WHAT IS WCAG?

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are internationally-adopted standards developed and published by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), in collaboration with individuals, governments and organizations around the globe. The goal of these recommendations is providing a single shared standard to make internet content and digital assets more accessible, primarily for people with disabilities that impact their online experience. The basis of these guidelines are four principles which form the acronym “POUR:” Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, Robust.

WCAG is enforced by many countries, including the United States (Section 508), Israel (IS5568), and members of the European Union (En.301.549), to name a few. These guidelines are regularly updated; at this time, the current standard is WCAG 2.1, but WCAG 2.2 and WCAG 3.0 are in the works and should be updated soon. Currently, Epoch Online's preferred platform is based on WCAG 2.1+ and our team ensures that our technology is always up to the latest standards.

Who is WCAG For?

• Web content developers (page authors, site designers, etc.)
• Web authoring tool developers
• Web accessibility evaluation tool developers
• Others who want or need a standard for web accessibility, including for mobile accessibility
• Related resources are intended to meet the needs of many different people, including policy makers, managers, researchers, and others.

How will WCAG compliance help us?

Ensuring that your websites, intranets and other digital assets are fully compliant is not only the law, but also offers numerous benefits for your organization. Here are just a few ways you may benefit by designing with accessibility in mind and remediating existing compliance violations using Epoch Online's solutions:
 

• Increased Sales – The 1.85 billion people with disabilities worldwide influence a whopping $13 trillion in discretionary spending each year. By removing accessibility barriers to your digital assets, you may naturally capture more of this huge consumer market with a corresponding rise in revenues.
• Improved Online Performance – WCAG compliance will boost your web pages’ SEO and overall results. Google, the #1 browser, ranks websites with accessibility features higher in its organic search, leading to more exposure and traffic. 
• Enhanced User Experience – Research has shown that providing universally accessible digital assets and user interfaces positively impacts ALL users, not only those with disabilities. Which means visitors remain longer and bounces decrease accordingly.
• Competitive Advantage – With barely 2–5% of current websites meeting accessibility compliance standards, any organization who adheres to the WCAG standards will stand head and shoulders above their competitors, in any industry.
• Legal Protection – Addressing WCAG compliance issues—whether by remediating violations in your existing assets, or by building new assets with accessibility in mind from the ground up—reduces your risk and liability for potential lawsuits.

Our solution meets WCAG requirements and makes compliance fast, easy, and affordable!

We provide the only 360° solution on the market, so you can address all your WCAG compliance needs, all in one place. Epoch Online’s full suite of state-of-the-art tools allows you to quickly remediate existing issues and build with accessibility in mind.