WCAG 2.2 Is Here: What Changed, What Enterprises Must Do, and Which Criteria Are Hardest to Meet
New success criteria in WCAG 2.2
Focus Appearance -- most commonly failed by existing AA programmes
W3C Recommendation date -- enforcement citations already emerging
WCAG 2.2 became the official W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023. It adds nine new success criteria and removes one (4.1.1 Parsing). For enterprises with existing WCAG 2.1 AA conformance claims, the new criteria represent real gaps -- and real legal exposure.
The nine new success criteria
WCAG 2.2 introduces criteria across four Level designations. At Level A: 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum). At Level AA: 2.4.12 Focus Not Obscured (Enhanced), 2.4.13 Focus Appearance, 2.5.7 Dragging Movements, 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum), 3.2.6 Consistent Help, 3.3.7 Redundant Entry, 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum). At Level AAA: 2.4.14 and 3.3.9.
Focus Appearance -- the hardest new criterion
2.4.13 Focus Appearance is technically demanding. It requires focus indicators to have a minimum area and contrast ratio. Most existing focus styles fail this criterion -- even designs that passed WCAG 2.1 AA.
Target Size -- the mobile concern
2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) requires interactive targets to be at least 24x24 CSS pixels. This criterion is almost universally violated on mobile web applications where icon-only buttons are typically 16-20px.