WCAG 2.2 · Principle 2 of 4
Operable
Can everyone reach and work every control, whatever they use to drive the page?
Operable is the biggest principle in WCAG and the one where the worst failures live. Fourteen of the standard's 31 Level A rules sit under it, which is nearly half the floor. Level A is the level where a failure locks somebody out rather than slowing them down, so this is where a site stops working altogether. Think of a menu that only opens on hover, a slider you can only drag, or a checkout that expires while somebody is still typing their address.
An audit tests 20 rules here, spread across five guidelines, and 34 criteria sit under the principle in total. The five guidelines are keyboard operation, enough time, seizure safety, navigation, and input beyond the keyboard. That last one, guideline 2.5, did not exist before WCAG 2.1, so a law still naming WCAG 2.0 asks for none of it. This is the principle where the version your regulator points at changes your scope most. And the principle is a heading rather than a rule. What an audit marks is the 20 criteria underneath it, one at a time.
- Rules
- 20
- Level A
- 14
- Level AA
- 6
- Human testing only
- 8
All 20 Operable rules, by guideline
2.1 Keyboard Accessible· Every task has to be finishable from the keyboard alone.
- 2.1.1Level AKeyboardEvery function on the page has to be operable through a keyboard interface.Partly scannable13 fixes
- 2.1.2Level ANo Keyboard TrapFocus that can get into something has to be able to get back out of it, and the rule gives two ways to satisfy that.Partly scannable2 fixes
- 2.1.4Level ACharacter Key ShortcutsIf your site fires an action from a single printable character, one of three things has to be true.Human testing2 fixes
2.2 Enough Time· Time limits and moving content have to be under the reader's control.
- 2.2.1Level ATiming AdjustableWhere the content sets a time limit, six things can satisfy this rule and any one of them is enough.Partly scannable11 fixes
- 2.2.2Level APause, Stop, HideMotion that starts on its own, runs longer than five seconds and sits alongside other content needs a way for the user to pause, stop or hide it.Partly scannable11 fixes
2.3 Seizures and Physical Reactions· Nothing on the page may flash or move in a way that can hurt somebody.
2.4 Navigable· Readers have to be able to find their way around and know where they are.
- 2.4.1Level ABypass BlocksA mechanism has to exist for getting past blocks of content that repeat from page to page, and that mechanism can take more than one shape.Partly scannable10 fixes
- 2.4.2Level APage TitledA page needs a title that describes its topic or its purpose.Partly scannable5 fixes
- 2.4.3Level AFocus OrderWhere a page can be tabbed through and the order changes what it means or how it works, focus has to move in an order that preserves both.Human testing8 fixes
- 2.4.4Level ALink Purpose (In Context)A link's purpose has to be clear from its own text, or from its text plus the context the code puts it in.Partly scannable22 fixes
- 2.4.5Level AAMultiple WaysAny page in a set of pages has to be findable more than one way, and W3C documents six routes.Human testing8 fixes
- 2.4.6Level AAHeadings and LabelsWhere headings and labels exist, they have to describe the topic or the purpose of what they head or label.Partly scannable4 fixes
- 2.4.7Level AAFocus VisibleA keyboard-operable interface has to have a mode of operation where the focus indicator is visible.Partly scannable9 fixes
- 2.4.11Level AANew in 2.2Focus Not Obscured (Minimum)This criterion is new in WCAG 2.2.Human testing2 fixes
2.5 Input Modalities· Touch, pointer, voice, and motion all have to work, not only the keyboard.
- 2.5.1Level APointer GesturesAnything a multipoint or path-based gesture does has to be reachable with a single pointer that does not depend on the path, unless the gesture is genuinely essential.Human testing3 fixes
- 2.5.2Level APointer CancellationFor anything operated with a single pointer, one of four things has to be true.Human testing3 fixes
- 2.5.3Level ALabel in NameWhere a control has a visible label made of text, its accessible name has to contain that text.Partly scannable5 fixes
- 2.5.4Level AMotion ActuationTwo things are required together here, not one.Human testing2 fixes
- 2.5.7Level AANew in 2.2Dragging MovementsThis criterion is new in WCAG 2.2.Human testing2 fixes
- 2.5.8Level AANew in 2.2Target Size (Minimum)This criterion is new in WCAG 2.2.Partly scannable1 fixes
What Operable actually covers
Whether somebody can actually do the thing your interface offers. Reaching a control, working it, having enough time, and finding the way forward.
Five guidelines carry it. Keyboard operation, enough time, seizure safety, navigation, and pointer and touch input, which arrived last and only exists from WCAG 2.1 onward.
Level A is the floor of the standard, and this principle carries more of it than any other. That is why an Operable failure tends to stop the site working rather than make it harder to use, and why the fixes here are rarely cosmetic.
What fails most here
A custom control that works with a mouse and takes no keyboard focus.
A button built out of a div element looks right on screen and receives nothing from the Tab key. The failure is invisible to anybody testing with a mouse, which means it is invisible to nearly everybody who tests.
Who notices first
- People who cannot use a mouse, including many with motor disabilities and repetitive strain injuries.
- Screen reader users, whose whole interaction model runs through the keyboard and the same focus keys.
- People using speech input, which W3C names second after keyboard users and which works by creating keystrokes.
- People using switch access or sip-and-puff hardware, both of which send keystrokes to the page.
- People with photosensitive epilepsy, for whom one guideline here prevents a seizure rather than an annoyance.
The common misreading
“Operable means keyboard support.”
Keyboard operation is one guideline of five. Enough time, seizure safety, navigation and pointer input are the other four, and three of them hold a rule that applies to every piece of content on the page whether you rely on it for conformance or not. A flashing third-party ad, a widget that traps focus and a carousel nobody can stop are all your conformance problem rather than the vendor's.
The other three principles
- PerceivableCan everyone see, hear, or read your content?
- UnderstandableCan everyone follow what things mean and do?
- RobustDoes it hold up in screen readers and assistive tech?
Or browse by conformance level: Level A · Level AA · or the full 55-rule library.
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