-accessibility](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web-accessibility.md>), [web-content-accessibility-guidelines](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/web-content-accessibility-guidelines.md>)

## AI overview

An introduction to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), covering their purpose, versions, four POUR principles, and layers of guidance such as guidelines, success criteria, and techniques.

## Source excerpt

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are web accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). The WCAG's goal is to provide a single shared standard for web content accessibility that meets the needs of individuals, organizations and governments internationally. Over time, WCAG has produced various versions of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. WCAG 2.0 was published on 11 December 2008, WCAG 2.1 was published on 5 June 2018. WCAG 2.2 is a W3C working draft as of 5 June 2020. WCAG 2.x WCAG 2.x consists of 12 guidelines. It is organized around four principles which form the acronym "POUR". They include, but are not limited to: 1. Content must be Perceivable (P). Provide a text alternative for all non-text content. Provide synchronized alternatives for multimedia (such as captioned video, audio descriptions etc). Information and structure must be separate from presentation. Make it easy to distinguish foreground information from the background (for example: good color contrast). 2. Interfaces must be Operable (O). All functionality must be operable via keyboard. Provide users enough time to read and use content. Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures. Provide mechanisms for users to find content, orientate themselves and navigate through it. 3. Content and controls must be Understandable (U). Make text content readable and understandable. Make the placement and functionality of content predictable. Help users avoid and correct mistakes. 4. Content must be Robust (R). Support compatibility with current and future user agents. Layers of guidance The WCAG provides various ways to help authors meet its standard called "layers of guidance". They include the following : Guidelines. Success criteria. Techniques. Common failures. Guidelines WCAG 2.x guidelines are categorized into 3 levels of conformance in order to meet the needs of different groups and situations. Under each principle, there is a list of