WCAG 2.1 vs 2.2

Side-by-side comparison

Every difference between WCAG 2.1 and 2.2, in one place:

The 2.0 and 2.1 success criteria are otherwise identical in 2.2 (Source: W3C WAI, What's New in WCAG 2.2 ) .

The six to add for AA

Three of the nine additions are Level AAA and are not required for AA conformance. The six that a 2.1 AA site must add to reach 2.2 AA are:

1. Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) AA 2.4.11 — When a component receives keyboard focus, it is not entirely hidden by author-created content such as a sticky header, footer, or cookie banner.
2. Dragging Movements AA 2.5.7 — Any functionality that uses a dragging movement offers a single-pointer alternative that does not require dragging.
3. Target Size (Minimum) AA 2.5.8 — Interactive targets are at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, unless an exception (spacing, inline, user-agent control, essential, or an equivalent) applies.
4. Consistent Help A 3.2.6 — When a help mechanism (contact details, a help link, a chat option) repeats across pages, it appears in the same relative order each time.
5. Redundant Entry A 3.3.7 — Information the user already entered in a process is auto-populated or available to select, rather than required to be entered again.
6. Accessible Authentication (Minimum) AA 3.3.8 — No cognitive function test (such as remembering a password or transcribing a code) is required for any step of logging in, unless an alternative, a mechanism to help, object recognition, or personal content is provided.

A one-line test for each is on the conformance checklist. For the full detail on the removal and the publication history, see what changed in WCAG 2.2.

Backward compatibility

Because the additions do not change existing criteria, building to 2.2 carries essentially no risk of breaking your 2.1 conformance. This is the core reason targeting 2.2 is low-cost even where the law still names 2.1 — see is WCAG 2.2 required?

Common questions