What’s the Difference Between a WCAG 2.1 AA and 2.2 AA Audit?

WCAG 2.2 AA adds six additional success criteria for full conformance, meaning more issues to audit and potentially resolve. Currently, about 85% of our clients choose WCAG 2.1 AA, while 15% opt for 2.2 AA.

WCAG 2.1 AA

WCAG 2.1 AA is the current industry standard chosen by most clients and explicitly required for ADA Title II compliance. It provides comprehensive accessibility coverage that meets all major legal requirements including best practices for ADA Title III lawsuits and the European Accessibility Act.

• Standard criteria set
• Standard pricing and timeline
• Meets all current legal requirements
• Explicitly required for ADA Title II compliance

WCAG 2.2 AA

Builds on top of WCAG 2.1 AA. This means we only add six new success criteria (technical requirements) focused on cognitive and motor accessibility, bringing the total to 55 criteria.

Only 15% of clients currently choose this standard. The choice is impacted by increased cost, increased complexity, and/or corresponding increased difficulty for full conformance. However, WCAG 2.2 AA provides superior accessibility coverage and future-proofs against evolving regulations that may require the “most recent” WCAG standards.

• 6 additional criteria (totaling 55 success criteria)
• 10% higher audit cost
• Longer project timeline
• Provides more thorough accessibility and future-proofing

Legal Requirements

Virtually all digital accessibility laws and regulations either require or implicate WCAG 2.1 AA as best practice.

WCAG 2.2 AA exceeds these requirements and protects against future regulations that reference the “most recent” WCAG standard.

The 6 New Success Criteria in WCAG 2.2

1. Focus Not Obscured (2.4.11): Focused elements must be at least partially visible, not hidden by overlays or sticky headers.
2. Dragging Movements (2.5.7): Dragging functionality must have non-dragging alternatives for users with motor impairments.
3. Target Size (2.5.8): Interactive targets must be at least 24x24 CSS pixels.
4. Consistent Help (3.2.6): Help mechanisms must appear in the same location across pages.
5. Redundant Entry (3.3.7): Previously entered information should auto-populate within the same process.
6. Accessible Authentication (3.3.8): Authentication cannot rely solely on passwords or cognitive tests; alternatives like email links or biometrics must be available.

Success criterion 3.3.8 (Accessible Authentication) is particularly difficult, prohibiting password-only authentication and CAPTCHAs. Organizations must implement alternatives like email magic links or biometric authentication, requiring substantial infrastructure changes. Even email verification must ensure auto-fill and paste functionality work properly.

Summary

The choice depends on your needs. One effective approach: start with a WCAG 2.1 AA audit, complete remediation, then conduct a WCAG 2.2 AA audit 4–8 months later to focus specifically on the additional 2.2 requirements with fewer overall issues to address.

Accessible.org clients usually opt for WCAG 2.1 AA, but we’re always happy to upgrade to WCAG 2.2 AA (the price increase is only an additional 10%).