WCAG 2.2: Operable

1. Overview

Principle 2 of WCAG 2.2 says that "user interface components and navigation must be operable". Principle 1 was about taking information in. Principle 2 is about doing things:

• following a link
• filling a field
• closing a dialog
• moving a slider
• finishing before a session times out.

The people it protects most directly are those who do not use a mouse or a touch screen in the usual way:

• keyboard-only users
• screen reader users, whose software drives the page through the keyboard interface
• switch users
• people who use voice control
• people with tremor or limited reach
• people who simply need more time.

Principle 2 also contains the one criterion in WCAG written to prevent physical harm. That is the limit on flashing content.

At Levels A and AA, Principle 2 has five guidelines and twenty success criteria. Fourteen are Level A and six are Level AA. Guideline 2.1 has three, 2.2 has two, 2.3 has one, 2.4 has eight and 2.5 has six. Three of the twenty are new in WCAG 2.2: 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum), 2.5.7 Dragging Movements and 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum). As with every principle, a page satisfies a criterion automatically when it has none of the content the criterion governs. For example, a page with no time limit meets 2.2.1 without doing anything.

EN 301 549 mirrors the WCAG numbering. So 9.2.4.3 is Focus Order for a web page, and 11.2.4.3 is the same requirement for an app. Clause 11 is not a straight copy, though. It marks two criteria Void for software: 11.2.4.1 Bypass Blocks and 11.2.4.5 Multiple Ways. They only make sense for "sets" of web pages. Clause 11.2.4.2 replaces Page Titled with a requirement that each window or screen has a title describing its name, topic or purpose. The two new pointer criteria, 11.2.5.7 and 11.2.5.8, restate the WCAG text with one change. "User agent" becomes "user agent or other platform software". So a control drawn by iOS itself is the platform's responsibility, not the app author's.