Accessibility requirements

Helping people by honouring user preferences and by allowing adaptations to content presentation and time limits.

• Instructions do not rely solely on sensory characteristics like colour, shape or placement (1.3.3 Sensory Characteristics, Level A)
• Content is not restricted to a single orientation, unless it's essential (1.3.4 Orientation, Level AA)
• Text can scale up to 200% without loss of content or functionality (1.4.4 Resize Text, Level AA)
• Content reflows without horizontal scrolling at 320px wide, unless it's essential (1.4.10 Reflow, Level AA)
• Line, letter and word spacing can be increased without a loss of content (1.4.12 Text Spacing, Level AA)
• People can extend or turn off any time limits (2.2.1 Timing Adjustable, Level A)
• People can see their preferences for text colour, width, alignment, spacing, and size reflected in the visual presentation (1.4.8 Visual Presentation, Level AAA)
• No time limits, except for video and live events (2.2.3 No Timing, Level AAA)
• Updates can be delayed or turned off, except in emergencies (2.2.4 Interruptions, Level AAA)
• Content and information remains visible and understandable when using high contrast themes (Recommendation)

Helping people to limit animation or reduce motion within content.

• People can pause, stop or hide moving or auto-updating content (2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide, Level A)
• No content flashes more than three times per second (2.3.1 Three Flashes or Below Threshold, Level A)
• No flashing content at all (2.3.2 Three Flashes, Level AAA)
• People can disable motion triggered by interaction (2.3.3 Animation from Interactions, Level AAA)

Helping people who use a screen reader or other assistive tech by using appropriate code.

• Information, structure, and relationships conveyed through presentation can be programmatically determined (1.3.1 Info and Relationships, Level A)
• When sequence affects meaning, correct reading sequence is programmatically determined (1.3.2 Meaningful Sequence, Level A)
• Input purpose can be programmatically determined (1.3.5 Identify Input Purpose, Level AA)
• Page has a title which describes topic or purpose (2.4.2 Page Titled, Level A)
• The visible label (or icon text alternative) is part of the computed accessible name (2.5.3 Label in Name, Level A)
• Primary language is marked up with the correct lang attribute (3.1.1 Language of Page, Level A)
• Changes in language are marked up with the correct lang attribute (3.1.2 Language of Parts, Level AA)
• Elements have the correct computed accessible name, role and properties (4.1.2 Name, Role, Value, Level A)
• Status messages are programmatically exposed without focus (4.1.3 Status Messages, Level AA)
• Icons, regions, and controls expose their semantic purpose (1.3.6 Identify Purpose, Level AAA)
• Markup can be parsed without errors (Recommendation)

Helping people who struggle with colour perception or low vision.

• Colour is not the only visual means of conveying information (1.4.1 Use of Color, Level A)
• Text has a contrast ratio of 4.5:1 or higher (or 3:1 for large text) (1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum), Level AA)
• Graphical elements and UI components have a contrast ratio of 3:1 or higher (1.4.11 Non-text Contrast, Level AA)
• Text contrast ratio at least 7:1 (or 4.5:1 for large text) (1.4.6 Contrast (Enhanced), Level AAA)

Helping people by keeping functionality and content consistent and predictable.

• A control receiving focus does not initiate a change of context (3.2.1 On Focus, Level A)
• Changing a setting in the component does not trigger a change of context (3.2.2 On Input, Level A)
• Consistently order navigation that repeats across multiple pages (3.2.3 Consistent Navigation, Level AA)
• Components with the same functionality in a set of web pages are identified consistently (3.2.4 Consistent Identification, Level AA)
• Help mechanisms are consistently located across multiple pages (3.2.6 Consistent Help, Level A)
• Context changes occur only on explicit user request (3.2.5 Change on Request, Level AAA)

Helping people to access (and remove distractions caused by) image, video and audio content.

• Adequate text alternatives are provided, or are marked as decorative (1.1.1 Non-text Content, Level A)
• An alternative is available for audio-only and video-only content (1.2.1 Audio-only and Video-only (Prerecorded), Level A)
• Synchronised captions are available for prerecorded video with audio (1.2.2 Captions (Prerecorded), Level A)
• An alternative is available for synchronised media (1.2.3 Audio Description or Media Alternative (Prerecorded), Level A)
• Synchronised captions are available for live media (1.2.4 Captions (Live), Level A)
• Audio description is available for synchronised media (1.2.5 Audio Description (Prerecorded), Level AA)
• It's possible to pause or stop audio if it automatically plays longer than 3 seconds (1.4.2 Audio Control, Level A)
• Real text is used instead of images of text (except essential/logos) (1.4.5 Images of Text, Level AA)
• Sign language interpretation is provided (1.2.6 Sign Language (Prerecorded), Level AAA)
• Extended audio description is available for synchronised media (1.2.7 Extended Audio Description (Prerecorded), Level AAA)
• Full text alternative is available for video (1.2.8 Media Alternative (Prerecorded), Level AAA)
• Alternative is available for live audio (1.2.9 Audio-only (Live), Level AAA)
• Videos with speech have no background sounds, or they're below 20dB (1.4.7 Low or No Background Audio, Level AAA)
• No images of text at all (1.4.9 Images of Text (No Exception), Level AAA)

Helping people to complete forms, enter data and pass authentication.

• Input is possible without relying solely on device or user movement (2.5.4 Motion Actuation, Level A)
• It's clear which inputs have errors, and errors are identified in text (3.3.1 Error Identification, Level A)
• Labels or instructions are provided for all inputs (3.3.2 Labels or Instructions, Level A)
• Error messages suggest how to correct them, unless this would jeopardise security or purpose (3.3.3 Error Suggestion, Level AA)
• People can go back, review, or confirm before irreversible form submissions (3.3.4 Error Prevention (Legal, Financial, Data), Level AA)
• People are not required to re-enter the same information twice (3.3.7 Redundant Entry, Level A)
• Authentication does not rely on cognitive function tests (3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum), Level AA)
• If an authenticated session expires, prior activity and data is preserved after re-authenticating (2.2.5 Re-authenticating, Level AAA)
• People are warned how long their session can be inactive before they may lose information, unless more than 20 hours (2.2.6 Timeouts, Level AAA)
• Interface supports multiple input modes, like mouse, touch, and voice (2.5.6 Concurrent Input Mechanisms, Level AAA)
• Context-sensitive help is available (3.3.5 Help, Level AAA)
• All submissions reversible or confirm-able before finalising (Shared with Development) (3.3.6 Error Prevention (All), Level AAA)
• Authentication requires no cognitive test (3.3.9 Accessible Authentication (Enhanced), Level AAA)

Helping people who use a keyboard.

• All functionality works using a keyboard (unless it's an exception) (2.1.1 Keyboard, Level A)
• Focus does not become trapped (2.1.2 No Keyboard Trap, Level A)
• Character-only shortcut keys can be turned off or modified (2.1.4 Character Key Shortcuts, Level A)
• Repeated content can be skipped over (2.4.1 Bypass Blocks, Level A)
• Focus order is logical (2.4.3 Focus Order, Level A)
• Keyboard focus indicator is visible and discernible (2.4.7 Focus Visible, Level AA)
• Focus indicator is not completely hidden by other elements (2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum), Level AA)
• Keyboard operability without exception (2.1.3 Keyboard (No Exception), Level AAA)
• Focus is not even partially hidden by other content (2.4.12 Focus Not Obscured (Enhanced), Level AAA)
• The focus indicator has a contrast ratio of 3:1 or higher (2.4.13 Focus Appearance, Level AAA)

Helping people find the content they are looking for on a single page or across multiple pages.

• The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone, or its text together with its programmatically-determined context (2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context), Level A)
• There are at least two options for reaching the same content, unless that content is a step in a process (2.4.5 Multiple Ways, Level AA)
• Headings and labels clearly describe topic or purpose (2.4.6 Headings and Labels, Level AA)
• Provide indication of current location within a set of pages (2.4.8 Location, Level AAA)
• The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone, or a mechanism is available to allow this (2.4.9 Link Purpose (Link Only), Level AAA)
• Sections headings are used to organise content (2.4.10 Section Headings, Level AAA)

Helping people use single pointer or touch interactions.

• Content revealed on hover or focus is persistent, hoverable and dismissible (1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus, Level AA)
• Path-based or multi-point gestures have single-pointer alternatives (2.5.1 Pointer Gestures, Level A)
• Actions triggered on release, not press, to prevent errors (2.5.2 Pointer Cancellation, Level A)
• Drag actions have single-pointer alternatives (2.5.7 Dragging Movements, Level AA)
• Actionable elements have a clickable area which is least 24×24 px (2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum), Level AA)
• Actionable elements have a clickable area which is least 44x44 px (2.5.5 Target Size (Enhanced), Level AAA)

Helping people to read and understand text content.

• Explain unusual words, idioms or jargon (3.1.3 Unusual Words, Level AAA)
• Abbreviations expanded or explained (3.1.4 Abbreviations, Level AAA)
• Text can be understood by people with lower reading ability or an alternative is provided (3.1.5 Reading Level, Level AAA)
• Provide pronunciation where necessary for meaning (3.1.6 Pronunciation, Level AAA)

Last updated: 13 October 2026.