Is my website WCAG compliant?
Short answer: no tool can tell you yes. A free scan finds the problems a computer can test in about 30 seconds, and a few minutes with a keyboard finds more. WCAG 2.2 Level AA is the current version to aim for, and a site that meets it also meets 2.1 and 2.0.
This is not legal advice. Due Effort isn't a law firm. If you've been served with court papers, talk to a lawyer about your deadline today.
TL;DR: WCAG is the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines from the W3C, the group that sets web standards. It has three levels, A, AA and AAA, and AA is the usual target. To check your site: run an automated scan, then test it with a keyboard, at 200% zoom and with a screen reader. A scan alone catches only part of what a person finds.
What is WCAG?
WCAG is a list of testable rules for making websites usable by people with disabilities: images need text descriptions, every button needs a name a screen reader can read out, forms need to work without a mouse, text needs enough contrast. Each rule is called a success criterion and sits at one of three levels: A (the basics), AA and AAA (the strictest). Most businesses aim for AA, which includes everything at A.
The current version is WCAG 2.2, published as a W3C standard on October 5, 2023. It added 9 success criteria to 2.1, 6 of them at Level A or AA, and dropped one (4.1.1 Parsing) as obsolete (W3C: What's new in WCAG 2.2).
How do I check if my website meets WCAG?
Start with a free automated scan, then test the things a computer can't judge. Here's the order we'd use:
- Run a scan. It checks your page against the rules a computer can test and lists each problem with how to fix it.
- Put the mouse away. Press Tab to move through the page. Can you reach every link, menu and button, see where you are, and finish a purchase or contact form using only the keyboard?
- Zoom to 200%. Text should still be readable, and nothing should be cut off or overlap.
- Listen to it. Turn on a screen reader: VoiceOver is built into Macs and iPhones, and NVDA is free for Windows. Do the images, buttons and form fields make sense when read aloud?
- Check your videos and documents. Videos need captions, and PDFs you link to need to be readable too.
Check your website now, free
Find the accessibility problems on your page, explained in plain English, with a dated report you can save as a PDF.
Free, no signup. It tests one page at a time against the WCAG 2.2 A and AA rules a computer can check.
What can a free scan tell me, and what can't it?
A scan is fast and catches the kinds of problems demand letters list: missing image descriptions, unlabeled buttons and form fields, text that's too faint. It can't tell whether an image description is accurate, whether the reading order makes sense, or whether a checkout works with a keyboard. Deque, the company behind the axe-core engine our scan uses, found that automated tests caught about 57% of accessibility issues in its own audit data (Deque study).
So a clean scan is a good sign, not a certificate. Anyone who promises a scan or a widget makes your site "WCAG compliant" is overselling.
Is WCAG 2.2 AA what the ADA requires?
No law names a WCAG version for private businesses. In its 2022 guidance on web accessibility, the Justice Department says there's no regulation with detailed standards for businesses, points to WCAG as helpful, and says businesses have flexibility in how they make their sites accessible. Demand letters and lawsuits still measure sites against WCAG.
The one rule that does name a version covers state and local governments, not businesses: the Justice Department's 2024 rule uses WCAG 2.1 Level AA (ADA.gov fact sheet). Because the W3C says content that conforms to 2.2 also conforms to 2.1 and 2.0 (WCAG 2.2), aiming for 2.2 AA covers every version you're likely to be measured against.
Want the wider question answered first? Read Does my website need to be ADA compliant?
What should I fix first?
Fix what blocks people outright: images with no description, buttons and links with no name, form fields with no label, and anything you can't use with a keyboard. Then fix contrast and headings. Keep a dated record of what you changed. If you got a letter, that record matters to your lawyer; see what to do first. Step-by-step fixes for your platform are in our fix guides for Shopify, WordPress, Wix and Squarespace.
Questions people ask
Can a website be 100% WCAG compliant?
Yes, a page can meet every success criterion at a level. But only a full review by a person can show it, and every new page or app you add can break it again.
Does an accessibility widget make my site WCAG compliant?
No widget fixes the code underneath your site. In 2025 the FTC ordered accessiBe to pay $1 million over claims that its widget could make any website compliant (what happened).
Which level should a small business aim for?
Level AA. It's the level the Justice Department's rule for government sites uses, and the usual target. The W3C itself doesn't recommend requiring AAA for whole websites, because some content can't meet it.
How often should I check?
After every redesign, new theme, new app or plugin, and new kind of page. A quick scan each month catches problems that new content brings in.
Sources: W3C, What's new in WCAG 2.2 and WCAG 2.2; U.S. Department of Justice, Guidance on Web Accessibility and the ADA (March 18, 2022) and web rule fact sheet; Deque, automated testing study. Checked November 3, 2026.