WCAG 2.2 for B2B Websites: What Changed and What to Fix First

Accessibility is part of whether a website works. Buyers in regulated industries and the public sector often check it during procurement, and every buyer benefits from pages that are easy to read, move through and complete. WCAG, the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines published by the W3C, is the standard most organizations reference.

According to the W3C's What's New in WCAG 2.2 page, WCAG 2.2 was published as a W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023. It adds nine success criteria to WCAG 2.1, and the existing criteria stay essentially the same, except that 4.1.1 Parsing is obsolete and removed. Accumentum builds to these guidelines in our web experiences work, and you can read our own commitment on the accessibility page.

The new criteria that affect most B2B sites

Several of the new criteria are at level AAA, which most organizations treat as a stretch goal. These are the ones at levels A and AA that tend to matter most for marketing sites, portals and forms.

• 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum), AA. When an item receives keyboard focus, it must not be entirely hidden by content the site added. Sticky headers, cookie banners, chat launchers and fixed footers are the usual cause.
• 2.5.7 Dragging Movements, AA. Anything you can do by dragging must also be possible with a single pointer without dragging, unless dragging is essential. Think sliders, sortable lists and map controls.
• 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum), AA. Pointer targets must be at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with exceptions such as enough spacing around smaller targets, links inside sentences and an equivalent control elsewhere on the page.
• 3.2.6 Consistent Help, A. If you offer help such as contact details, a contact form or a chat option on several pages, it should appear in the same relative order on each.
• 3.3.7 Redundant Entry, A. Information a user already entered in the same process should be filled in automatically or available to select, with some exceptions such as security.
• 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum), AA. Signing in should not require a cognitive function test such as remembering a password or solving a puzzle, unless there is an alternative or a mechanism to help, such as allowing password managers and paste.

Where B2B sites usually fail

In audits, the same patterns come up again and again.

• A sticky header that grows tall on small screens and covers links as people tab down the page.
• A cookie or consent bar fixed to the bottom that hides focused buttons until it is dismissed.
• Icon buttons in navigation, carousels and footers that are smaller than the minimum target size and packed close together.
• Multi step forms that ask for company name or email again on a later step.
• Portal sign in pages that block paste into password fields or rely on puzzles with no alternative.
• Help links that move around from page to page, sometimes in the header, sometimes buried in the footer.

None of these are hard to fix once they are found. They persist because nobody tested with a keyboard on a small screen.

A WCAG 2.2 fix list in priority order

1. Tab through your top pages. Use only the keyboard on your homepage, main service pages and contact page, at phone width and desktop width. Note any moment you lose sight of focus.
2. Fix sticky elements. Add scroll padding so focused items are not covered, keep sticky bars short, and make consent banners easy to dismiss.
3. Check target sizes. Measure icon buttons, pagination, social links and close buttons. Enlarge them or add spacing.
4. Review forms. Remove repeated questions, carry forward earlier answers and keep labels visible.
5. Review sign in. Allow paste and password managers. Offer an alternative to any puzzle.
6. Provide drag alternatives. Add buttons or simple controls for anything that relies on dragging.
7. Place help consistently. Put contact and help options in the same position across templates.
8. Retest the 2.1 basics. Color contrast, headings, alt text, labels and focus visibility still carry the most weight.

Fixes by common component

Most B2B sites are built from a small set of repeated parts. Fixing the part fixes every page that uses it.

• Header and navigation. Keep the sticky header short on small screens, make menu toggles large enough to tap, and check that focus moves into and out of the mobile menu in a sensible order.
• Consent banner. Make it easy to reach and dismiss by keyboard, and add space at the bottom of the page so focused items are not hidden behind it while it is open.
• Cards and carousels. Give previous and next controls a proper size. Offer a way to see all items without dragging or swiping.
• Forms. Keep labels visible, carry answers between steps and show errors next to the field with text, not color alone.
• Help and contact. Put the contact link or help option in the same place in the header or footer on every template.
• Portal sign in. Allow paste and password managers, and offer an email link or another option that does not depend on memory.

Making it part of the process

Accessibility work lasts when it is part of how pages are made rather than a yearly cleanup. Add a short checklist to design reviews, include keyboard and zoom checks in testing before release, and run automated scans on every deploy. Train editors on headings, link text and alt text, since content changes can introduce issues as easily as code. Publish an accessibility statement that explains your target level, known gaps and how people can report problems, and make sure someone reads those reports.

Automated checks help, people decide

Automated scanners catch a useful share of issues such as missing labels and low contrast. They cannot judge whether alt text is meaningful, whether focus order makes sense, or whether a form is understandable. Pair automated checks on every release with periodic manual reviews using a keyboard and a screen reader. Build accessibility into templates and components so new pages inherit it rather than needing fixes later.

If you want an outside review of how your site holds up, request a Digital Growth Assessment.