WCAG 2.1 Level AA

What it is

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 at conformance Level AA. Published in 2018; added 17 success criteria over 2.0 covering mobile, low vision, and cognitive accessibility. Now superseded editorially by 2.2 (2023), but still the version cited by name in active EU and UK regulations.

Why it matters

If your obligation flows from EAA, UK PSBAR, RGAA, or BITV 2.0, the legal text says "2.1 AA" — meeting 2.2 AA satisfies it (2.2 is a strict superset), but you can't claim conformance to a regulation by citing a different version. Keep this on your radar until the regulators catch up.

Who it applies to

Operative wherever a regulation cites WCAG 2.1 by name — currently the EU (EAA, EN 301 549), UK (PSBAR), France (RGAA), Germany (BITV 2.0), and others.

How WQI scores it

Web Quality Index considers this standard satisfied when all of the 7 supporting factors pass.

0 of 7 supporting factors are currently collected. Sites where the remaining 7 haven't been measured will show as partial or unknown on this standard until the data lands.

Related standards

Supersedes

WCAG 2.1 A

Superseded by

WCAG AA

See also

WCAG AA , EAA , UK PSBAR , RGAA , BITV 2.0

Standards that share factors with this one

Auto-computed from overlapping factor tickets in satisfiedBy, excluding standards already listed under "See also" above. Strong overlap suggests these standards rise and fall together when sites are scored.

• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act 6 shared factors Accessibility If you're a public-sector body or a private org with 50+ employees in Ontario, your website has to meet WCAG 2.0 AA — and you have to file a compliance report.
• Accessible Canada Act 6 shared factors Accessibility The federal counterpart to AODA. If you're a federally regulated entity — banks, telecoms, airlines, broadcasters — you publish accessibility plans and progress reports, and your digital surfaces are in scope.
• ADA Title III (digital) 6 shared factors Accessibility Courts treat consumer-facing U.S. websites as places of public accommodation. WCAG AA conformance is the de-facto safe-harbor — the DOJ has said so since 2022.
• Israeli Standard 5568 6 shared factors Accessibility Israel's adoption of WCAG 2.0 AA, made binding for nearly every commercial website serving Israeli users by Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities Regulations.
• JIS X 8341-3:2016 6 shared factors Accessibility Japan's national web accessibility standard. Identical in substance to WCAG 2.0 — public-sector sites are expected to conform, private sector encouraged.

Other references

• guidance WAI Quick Reference (How to Meet WCAG)
• guidance Understanding WCAG 2.1