accessibility-wcag

Accessibility & WCAG

Accessibility is not a compliance checkbox you handle at the end. It's a design quality bar. If your product isn't accessible, it's not finished. Full stop. Every accessibility failure is a user you're turning away. That's not just an ethical problem. It's a revenue problem. And it's a legal one too.

When to Use This Skill

Auto-loaded by agents:

• accessibility-auditor - For full audits
• design-critic - For accessibility dimension in critiques

Use when you need:

• Accessibility audit of a design or implementation
• ARIA pattern for an interactive component
• Color contrast check
• Keyboard navigation design
• Inclusive design guidance

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WCAG 2.1 Quick Reference

Level A (Minimum)

• All non-text content has text alternatives
• Captions for pre-recorded audio
• Content is meaningful without color alone
• Keyboard accessible (no keyboard traps)
• No content that flashes more than 3 times per second
• Pages have descriptive titles
• Focus order is logical
• Link purpose is clear from text

Level AA (Target - Industry Standard)

• Contrast: 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text (18px+ or 14px+ bold)
• Resize: Text scales to 200% without loss of content
• Images of text: Use real text, not images of text
• Focus visible: Keyboard focus indicator is visible
• Consistent navigation: Same components appear in same order
• Error identification: Errors are identified and described in text
• Labels: Form inputs have associated labels

Level AAA (Aspirational)

• Contrast: 7:1 for normal text, 4.5:1 for large text
• No timing: No time limits on user actions
• No interruptions: User can postpone or suppress interruptions
• Re-authentication: No data loss on session timeout

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Common ARIA Patterns

Component	Key ARIA	Keyboard
Modal/Dialog	role="dialog", aria-modal="true", aria-labelledby	Escape to close, trap focus
Tabs	role="tablist/tab/tabpanel", aria-selected	Arrow keys between tabs
Menu	role="menu/menuitem", aria-expanded	Arrow keys, Enter to select, Escape to close
Accordion	aria-expanded, aria-controls	Enter/Space to toggle
Toast/Alert	role="alert" or role="status"	Auto-announced by screen readers
Toggle	role="switch", aria-checked	Space to toggle

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Quick Checks

• Color contrast meets 4.5:1 (AA) for body text
• All images have alt text (or alt="" for decorative)
• All form inputs have visible labels
• Focus order follows visual order
• Interactive elements have visible focus styles
• Touch targets are at least 44x44px
• Content is readable at 200% zoom
• No information conveyed by color alone
• Error messages are specific and actionable
• Skip navigation link exists

The One Thing

If you're only going to do one thing: test with a keyboard. Tab through your entire flow. If you can't complete the core task with only a keyboard, you've failed the most basic accessibility test. Fix that before you touch anything else.

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Related Skills

• design-heuristics - Overlaps with Nielsen #2, #6, #9
• laws-of-ux - Cognitive accessibility (Cognitive Load, Chunking, Working Memory)