What is WCAG

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the guideline for designing a website according to a specific guideline. This guidelines are mainly used in designing and building websites and platforms for government agencies. The EU even requires government agency websites and mobile applications to comply with this WCAG. This is to make web information accessible to everyone.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are part of a set of web accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the premier international organization for standardization of the Internet. They are a set of recommendations to make web content more accessible, mainly for people with disabilities. According to the WCAG, websites must be designed for all information carriers, including mobile phones. 

Ultimately, it is of course best if all platforms and websites are designed according to the WCAG. This way you not only help the user, but also yourself. By not following these guidelines, you run the risk of not being able to serve a large group of users and, in the case of a webshop, even missing out on turnover.

4 core values 

If we look in detail at what these WCAG guidelines entail, we see that four core values ​​must be taken into account when designing and building websites:

• Observable
• Operable
• Understandable
• Robust

Observable

Although this seems obvious, the observability of information is more complex than it seems. For example, for time-based media it is good to also have an alternative. So that if it disappears, the user can still consult the information.

It is also good to create text alternatives for non-text content, such as large letters, braille, symbols or speech. This can then be changed into other shapes that people need. Presenting information in different forms without loss of structure is also essential. It is clear that observability translates into many forms. 

Operable

The operability of a site or platform mainly translates into the use of the navigation and the interface. For example, it is important that all functions are available from the keyboard and it is important to help users navigate. For example, a menu can be activated on sites with the tab key, which can then be further operated with arrow keys.

Another example is to give users the ability to pause moving elements. This can apply to sliders, but also to videos and gifs, for example.

Furthermore, multiple ways should be provided to find content and determine where the user is.

Understandable

Making the information on a website understandable is not entirely unimportant. It almost goes without saying, but there are still a number of issues that may turn out to be underexposed. For example, it is important that web pages appear and function in predictable ways. It is also good to help users avoid mistakes. Correction of errors is also recommended. 

The content of the text must of course also be understandable. The level must match the purpose of the website.

Robust

A slightly more abstract guideline that can easily be translated as “reliable”. The robustness of a site or platform must therefore ensure that the information displayed appears reliable. Naturally, this applies to all information carriers and different technologies. 

The best way to achieve this guideline is to get ahead of future technological developments during design, so that you do not have to make drastic adjustments every year.

Our applications

As an internet agency, we often have to deal with WCAG when building and devising platforms. We can therefore handle it very well when customers ask us to apply WCAG. We would prefer to do this for every customer, because we believe that the internet should be an accessible place for everyone.

Some of our WCAG projects can be found below. Feel free to take a look at how we put this into practice on the websites of, for example, De Afsluitdijk and KiFiD.