Remove time limits from activities entirely
Take the clock out and there is nothing left to test. G5 is the technique for building an activity that never asks for timed interaction, so nobody has to request more time, extend a session, or race a countdown they did not expect. W3C files it as a sufficient technique for its no-timing rule, and for that rule alone, which sits at Level AAA. That is above the Level AA line accessibility law generally points at, so read G5 as the strongest version of the fix rather than the one you are obliged to ship. The rules lower down ask for a limit the reader can turn off, adjust, or extend. G5 skips all three by leaving no limit to manage.
How we find it in an audit
Nothing here can be detected, so the work is confirming an absence. A reviewer walks each flow slowly, deliberately slowly, watching for a countdown, a session that expires, a form that clears itself, or a step that has to finish before another one will start. Server-side limits get asked about directly, because a session timeout stays invisible until it fires. Where a limit exists and is genuinely part of the activity, such as a live auction closing, we record it as that rather than reporting it as a defect.
How affected users experience it
Everything takes longer with assistive technology, and the gap is not a small one. A screen-reader user works a form field by field, and someone using a switch may need several presses for a single character. Add a cognitive disability, or a translation step, or pain that forces a break halfway through, and a fifteen-minute checkout stops looking generous. With no limit at all, none of that has to be measured. Nobody has to explain themselves to a countdown to get the time they need.
Passes vs. fails
Passes
The checkout holds its state for as long as the shopper needs it. Only genuinely time-critical steps, such as a live auction bid, carry a clock.
Fails
A checkout session expires after 10 minutes and empties the cart. No warning beforehand, and no way to ask for longer.
This guide is our interpretation of W3C technique G5: Allowing users to complete an activity without any time limit. W3C publishes its techniques as guidance rather than as the standard, and says so on every one of them. The success criterion is what conformance is measured against, and a technique is one documented way to meet it.