Accessibility Standards website screenshot

Accessibility Standards

Guidelines and technical specifications that ensure digital content, applications, and technologies are usable by people with disabilities, including standards like WCAG, Section 508, and ARIA. These standards help organizations meet regulatory requirements and demonstrate accountability to stakeholders.

6 APIs 6 Features
AccessibilityComplianceUXWeb StandardsWCAGARIASection 508Disability

APIs

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2

The current stable web accessibility standard published by the W3C Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG WG). WCAG 2.2 comprises 13 guidelines organized under four principl...

WAI-ARIA 1.2

Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.2 is a W3C Recommendation (June 2023) that defines semantic attributes enabling assistive technologies to interpret dynamic we...

Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0

ATAG 2.0 is a W3C Recommendation that defines standards for making authoring tools (CMSes, code editors, web-based tools) accessible to authors with disabilities, and for helpin...

User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) 2.0

UAAG 2.0 is a W3C standard for browsers, browser extensions, media players, and other user agents that render web content. It defines how user agents should make web content acc...

Section 508

Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires U.S. federal agencies to ensure their information and communication technology (ICT) is accessible to people with disabilities. Th...

Accessibility Conformance Testing (ACT) Rules Format 1.1

ACT Rules Format 1.1 (W3C Recommendation, February 2026) establishes a standardized format for documenting accessibility conformance testing rules. The framework supports automa...

Pricing Plans

Accessibility Standards Plans Pricing

3 plans

PLANS

Rate Limits

Accessibility Standards Rate Limits

5 limits

RATE LIMITS

FinOps

Accessibility Standards Finops

FINOPS

Features

Perceivable Content

Standards requiring that information and user interface components be presentable to users in ways they can perceive, including text alternatives for non-text content.

Operable Interface

Standards ensuring that user interface components and navigation are operable, including keyboard accessibility and sufficient time limits.

Understandable Information

Standards ensuring that information and the operation of the user interface is understandable, including readable text and predictable navigation.

Robust Technology

Standards requiring that content be robust enough to be reliably interpreted by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

Conformance Levels

Three-tiered conformance model (Level A, AA, AAA) providing graduated accessibility requirements for organizations to target.

Automated Testing Rules

ACT Rules Framework providing standardized, machine-readable rules for automated accessibility conformance testing.

Use Cases

Web Application Accessibility Auditing

Using WCAG 2.2 success criteria and ACT rules to audit web applications for accessibility compliance.

Federal Government ICT Procurement

Applying Section 508 standards when procuring or developing information and communication technology for U.S. federal agencies.

Accessible Rich Internet Application Development

Using WAI-ARIA attributes to make dynamic JavaScript-driven interfaces accessible to screen readers and assistive technologies.

Automated CI/CD Accessibility Testing

Integrating axe-core or Pa11y into continuous integration pipelines to catch accessibility regressions automatically.

Regulatory Compliance Documentation

Producing Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) and Accessibility Conformance Reports aligned with Section 508 and WCAG.

Integrations

axe-core

Open-source accessibility testing engine by Deque Systems implementing WCAG 2.0/2.1/2.2 rules, integrates with browsers, testing frameworks, and CI tools.

Pa11y

Open-source Node.js tool for automated accessibility testing against WCAG standards, integrates with GitHub Actions and CI/CD pipelines.

Section508.gov

GSA's Government-wide IT Accessibility Program providing guidance, training, and resources for federal Section 508 compliance.

EU Accessibility Act / EN 301 549

European standard referencing WCAG 2.1 AA, applicable to public and private sector digital services in EU member states.

ISO/IEC 40500:2025

International Standards Organization adoption of WCAG 2.2, enabling global regulatory alignment with the W3C standard.

Semantic Vocabularies

Accessibility Standards Context

7 classes · 24 properties

JSON-LD

JSON Structure

Aria Role Structure

8 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Wcag Conformance Report Structure

8 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Wcag Success Criterion Structure

10 properties

JSON STRUCTURE

Example Payloads

Aria Role Example

8 fields

EXAMPLE

Wcag Conformance Report Example

8 fields

EXAMPLE

Wcag Success Criterion Example

10 fields

EXAMPLE

Resources

🔗
Website
Website
👥
W3C GitHub Organization
GitHubOrganization
🔧
W3C Accessibility Evaluation Tools List
Tools
🔧
axe-core Accessibility Testing Engine
Tools
🔧
Pa11y Automated Accessibility Testing
Tools
🔗
Accessibility Standards JSON-LD Context
JSONLD
🔗
Accessibility Standards Vocabulary
Vocabulary

Sources

apis.yml Raw ↑ 
aid: accessibility-standards
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
name: Accessibility Standards
type: Index
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
tags:
- Accessibility
- Compliance
- UX
- Web Standards
- WCAG
- ARIA
- Section 508
- Disability
description: Guidelines and technical specifications that ensure digital content, applications, and technologies are usable
  by people with disabilities, including standards like WCAG, Section 508, and ARIA. These standards help organizations meet
  regulatory requirements and demonstrate accountability to stakeholders.
created: '2025-01-01'
modified: '2026-04-19'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
- name: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2
  description: 'The current stable web accessibility standard published by the W3C Accessibility Guidelines Working Group
    (AG WG). WCAG 2.2 comprises 13 guidelines organized under four principles (perceivable, operable, understandable, robust)
    with success criteria at three levels: A, AA, and AAA. It has been adopted as ISO/IEC 40500:2025 and is referenced by
    Section 508 and the EU Accessibility Act.'
  humanURL: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/
  baseURL: https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/
  tags:
  - WCAG
  - Web Content
  - Accessibility
  - W3C
  - ISO
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/
  - type: Specification
    url: https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG22/quickref/
    title: WCAG 2.2 Quick Reference
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/w3c/wcag
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/json-schema/wcag-success-criterion-schema.json
    title: WCAG Success Criterion Schema
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/json-schema/wcag-conformance-report-schema.json
    title: WCAG Conformance Report Schema
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/json-structure/wcag-success-criterion-structure.json
    title: WCAG Success Criterion Structure
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/json-structure/wcag-conformance-report-structure.json
    title: WCAG Conformance Report Structure
  - type: Examples
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/examples/wcag-success-criterion-example.json
    title: WCAG Success Criterion Example
  - type: Examples
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/examples/wcag-conformance-report-example.json
    title: WCAG Conformance Report Example
- name: WAI-ARIA 1.2
  description: Accessible Rich Internet Applications (WAI-ARIA) 1.2 is a W3C Recommendation (June 2023) that defines semantic
    attributes enabling assistive technologies to interpret dynamic web content and complex interfaces. The suite includes
    Core Accessibility API Mappings, Accessible Name and Description Computation, and HTML/SVG API Mappings.
  humanURL: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/aria/
  baseURL: https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.2/
  tags:
  - ARIA
  - Semantic
  - Screen Reader
  - W3C
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/aria/
  - type: Specification
    url: https://www.w3.org/TR/wai-aria-1.2/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.w3.org/WAI/ARIA/apg/
    title: ARIA Authoring Practices Guide
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/json-schema/aria-role-schema.json
    title: ARIA Role Schema
  - type: JSONStructure
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/json-structure/aria-role-structure.json
    title: ARIA Role Structure
  - type: Examples
    url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/examples/aria-role-example.json
    title: ARIA Role Example
- name: Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) 2.0
  description: ATAG 2.0 is a W3C Recommendation that defines standards for making authoring tools (CMSes, code editors, web-based
    tools) accessible to authors with disabilities, and for helping those tools generate accessible content.
  humanURL: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/atag/
  baseURL: https://www.w3.org/TR/ATAG/
  tags:
  - ATAG
  - Authoring Tools
  - W3C
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/atag/
  - type: Specification
    url: https://www.w3.org/TR/ATAG/
- name: User Agent Accessibility Guidelines (UAAG) 2.0
  description: UAAG 2.0 is a W3C standard for browsers, browser extensions, media players, and other user agents that render
    web content. It defines how user agents should make web content accessible to users with disabilities either directly
    or in conjunction with assistive technologies.
  humanURL: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/uaag/
  baseURL: https://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG20/
  tags:
  - UAAG
  - Browsers
  - User Agents
  - W3C
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/uaag/
  - type: Specification
    url: https://www.w3.org/TR/UAAG20/
- name: Section 508
  description: Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act requires U.S. federal agencies to ensure their information and communication
    technology (ICT) is accessible to people with disabilities. The Revised 508 Standards (effective January 18, 2017) incorporate
    WCAG 2.0 Level A and AA success criteria for web and electronic content across seven chapters of requirements.
  humanURL: https://www.access-board.gov/ict/
  baseURL: https://www.section508.gov/
  tags:
  - Section 508
  - Federal
  - Government
  - US Law
  - ICT
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.access-board.gov/ict/
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.section508.gov/develop/web-content/
    title: Section 508 Web Content Development Guidance
- name: Accessibility Conformance Testing (ACT) Rules Format 1.1
  description: ACT Rules Format 1.1 (W3C Recommendation, February 2026) establishes a standardized format for documenting
    accessibility conformance testing rules. The framework supports automated, semi-automated, and manual testing and is used
    to create transparent, interoperable accessibility testing methodologies aligned with WCAG.
  humanURL: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/act/
  baseURL: https://www.w3.org/TR/act-rules-format/
  tags:
  - ACT
  - Testing
  - Conformance
  - W3C
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/act/
  - type: Specification
    url: https://www.w3.org/TR/act-rules-format/
  - type: GitHubRepository
    url: https://github.com/w3c/wcag-act-rules
    title: WCAG ACT Rules Repository
common:
- type: Website
  url: https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/w3c
  title: W3C GitHub Organization
- type: Tools
  url: https://www.w3.org/WAI/test-evaluate/tools/list/
  title: W3C Accessibility Evaluation Tools List
- type: Tools
  url: https://github.com/dequelabs/axe-core
  title: axe-core Accessibility Testing Engine
- type: Tools
  url: https://github.com/pa11y/pa11y
  title: Pa11y Automated Accessibility Testing
- type: JSONLD
  url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/json-ld/accessibility-standards-context.jsonld
  title: Accessibility Standards JSON-LD Context
- type: Vocabulary
  url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/accessibility-standards/refs/heads/main/vocabulary/accessibility-standards-vocabulary.yaml
  title: Accessibility Standards Vocabulary
- type: Features
  data:
  - name: Perceivable Content
    description: Standards requiring that information and user interface components be presentable to users in ways they can
      perceive, including text alternatives for non-text content.
  - name: Operable Interface
    description: Standards ensuring that user interface components and navigation are operable, including keyboard accessibility
      and sufficient time limits.
  - name: Understandable Information
    description: Standards ensuring that information and the operation of the user interface is understandable, including
      readable text and predictable navigation.
  - name: Robust Technology
    description: Standards requiring that content be robust enough to be reliably interpreted by a wide variety of user agents,
      including assistive technologies.
  - name: Conformance Levels
    description: Three-tiered conformance model (Level A, AA, AAA) providing graduated accessibility requirements for organizations
      to target.
  - name: Automated Testing Rules
    description: ACT Rules Framework providing standardized, machine-readable rules for automated accessibility conformance
      testing.
- type: UseCases
  data:
  - name: Web Application Accessibility Auditing
    description: Using WCAG 2.2 success criteria and ACT rules to audit web applications for accessibility compliance.
  - name: Federal Government ICT Procurement
    description: Applying Section 508 standards when procuring or developing information and communication technology for
      U.S. federal agencies.
  - name: Accessible Rich Internet Application Development
    description: Using WAI-ARIA attributes to make dynamic JavaScript-driven interfaces accessible to screen readers and assistive
      technologies.
  - name: Automated CI/CD Accessibility Testing
    description: Integrating axe-core or Pa11y into continuous integration pipelines to catch accessibility regressions automatically.
  - name: Regulatory Compliance Documentation
    description: Producing Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs) and Accessibility Conformance Reports aligned
      with Section 508 and WCAG.
- type: Integrations
  data:
  - name: axe-core
    description: Open-source accessibility testing engine by Deque Systems implementing WCAG 2.0/2.1/2.2 rules, integrates
      with browsers, testing frameworks, and CI tools.
  - name: Pa11y
    description: Open-source Node.js tool for automated accessibility testing against WCAG standards, integrates with GitHub
      Actions and CI/CD pipelines.
  - name: Section508.gov
    description: GSA's Government-wide IT Accessibility Program providing guidance, training, and resources for federal Section
      508 compliance.
  - name: EU Accessibility Act / EN 301 549
    description: European standard referencing WCAG 2.1 AA, applicable to public and private sector digital services in EU
      member states.
  - name: ISO/IEC 40500:2025
    description: International Standards Organization adoption of WCAG 2.2, enabling global regulatory alignment with the
      W3C standard.
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com