WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines)

WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) are a set of guidelines developed by the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative to ensure that digital content is accessible to people with disabilities. The guidelines cover a wide range of accessibility issues, such as text alternatives for images, keyboard navigability, color contrast, and providing clear navigation, ensuring that websites and applications can be used by individuals with various disabilities.

WCAG compliance is simultaneously an ethical imperative, a legal requirement in many jurisdictions, and an increasingly common enterprise procurement requirement. For SaaS companies selling to government, healthcare, education, or large enterprises, failing WCAG AA compliance can disqualify you from contracts entirely. Beyond compliance, the WCAG guidelines are also a practical checklist for accessibility improvements that benefit all users — not just those with disabilities.

Target, Domino's, and many other US companies have faced ADA lawsuits over website accessibility failures — with settlements ranging from $100K to $6M. WCAG compliance is no longer just a best practice for web products; it's a legal risk management issue for any company with significant online presence.