Conformance Requirements — Verifying and Maintaining WCAG Compliance

In this tutorial, you will learn about Conformance Requirements. We cover key concepts, practical examples, and best practices to help you master this topic.

WCAG conformance requires meeting all applicable success criteria at the claimed level, documenting the evaluation, publishing a conformance claim, and maintaining compliance through ongoing monitoring and testing.

What You'll Learn

You will learn the formal requirements for WCAG conformance, including how to verify compliance, what to document, and how to maintain conformance over time.

Why It Matters

Understanding conformance requirements helps you plan your compliance journey and avoid claiming conformance you cannot support.

Real-World Use

DodaTech's conformance Process includes automated testing in CI/CD, quarterly manual audits, annual WCAG-EM evaluations, and updated conformance claims after each release.

flowchart LR
  A[Conformance Requirements] --> B[Meet all applicable SC]
  A --> C[Document evaluation]
  A --> D[Publish conformance claim]
  A --> E[Monitor continuously]
  B --> F[Level A + AA + AAA as claimed]
  C --> G[Method, date, scope]
  E --> H[Automated scanning]
  E --> I[Manual audits]
  E --> J[User testing]

Five Conformance Requirements

1. Conformance Level

All success criteria at the claimed level must be satisfied. Level AA requires all A and AA criteria to pass.

2. Full Pages

Conformance applies to full web pages. You cannot cherry-pick sections within a page.

3. Complete Processes

If a process spans multiple pages, all pages in the process must conform.

4. Using Technologies in a Way That Is Accessibility Supported

The technologies you use must work with assistive technologies. Using unsupported technologies can break conformance.

5. Non-Interference

If you use technologies that are not accessibility supported, they must not interfere with the accessibility of the rest of the page.

Verification Process

Step 1: Determine Scope

Which pages and functionality are included in the claim.

Step 2: Evaluate Each Criterion

Test each applicable success criterion using automated tools, manual testing, and assistive technology testing.

Step 3: Document Results

Record which criteria pass, fail, or are not applicable. Include testing method and notes.

Step 4: Remediate Failures

Fix all failing criteria. Re-test after remediation.

Step 5: Publish Claim

Publish the conformance claim with all required components.

function generateConformanceReport(results) {
  const total = results.length;
  const passed = results.filter(r => r.status === 'pass').length;
  const failed = results.filter(r => r.status === 'fail').length;
  const notApplicable = results.filter(r => r.status === 'na').length;

  return {
    totalCriteria: total,
    passed,
    failed,
    notApplicable,
    passRate: `${((passed / (total - notApplicable)) * 100).toFixed(0)}%`,
    status: failed === 0 ? 'Conforms' : 'Does not conform',
    remediationNeeded: failed > 0 ? `${failed} criteria need fixes` : 'None'
  };
}

const results = [
  { criterion: '1.1.1', status: 'pass' },
  { criterion: '1.4.3', status: 'pass' },
  { criterion: '2.1.1', status: 'fail' },
  { criterion: '2.4.7', status: 'pass' },
  { criterion: '3.3.2', status: 'na' },
];

console.log(generateConformanceReport(results));

Expected output:

{
  totalCriteria: 5,
  passed: 3,
  failed: 1,
  notApplicable: 1,
  passRate: '75%',
  status: 'Does not conform',
  remediationNeeded: '1 criteria need fixes'
}

Accessibility Supported Technologies

A technology is accessibility supported if it works with assistive technologies on the platforms your users use. Generally, HTML, CSS, WAI-ARIA, and standard JavaScript are accessibility supported. Proprietary plugins may not be.

Common Mistakes

1. Claiming Conformance Without Testing All Criteria

Testing a subset of criteria and assuming the rest pass is a common error. Every applicable criterion must be tested.

2. Ignoring Non-Applicable Criteria Documentation

Documenting why a criterion does not apply is part of the conformance process.

3. Not Testing with Actual Assistive Technologies

Automated tools cannot verify that content works with screen readers. Manual testing is required.

4. Allowing Non-Conforming Content to Interfere

Third-party widgets or ads that introduce accessibility issues can break your conformance claim.

5. Not Rechecking After Changes

A new feature can introduce violations in existing pages. Re-test after significant changes.

6. Forgetting That Conformance Is Page-Level

Each page must independently conform. Different pages may have different conformance levels.

7. Confusing Conformance with Quality

Conformance means meeting criteria. It does not guarantee a good user experience.

Practice Questions

1. What are the five WCAG conformance requirements?

Conformance level, full pages, complete processes, accessibility-supported technologies, and non-interference.

2. What does full pages mean for conformance?

Conformance applies to entire web pages, not selected sections. All content on the page must conform.

3. What is an accessibility-supported technology?

A technology that works with assistive technologies on the platforms your users use.

4. What is the non-interference requirement?

Any content that uses non-accessibility-supported technology must not interfere with the accessibility of the rest of the page.

5. Challenge: Run a conformance evaluation on a single page of your website. Document which criteria pass, fail, or are not applicable.

FAQ

Mini Project

Create a conformance evaluation checklist for your project. Include all success criteria at your target level, columns for pass/fail/NA, testing method, remediation notes, and re-test date.

What's Next

Learn about WCAG-EM the Website Accessibility Conformance Evaluation Methodology for structured evaluation. Then explore WCAG for Designers with practical guidance for design roles.