ACT Rule bc659a
Meta element has no refresh delay
A meta refresh with a delay on it reloads or redirects the page while somebody is still reading. This rule checks the tag. It has to be absent, or set to zero for an instant redirect, or set past 20 hours, which is long enough that nobody is still sitting there.
A tool can decide this one on its own, which is why it turns up in scanner output. The rule is approved, which in W3C's process means it was implemented in full by at least one tool or methodology and then signed off by a working group. Approval is a statement about tools, not a statement that this is the settled way to test the criterion.
What passing this rule proves
When this rule fails, 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable is not satisfied, and that half is certain. When it passes, W3C's own outcome mapping says the criterion still needs further testing. So a green result here is evidence that one specific thing is not broken, and it is the answer W3C gives on 59 of its 87 live rules.
Time limits come in many shapes and this rule sees one of them. Session timeouts, carousels, auto-advancing forms and countdown offers all fall under 2.2.1 and none of them are here. Somebody has to sit on the page and find out what expires.
The criteria this rule is a test for
These are the criteria the rule names as its own conformance requirement. Each one is a far bigger question than this rule asks, and our page for it sets out what the whole criterion covers.
- 2.2.1 Timing Adjustable Level A
Criteria that are related but not tested here
W3C calls these secondary requirements. The rule correlates with them and was not designed to test them, so each one is either stricter than the rule or can be satisfied in ways the rule never looks at.
- 2.2.4 Interruptions Level AAA
- 3.2.5 Change on Request Level AAA
The normative rule text lives at W3C
What the rule applies to, and exactly what it expects, is published by W3C and can change. We link to it rather than restate it, so nothing here can quietly fall out of date against the source. Read rule bc659a at W3C.
Pages must not refresh or redirect automatically without warning
A timed refresh or redirect takes control away at a moment the person did not choose. If you are reading slowly, using a screen reader, or halfway through a form, it can throw away where you were.
Either do not set a delay or give a way to turn it off, extend it or accept it first.
A meta refresh left in from a temporary redirect reloads the page under anyone still reading it. Their form data is lost and they must start over.
Fixes that satisfy it
If this rule fails on your site, these are the techniques that put it right.
Other rules W3C files under the same criteria
Each of these asks a different question about the same part of the standard. Passing all of them is still not the same as satisfying the criterion.
- Meta element has no refresh delay (no exception) A tool can check this
All 87 ACT rules are grouped by the criteria they test, and 24 of them decide nothing about WCAG on their own. Run a free scan to see which of these your own pages trip.