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I am not asking for the "Level A: Meets all level A standards" definition (which is completely useless to anyone other than lawyers or software developers.)

I need the ones about each level that conveys an idea of their usefulness so that I can better describe why increased levels should be strived for.

I swear I once found one that came straight from W3C but I have been searching for days now and I can't find it again.

ThisNameNotUsed
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  • I am fairly enraged by the fact that this is supposed to be a professional website yet I can be told anonymously that I have put forth "very little research effort." I can take that comment from someone who links the answer but not from someone who hasn't. If they can't supply the answer then they themselves haven't done enough research to leave that comment and be thought of as anything more than a troll. – ThisNameNotUsed Apr 02 '18 at 18:59
  • https://stackoverflow.com/a/2430844/8580584 This answer helps me better define them myself but like I said above, I really need the ones I thought I once found that came from W3C itself. They are more credible than me. – ThisNameNotUsed Apr 02 '18 at 23:10

2 Answers2

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There is no other definition for the three conformance levels. A is the lowest level, AAA is the highest level. These levels don’t correspond with disabilities nor their prevalence.

The section Understanding Levels of Conformance from the Working Group Note Understanding WCAG 2.0 gives some examples "of the common factors evaluated when setting the level":

  • whether the Success Criterion is essential (in other words, if the Success Criterion isn't met, then even assistive technology can't make content accessible)

  • whether it is possible to satisfy the Success Criterion for all Web sites and types of content that the Success Criteria would apply to (e.g., different topics, types of content, types of Web technology)

  • whether the Success Criterion requires skills that could reasonably be achieved by the content creators (that is, the knowledge and skill to meet the Success Criteria could be acquired in a week's training or less)

  • whether the Success Criterion would impose limits on the "look & feel" and/or function of the Web page. (limits on function, presentation, freedom of expression, design or aesthetic that the Success Criteria might place on authors)

  • whether there are no workarounds if the Success Criterion is not met

So if a Success Criterion is essential for accessibility, easy to implement, without suitable alternatives, and relevant for most typical websites, it’s more likely to get conformance level A than AA/AAA.

Community
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unor
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  • I appreciate this answer and it highlighted something that made the levels better defined for me. I will upvote it again after 15 rep and consider the green check if it proves to be the best I can get but like I said in my question, I could have sworn I saw a W3C-backed-laymen term explanation of each level somewhere. I just can't find it again for the life of me. – ThisNameNotUsed Apr 02 '18 at 19:50
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Not sure if this is what you are looking for, but it's from the Section508.gov website:

Level A (minimum) – Addresses the most basic web accessibility features, but does not generally achieve broad accessibility.

Level AA (mid-range) – Addresses most common barriers for disabled users and aligns to the Revised 508 Standards

Level AAA (highest) – Addresses the highest level of web accessibility, but is not recommended as a general policy, because it is not possible to satisfy all criteria for some content.

https://www.section508.gov/content/build/website-accessibility-improvement/WCAG-conformance

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Josh
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  • This is great. It is not W3C, but Section508 sure is a close second and maybe even better if I am doing government work/contracts. I can use this and site this. I didn't think about looking at Section508. Thank you very much. – ThisNameNotUsed Apr 10 '18 at 15:33