WCAG Australia: Level AA Guide
By way of WCAG accessibility standards an Australian website can be made to present its content, services and transactions with less in the way of barriers for those with a disability. While WCAG 2.2 Level AA is the de facto benchmark for most organisations here, one should not think the law imposes a single technical standard on every private site.
There are other matters for an Australian web owner to put into account: the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, what customers expect, procurement and any obligations peculiar to the sector. In this guide Tristan Farrow puts the requirements of Australian web accessibility into plain English; you will find WCAG conformance levels, the POUR principles, how to test and where common failures lie, along with a useful checklist. For implementation, consult reliable local website experts.
What Are WCAG Accessibility Standards?
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are put in place by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to ensure that digital documents, applications and websites function for people no matter what device, browser or assistive technology they have.
With three conformance levels and criteria that can be tested, the four WCAG principles are perceivable, operable, robust and understandable. Consider them the road rules of the digital world: the user has to be able to see or hear what is going on, make sense of it and work the interface with whatever technology is at hand, now or in the future.
Why It Is Important
An accessible site is there for the deaf or hard of hearing, for those with low vision or who are blind, for anyone with cognitive or mobility issues and for those with a temporary limitation. One might be using a phone in the glare of the sun or with a child in one’s arms, or be convalescing from an injury; good design is of benefit in such situations.
Then there is the question of compliance. But a well labelled form, sensible error messages, keyboard navigation and legible content are simply easier to use all round. If a website has users trawling about like a tourist with a dead battery it is failing.
The WCAG Version In Australia
For the bulk of website work these days WCAG 2.2 is the version of note. Its Level AA is the target for many in Australia as it is a sensible compromise between wide access and what can be done in practice.
Do not assume a rule applies across the country without checking your policy or contract. The right target will depend on it; a tender, government contract or some industry regulation will call for a specific conformance level.
| WCAG Level | What It Means | Practical Use in Australia |
|---|---|---|
| Level A | Essential | A starting point if nothing else but seldom enough on its own |
| Level AA | More comprehensive and practical | What you will see as the norm in commercial and public-sector projects |
| Level AAA | Top tier in terms of success criteria | Of use for some content though hard to sustain on a complex site |
On Level AA
This covers colour contrast, captions on video, form errors and content that does not lose its meaning when resized. It also deals with interaction patterns that could be an issue for someone with a sensory, physical or cognitive impairment.
An automated scan is no proof of conformance. There is human judgement involved in the WCAG success criteria. A tool will tell you if there is no alternative text but it is not in a position to say if the text is any good at explaining the image.
The Disability Discrimination Act
Under the DDA of 1992 it is unlawful to discriminate on the basis of disability in the provision of goods and services, which can include a website where a customer is required to buy something, book in or fill out a form.
The Act is not prescriptive to the extent of demanding a WCAG certificate on display. What is at issue is whether reasonable adjustments were made and if equal access was denied. The size and resources of the organisation and the technical environment are all part of the equation.
For more on discrimination and disability rights the Australian Human Rights Commission has guidance to offer. See the Commission’s disability rights information for the full picture.
Government Versus Private
You will find a higher order of operational expectation in the accessibility of an Australian government site than a small business has to contend with. Agencies have to adhere to the Digital Service Standard, internal policies and the like. That does not absolve the private sector of their DDA responsibilities. There is no call for a small retailer to have the same governance paperwork on file as a federal department, yet it would be reasonable to put in the effort to eliminate obstacles. An accessibility strategy is not found in “we have always done it this way” mentality; more often than not that is a warning sign in a hi-vis vest.
The Four POUR Principles
With the POUR principles one can reduce accessibility to four questions of a practical nature. They come in handy in the course of planning, design, development, writing and testing, as well as when updating content. Tristan Farrow would have teams put a page through the POUR lens for a quick review before making it live so any issues are nipped in the bud while they are still inexpensive and easy to put right.
Perceivable Information
In order for users to make sense of the information at least one of their senses must be able to pick it up. That means there will be colour contrast for legible text, headings to delineate the structure of the page, captions or transcripts where media warrants it and alternative text for images that is actually meaningful. And do not rely on colour to get your point across. If an invalid field has a red border, there should be some plain text to tell the user what is wrong and how to set it right.
Operable Interfaces
Buttons, menus and forms have to be operable by the user. There are those who cannot use a mouse and others who make do with voice control, switches or other assistive technology, so keyboard navigation is important. Make sure every interactive element shows its focus state. One does not want time limits getting in the way of a task or menus that hold a keyboard user hostage.
Understandable Content
Controls and information ought to be predictable. Be specific with form instructions, keep the navigation consistent and employ descriptive link text and plain language. A form that is accessible will let you know what is required of you and offer error messages that are of some use. “Invalid input” tells you nothing; “Enter your five-digit postcode” is fairer to the user.
Robust Technology
To be robust, content has to stand up to modern browsers, devices and assistive technology. You will find that in the correct HTML structure, sensible ARIA and status messages that can be relied on. ARIA is of assistance when native HTML falls short but it is not going to put a broken structure right. Put in the proper HTML first.
What is Required of Australian Websites
You will find most of the accessibility trouble in the usual suspects: pop-ups, videos, third-party tools, forms and the like. The advantage is they can be put through their paces in a systematic fashion. It is not enough for the homepage to be presentable; if the account area or checkout is rough as guts then the customer journey is not fully covered.
Content And Images
Keep paragraphs short and stick to one H1 heading and H2s and H3s in logical order. The purpose of an image should be made clear in the alt text; screen readers should not be made to wade through descriptions of decorative ones. Essential instructions should not be confined to an image since the text may not resize, could be of poor contrast and is sometimes beyond the reach of assistive technology. Provide the same in text form.
Forms And Transactions
Labels should be in evidence on forms, as should tab order and directions for required fields. Any errors should be laid out along with the remedy. And success messages need to be of a kind a screen reader can handle. Put the transaction to the test from start to finish. You might think a form is fine until you get to the modal window for final confirmation and discover it will not take keyboard focus. Those are the kinds of surprises that have a way of showing up after launch with muddy boots on.
Media And Documents
Where there is speech or sound of note in a video, put in captions. Transcripts are good for access to audio and for those inclined to read. As for PDFs, check them on their own; an accessible site does not confer the same on an attached document. See to it that documents have adequate contrast, tagged tables and the like. For anything involving a complicated process it is best to put the key details in accessible HTML too.
Testing for Level AA
An automated tool is no substitute for manual review and the use of assistive technology in testing. No scanner is going to cover every WCAG success criterion or user.
Make time for it. A day will be enough to see the obvious barriers but a large website calls for a full audit of the different content types, templates, forms and logged-in areas.
A Three-Part Review
- Let the automated scans do their work to turn up duplicate IDs, missing alt text and the odd colour contrast problem.
- Then go over the pages yourself with a screen reader if you can, try the keyboard and put the browser to the test with zoom and reduced motion.
- Have those with the right kind of lived experience put your site through its paces on tasks that are anything but theoretical: an enquiry to be made, a service located or an appointment booked.
To make work of what might otherwise be an amorphous accessibility concern, maintain an issue register for the page. Put down the problem, who is affected, the WCAG success criterion at play, the severity and the fix you would recommend, along with the owner and retest outcome.
Common Barriers And Practical Fixes
It is not uncommon for website owners to think of accessibility issues as highly technical or something of a rarity. The truth is one finds the same old preventable ones over and over on Australian websites. By way of remedy, deal with the barriers of most impact; this will see users get an improvement in short order and instill better habits in teams when they come to publish in the future.
Expectation Versus Reality
The expectation is that an accessibility statement makes a site so. In reality a statement will not put right a keyboard trap, a form with no label or an uncaptioned video.
You may expect an overlay to be the answer to all. Overlays are not to be relied upon to set to rights poor content, a page structure in disarray or third-party services that are not accessible, and can create interaction issues of their own.
AS 1428 is often thought of as the standard for the web. It is not. While it can put inclusive thinking in place, AS 1428 is about access and mobility in the built environment. For web content you want the WCAG framework.
Frequent Technical Failures
One sees a great deal of low colour contrast, “read more” type links, headings that are for show rather than structure, carousels and pop-ups that do not yield to a keyboard, auto-playing media and the absence of focus indicators.
Then there is the habit of using placeholder text in lieu of labels. As soon as the user starts to type it is gone and the contrast is usually wanting. A label that is there to stay is more reliable.
Website Accessibility Checklist
For a quality review, a refresh or migration of content, this checklist is of use to any public-facing organisation or business in Australia. It is no replacement for a proper audit but a good first pass.
- Make a WCAG target, WCAG 2.2 Level AA if you can, and put it in writing.
- See that skip links and focus visibility are in order and test the keyboard navigation.
- Headings should be logical, as should landmarks and page titles.
- Decorative images must be marked as such and alternative text be meaningful.
- Do not make colour your only signal and check the contrast.
- Put captions and transcripts on audio and video where called for.
- Form fields need to be labelled and errors put in plain language.
- On a small screen check the zoom, orientation and reflow.
- Run the menus, accordions, sliders and third-party widgets through their paces.
- Give PDFs, email templates and other documents for download a once over.
- Where you can, have real users and assistive technology test the important stuff.
- And make sure there is an accessible means of contact to report a barrier.
One-Day Priority Review
When time is of the essence and you have a day, concentrate on what has bearing on customer contact, safety, access to services or revenue. The homepage, search, main nav, the booking or checkout process, a contact form and a sample of your content will do.
Record what is wrong instead of putting in a heroic afternoon of random fixes before a launch in the hope of going unobserved. You will be better served by a list of the repairs that matter.
The Case for Expert Help
Your content management system, design system and the way your customers journey through a site can be made to conform with WCAG success criteria by enlisting the services of a dependable local expert. One will put the criteria to work in a practical way. Choose someone at ease with developers, designers and content authors who can put findings into plain terms, make a case with evidence and test any fix.
Find out if the review is done manually and covers keyboard and screen reader use, mobile layouts, forms, documents and third-party services as well. You should also want to know how retesting and prioritisation of issues are handled. A report left to languish in a shared drive does not constitute accessibility progress.
Tristan Farrow has a no-nonsense approach: consider accessibility part of routine website upkeep, akin to putting in a check on the tyres before you set off down the Stuart Highway. With new campaigns, templates or plugins there is always the chance of old barriers making an appearance, so it needs to be factored in to quality assurance and publishing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are some of the more common questions from Australian website owners setting out to do an accessibility review. While the answers provided are straightforward, the specifics of one’s contract, service and organisation will ultimately be what counts.
What Does WCAG Require Of Web Content?
In short, content must be robust, operable, understandable and perceivable. That means things like captions, alternative text, colour contrast, accessible forms and predictable behaviour, to name a few, as well as compatibility with assistive technology. The level required is a matter of policy or contract.
Is WCAG Compliance Necessary?
You will not find a blanket answer for all Australian sites. Where goods, information or services are on offer the 1992 Disability Discrimination Act may come into play, and government procurement will call for WCAG conformance. It is wiser for a business to weigh up the legal risk and obligations than to think the absence of a complaint is the end of it.
What Are The Standards In Australia?
WCAG is the technical reference for websites. But there are other considerations for an Australian organisation: sector rules, the Digital Service Standard, procurement and the 1992 Disability Discrimination Act. AS 1428 is for the built environment and access and mobility; it is not a substitute for WCAG.
What Of AS 1428?
This series of standards has to do with physical access to facilities, paths and buildings. A website owner would be mistaken to put forward AS 1428 as the digital accessibility standard.
Can An Automated Scan Be Relied On?
Not on its own. There is value in an automated tool to root out some technicalities but it is no arbiter of user experience, an instruction or an image description. Manual testing with a keyboard or screen reader, on a browser and on mobile, and input from people with disability should be part of the process.
Make It Part And Parcel Of The Work
Rather than something to be ticked off and displayed, WCAG compliance in Australia is best seen as a matter of course. Have a target in mind and address the high-impact barriers. Test actual tasks and make sure accessibility is in the workflow when you publish.
It is good for customer service and legal awareness and ensures the site is usable by more without the need for workarounds. There is no need for fanfare, just a website where people can do what they have come to do.
