Technique types
Sufficient vs. Advisory vs. Failure
A technique is a documented way to satisfy a rule, and W3C labels it against the rule it serves rather than on its own. Sufficient means it settles the rule by itself. Advisory means it helps without settling anything. Failure means its presence proves the rule is broken. The same technique can be sufficient for one rule and advisory for another, which is the part that catches people out, and every technique in our fix library carries whichever label is strongest for it.
Enough on its own to meet the rule it serves, and where every fix plan starts.
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Recommended beyond the minimum, and where passing turns into usable.
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A documented pattern that proves a rule is broken, so finding one ends the argument.
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| Compare | Sufficient | Advisory | Failure |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A W3C-vetted way to meet a rule | A recommended extra beyond the rules | A documented way to break a rule |
| Passes the rule? | Yes, on its own, in its situation | No, not by itself | No, it proves the rule fails |
| Required? | No, one route among several | No, optional | Must be absent from your pages |
| In audits | The fix we prescribe per finding | Flagged as cheap, high-impact extras | What every finding cites |
| In a dispute | What you point at to show a fix landed | Nothing turns on it | Evidence the rule was not met |
How we use these in audits
We test your pages against the 55 rules, not against techniques. That is how WCAG conformance works, and W3C says so plainly. Content can satisfy the standard without using a single documented technique. Every finding in your report still cites the documented failure it matches, and every fix links the sufficient technique that resolves it, because that pairing is what holds up under scrutiny and still tells a developer exactly what to do.
One note on the counts above. Because a technique can hold two labels at once, we show the strongest one it earns anywhere. Failures are failures by definition. Anything a rule accepts as sufficient counts as sufficient. What is left over is advisory, which is why the advisory column is the small one rather than because W3C publishes little advisory guidance. The labels come from W3C's own WCAG 2.2 data, not from our judgment.