IT Glossary
What is WCAG?
The international standard defining, through verifiable criteria, how accessible a website is for people with disabilities — at three conformance levels.
Can a blind customer place an order on your website? Can somebody who navigates only by keyboard, or who struggles with low contrast? WCAG — the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines — turns those questions into concrete, checkable criteria: minimum contrast between text and background, descriptions for images, correctly labelled forms, complete operation without a mouse. The criteria group into three levels. A covers the fundamental barriers. AA is the practical target that legislation refers to. AAA imposes strict thresholds achieved in full only by specialised sites. The part concerning companies directly is regulatory: since June 2025 the European Accessibility Act requires conformance across many commercial digital services, e-commerce included, and this standard is the technical reference that evaluations use. Beyond obligation the arithmetic is simple. An inaccessible site turns away customers with disabilities, a group large enough to notice in revenue, while the very same criteria make the site clearer for everybody else — on a phone, in bright sunlight, on a slow connection, or simply in a hurry with one hand free.
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Why it matters for your business
Compliance you can demonstrate
The AA level is the reference European accessibility legislation points to, so a passed audit keeps the risk of complaints and penalties under control.
Extra customers, not merely ticks
A site usable with a screen reader, from a keyboard and at proper contrast serves customers competitors simply lose — an ignored segment with no good reason behind it.
Quality every user feels
Clear structure, labelled forms and good contrast improve the experience for everyone, including on mobile, in sunlight and on poor connections.
Frequently asked questions
What do the A, AA and AAA conformance levels mean?
Every criterion carries a level. A covers fundamental barriers such as images without descriptions and keyboard traps. AA adds requirements including minimum contrast ratios and resizable text. AAA imposes strict thresholds that only specialised sites meet in full. The standard target for a commercial website is AA, which is also the level legislation references, so it is the one to write into a design or development contract rather than leaving to interpretation.
Is accessibility conformance mandatory for my company website?
For public institutions it has been for years. For the private sector, the European Accessibility Act, applicable from 28 June 2025, covers e-commerce, banking services, transport and other widely used digital services, with exemptions for microenterprises. Even where the law does not yet compel you, the direction is unambiguous, and building accessibly from the start costs far less than retrofitting a finished site under pressure later.
How do I check whether my site conforms?
Automated tests catch part of the problem quickly — contrast, missing attributes — but cover only a fraction of the criteria. A real evaluation combines automated auditing with manual verification: complete keyboard navigation, a screen reader pass, checking forms and error messages. The result is a list of non-conformities prioritised by level, which is the document to hand a developer, rather than a raw tool export nobody can act on.
Let’s talk about your project
Message us on WhatsApp or send an email — you talk directly to a developer.
office@northdan.com · +40 752 070 247