WCAG 2.2 explained: the nine new success criteria and how to meet them
Target size, focus visibility, dragging, accessible login: what changed in WCAG 2.2 and how to test it.
Key takeaways
- WCAG 2.2 became a W3C Recommendation in October 2023. It adds nine success criteria and removes one, 4.1.1 Parsing.
- Six of the new criteria apply at Level AA or below, which is the level laws and settlements expect: Focus Not Obscured, Dragging Movements, Target Size, Accessible Authentication, Consistent Help and Redundant Entry.
- It is backward compatible. A site that passes WCAG 2.2 AA also passes 2.1 AA and 2.0 AA.
- Most of the new checks need a person to look. Sticky headers covering focus, tiny tap targets and login puzzles are easy to miss with scanners alone.
What WCAG 2.2 is and why it matters
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the international standard for accessible web content. Version 2.2 was published by the W3C on October 5, 2023, and it builds directly on 2.1. You can read the full text in the WCAG 2.2 Recommendation (opens in a new tab) or the W3C summary of what is new in WCAG 2.2 (opens in a new tab).
The new criteria focus on three groups of people who were underserved by earlier versions: people with low vision, people with cognitive and learning disabilities, and people with motor impairments, including anyone using a phone with limited dexterity.
Laws usually lag a version behind. The U.S. Justice Department's Title II rule still references WCAG 2.1 AA. The European standard has already caught up: EN 301 549 V4.1.1 (opens in a new tab), published in September 2026, adopts WCAG 2.2 and becomes the legal reference once the EU formally cites it. Read more on our WCAG compliance page.
| Criterion | Level | In one line |
|---|---|---|
| 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) | AA | Focused elements are not fully hidden by sticky content |
| 2.4.12 Focus Not Obscured (Enhanced) | AAA | No part of the focused element is hidden |
| 2.4.13 Focus Appearance | AAA | Focus indicators are large and high contrast |
| 2.5.7 Dragging Movements | AA | Anything you can drag, you can also do with a single click or tap |
| 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) | AA | Click and tap targets are at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, or well spaced |
| 3.2.6 Consistent Help | A | Help options appear in the same relative order on every page |
| 3.3.7 Redundant Entry | A | Do not make people type the same information twice |
| 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum) | AA | Logging in does not depend on memory or puzzles |
| 3.3.9 Accessible Authentication (Enhanced) | AAA | Stricter version of 3.3.8 with fewer exceptions |
The Level AA additions
Level AA conformance includes every Level A criterion, so treat these four and the two Level A additions below as one list.
2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum)
When a control receives keyboard focus, it must not be entirely hidden by content the site added, such as a sticky header, a cookie banner or a chat bubble. Partial overlap passes at AA; full coverage fails. See the W3C explanation of Focus Not Obscured (opens in a new tab).
The common fix is CSS: add scroll-padding-top equal to your sticky header height, and make sure cookie banners and chat widgets do not sit over interactive content while someone is tabbing.
2.5.7 Dragging Movements
Any action that uses dragging, like sliders, sortable lists, maps or kanban boards, must also work with a single pointer action without dragging, unless dragging is essential. People with tremors or who use head pointers often cannot hold and drag. Details are in Understanding Dragging Movements (opens in a new tab).
Add buttons or menus as an alternative: up and down controls to reorder, a number input next to a slider, or tap-to-select then tap-to-place.
2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum)
Clickable targets must be at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, or be spaced so that a 24 pixel circle centered on each target does not overlap another target. Links inside a sentence are exempt, as are controls whose size the browser sets. The full rule and its exceptions are in Understanding Target Size (Minimum) (opens in a new tab).
Footer link lists, pagination numbers, close buttons on banners and icon rows are the usual failures. Padding usually fixes them without changing the design much.
3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum)
A login step must not require a cognitive function test, such as remembering a password or solving a puzzle, unless there is an alternative or a mechanism to help. Allowing password managers to fill fields and allowing paste satisfies this for passwords. Recognizing objects or your own content is allowed at this level. Read Understanding Accessible Authentication (opens in a new tab).
The frequent failures are login forms that block paste, one-time codes split across boxes that break autofill, and CAPTCHAs with no alternative. Email magic links and passkeys pass easily.
The Level A additions
Level A criteria are the baseline, so these two apply to every site that claims any WCAG conformance.
3.2.6 Consistent Help
If you offer help on several pages, such as a phone number, a contact form link, a chat widget or an FAQ link, it must appear in the same relative order each time. You do not have to offer help, but if you do, keep it predictable. See Understanding Consistent Help (opens in a new tab).
3.3.7 Redundant Entry
Within the same process, information the user already entered must be filled in automatically or available to select, unless re-entry is essential, needed for security, or the earlier value is no longer valid. The classic example is a checkout that asks for the shipping address and then the billing address with no "same as shipping" option. Details are in Understanding Redundant Entry (opens in a new tab).
The Level AAA additions
Level AAA is not required by most laws, but these three are worth knowing because they describe good practice.
- 2.4.12 Focus Not Obscured (Enhanced) requires that no part of the focused element is hidden.
- 2.4.13 Focus Appearance asks for a focus indicator at least as large as a 2 CSS pixel perimeter around the control, with a 3:1 contrast change between focused and unfocused states. See Understanding Focus Appearance (opens in a new tab).
- 3.3.9 Accessible Authentication (Enhanced) removes the object recognition and personal content exceptions from 3.3.8.
Meeting 2.4.13 is a cheap upgrade for most design systems: a solid 2 pixel outline with an offset, in a color that contrasts with both the control and the page.
What WCAG 2.2 removed
Success criterion 4.1.1 Parsing was removed. It required valid, well-formed markup, which mattered when assistive technologies parsed HTML themselves. Modern browsers and screen readers handle this consistently, so the W3C marked it obsolete (opens in a new tab). Duplicate IDs and broken nesting can still cause real failures, but those are caught by other criteria such as 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value.
How to test your site for WCAG 2.2
Automated tools are good at finding contrast, missing names and some target size problems. They are weak at judging whether focus is visible, whether a drag has an alternative, or whether help is consistent. Plan for both.
- Scan every template. Run an automated WCAG 2.2 check across home, category, product, form and account pages. The ComplyMo Agent does this on a schedule and keeps a dated record of each result.
- Tab through with a sticky header visible. Watch for any focused element that disappears behind it.
- Measure small targets. Check icon buttons, pagination and footer links with the browser's element inspector.
- Try every drag with a mouse click only. Sliders, carousels, reorderable lists and maps.
- Log in with a password manager. Confirm paste works and there is no puzzle without an alternative.
- Walk a multi-step form. Make sure nothing you already typed is asked for again.
The W3C keeps a filterable How to Meet WCAG quick reference (opens in a new tab) with techniques for every criterion, and an overview of evaluation approaches (opens in a new tab) if you want to go deeper.
Where to start this week
If you only have a day, fix the three issues that affect the most people on most sites: focus hidden under sticky headers, tap targets under 24 pixels in navigation and footers, and login forms that block paste. Each is usually a small CSS or attribute change.
Then work through the older criteria that still cause most failures, which our guide to ADA website compliance in 2026 covers in detail. If you would rather have the scanning and the record keeping handled, start a free trial and run a WCAG 2.2 audit on your own site.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Requirements vary by jurisdiction and change over time, so confirm your obligations with counsel.
