ADA, the European Accessibility Act and WCAG 2.2: one standard for both

One standard sits behind both laws

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) come from the W3C, the group that writes web standards. Each guideline has pass-or-fail checks at three levels: A, AA and AAA. The US rule for governments, the Justice Department’s settlements and the new European standard all ask for level AA, which includes everything in A.

WCAG 2.2 became a W3C standard on 5 October 2023. According to the W3C’s summary of changes, it keeps the 2.1 checks except one that was out of date, and adds nine new ones, six of them at level A or AA. So a site that meets 2.2 AA meets the 2.1 AA target used in the US as well.

The laws at a glance

ADA Title III: private businesses

Title III covers businesses open to the public. The Justice Department’s web guidance (March 2022) says it has no regulation setting detailed standards, and that businesses have flexibility in how they comply, as long as their online goods and services are accessible. It points to WCAG as helpful guidance.

In practice, WCAG 2.1 AA is the usual target. The department’s 2022 settlements with Rite Aid and Hy-Vee, for example, required WCAG 2.1 Level AA.

This is where the lawsuits are. Lawyers at Seyfarth Shaw counted 3,117 website accessibility lawsuits in federal courts in 2025, up from 2,452 in 2024. New York (1,021) and Florida (961) led. Their count leaves out state courts, where cases are also filed.

ADA Title II: governments

For public bodies there is a written rule. The Justice Department’s 2024 rule makes WCAG 2.1 Level AA the standard for state and local government websites and apps, including content provided through contractors. If you build or host sites for councils, schools or transit agencies, it reaches you through your contract.

On April 20, 2026 the department pushed the deadlines back by a year in an interim final rule, as Duane Morris reports:

• 50,000 people or more: April 26, 2027 (was April 24, 2026).
• Under 50,000, and special districts: April 26, 2028 (was April 26, 2027).

The standard itself, WCAG 2.1 AA, didn’t change.

The European Accessibility Act

The European Accessibility Act (Directive 2019/882) has applied since 28 June 2025. It’s a directive, so each EU country has its own law that carries it out, with its own regulator and penalties. The directive only says penalties must be “effective, proportionate and dissuasive”.

For websites and apps, the services it covers (Article 2) are:

• Online shops and other e-commerce services.
• Consumer banking.
• E-books and the software used to read them.
• Air, bus, rail and boat passenger transport: websites, apps, e-tickets and travel information.
• Phone and messaging services, and services that give access to TV and video.

Small businesses: service providers with fewer than 10 staff and a yearly turnover or balance sheet of no more than €2 million are exempt (Article 4(5)). The exemption is for services; products have separate rules.

Old contracts: service contracts agreed before 28 June 2025 can run unchanged until they end, for five years at most (Article 32).

Outside the EU: the act is about services offered to consumers in the EU. If you sell to them from the UK, the US or elsewhere, check with a lawyer whether it covers you.

EN 301 549 v4.1.1: WCAG 2.2 arrives in Europe

The act doesn’t list technical checks itself. It relies on a European standard, EN 301 549. Version 4.1.1 was published on 2 September 2026 and adopts WCAG 2.2 Level AA, Deque reports, with extra requirements on user preferences and real-time text.

It’s expected to be cited in the EU’s Official Journal around 30 November 2026. Citation is the step that makes it the reference for showing you meet the act. Meeting WCAG 2.2 AA alone doesn’t equal meeting EN 301 549, but for most websites it’s the bulk of the work.

WCAG 2.2 AA checklist in plain English

Not the full list, but a practical first pass. The numbers are the WCAG references.

1. Readable text: Text needs a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 with its background, or 3:1 for large text (1.4.3).
2. Images explained: Every meaningful image has alt text that says what it shows or does; decorative ones are hidden from screen readers (1.1.1).
3. Works with a keyboard: Every link, button, menu and form works with Tab, Enter and the arrow keys, with no traps (2.1.1).
4. You can see where you are: The focused element has a visible outline (2.4.7), and isn’t hidden behind a sticky header, chat widget or cookie banner (2.4.11, new in 2.2).
5. Labelled forms: Each field has a label, and errors say what went wrong and how to fix it (3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.3).
6. Named buttons and links: Icon-only buttons have a name a screen reader can read out, and link text makes sense on its own (2.4.4, 4.1.2).
7. Clear structure: Headings in order, a page title that says where you are, and the page language set in the code (1.3.1, 2.4.2, 3.1.1).
8. Big enough targets: Buttons and links are at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, or spaced so they’re easy to hit (2.5.8, new in 2.2).
9. Zoom and small screens: Text can be enlarged to 200% (1.4.4), and the page works at 320 CSS pixels wide without scrolling sideways (1.4.10).
10. Captions: Videos with sound have captions (1.2.2).
11. Easy sign-in: Logging in doesn’t depend on memory puzzles; let people paste passwords and use password managers (3.3.8, new in 2.2).
12. No dragging, no repeats: Anything you drag can also be done with a click (2.5.7), and people aren’t asked for the same details twice in one process (3.3.7).

Cookie banners count too. A banner that traps keyboard focus, has a faint “Reject” button or covers the focused element can fail these checks and the consent rules at once. See unequal choice.

What an automated checker can and can’t catch

In a study of more than 2,000 audits and nearly 300,000 issues, Deque found its automated tests caught 57% of the issues by volume (2021). That’s a lot, and it also means a real share needs a person.

• Good at: Low contrast, missing alt text, fields without labels, buttons without names, a missing page language, skipped heading levels.
• Needs a person: Whether alt text is actually useful, whether the keyboard order makes sense, whether captions are accurate, and how the page feels with a screen reader.

The Justice Department’s guidance says the same: automated checkers help, but should be paired with manual checks.

Overlays and badges don’t make a site compliant

Some tools promise one line of code will fix accessibility. In April 2025 the US Federal Trade Commission approved a final order requiring accessiBe to pay $1 million. The FTC had alleged that claims its accessWidget could make any website WCAG compliant were false, misleading or unsupported, and that it presented reviews as independent without disclosing its ties to the reviewers.

The safe approach is to fix the page itself, and to be careful what you claim. No scan, ours included, can certify a site as compliant.

Where to start

1. Run untick’s free accessibility checker on your homepage to find the issues a machine can spot.
2. Fix contrast, labels, alt text and button names first: they’re usually quick to fix.
3. Put the mouse away and use your site with only the keyboard, from the cookie banner to checkout.
4. For important flows, get a manual review, ideally with people who use assistive technology.
5. Re-check after each release. On paid plans, untick runs deeper checks in the app and keeps the results next to your consent and dark pattern findings.

untick’s accessibility checks are automated checks, not a certification or legal advice.

Run an online shop? The store test checks accessibility in the same scan as cookie consent, pre-ticked boxes and the EU withdrawal button.