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This page is a design preview. It may not contain the latest guidance and may not behave as expected.

Current guidance can always be found at design-system.dwp.gov.uk.

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Accessibility

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) are a list of criteria your website or mobile application need to meet in order to be legally compliant.

In order for your website or application to be legally compliant, it needs to meet level 'AA'. This is outlined in the accessibility regulations.

The latest published version of WCAG is WCAG 2.2.

Common criteria

Several parts of the the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines will apply by default to all our components and patterns.

For example whenever there is text on a page we should apply criteria such as 1.4.3
Contrast (Minimum) (Level AA), 1.4.4 Resize text (AA) and 1.4.10:
Reflow (Level AA).

When there are links, criteria including 2.4.7 Focus Visible (AA) and 2.1.1
Keyboard (Level A) will be relevant.

Some criteria like 3.2.3 Consistent Navigation (Level AA) or 2.4.4 Link Purpose (In Context) (A) will need to be checked in the context of the implementation of the component.

Specific criteria

WCAG success criteria that are particularly relevant to a pattern or component are listed on its 'Accessibility' page. This is not an exhaustive list and you should always conduct your own testing.

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