WCAG 2.2 AA
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 level AA, reference web accessibility standard published by W3C in October 2023, made mandatory for European public sector via the European Accessibility Act (June 2025). AA level = pragmatic compromise between A (minimum) and AAA (ideal). Adds 9 criteria over WCAG 2.1: visible focus indicator (2.4.11), 24px target size (2.5.8), dragging movements alternatives (2.5.7), redundant entry (3.3.7), accessible authentication (3.3.8), etc.
Strengths
- Stable and widely supported W3C standard, audit tools (axe-core, Lighthouse, Pa11y) cover it natively
- Legal compliance Europe (EAA June 2025), solid business argument for a11y budget
- 9 new 2.2 criteria are concrete and testable (target size, focus visible), no grey zone
Limitations
- AA is not enough for real screen reader usage, covers ~50% of user barriers (WebAIM study)
- Automated compliance caps at ~30%, the rest requires manual tests (sometimes real users)
Best for
- Design system manager auditing legal compliance of their DS for regulated sector (banking, public)
- Team wanting to integrate an automated a11y quality gate in their CI pipeline