29 January 2009
Mark Palmer provides a short synopsis of the new WCAG 2.0 guidelines. Mark originally published this article on http://www.uservisionblog.co.uk

So version 2.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are here, but are they worth all the fuss?

When I first encountered the draft WCAG 2.0 guidelines many moons ago now, I wasn't so sure. As time has passed however, I am warming to them tremendously and am really looking forward to using them regularly in my day to day work.

I can appreciate the criticisms - too vague, technology agnostic to the point of providing little implementation advice and complex, inaccessible documentation to name but a few. I can however also appreciate many of the clarifications made in WCAG 2.0 and the increased measurability of some of WCAG 1.0's vaguer checkpoints, particularly around colour contrast and scalability.

Much greater emphasis has also been placed on Multimedia content and this is only right given the way the web has changed. Users with cognitive impairment will also benefit greatly from much more specific guidelines around understandable and clear content which fall under the 'Understandable' priority.

Further information about WCAG 2.0 can be found in my (previous) article 10 things you should know about WCAG 2.0. With the exception of point 1, all of the points are still valid now that WCAG 2.0 has been released.

Only time (and implementation experience) will tell if WCAG 2.0 stands the test of time and is indeed robust enough to adapt to what is a fast moving environment. In the meantime, I'd like to welcome WCAG 2.0 to the world and all of you to WCAG 2.0.