WCAG 2.2 will be a part of EN 301 549 and with that a part of WAD and EAA

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WCAG 2.2 is here, when do we get it into legislation, like Web Accessibility Directive and European Accessibility Act? Well EN 301 549 seems to be updating in 2025, according to work item schedule it may come in early 2026. Unless ETSI adds WCAG 2.2 sooner it seems that we will have to wait quite a long time.

WCAG 2.2 is a recommendation from 5th of October 2023 and it brings 6 new success criteria to think about when developing digital products (2 on level A and 4 on level AA).

It took some time to get here, and it will take some time for WCAG 2.2 to be a part of legislation worldwide, that’s obvious. For people living in Europe it’s important to follow up on EN 301 549 as it is currently the accessibility standard of whole public sector (and in some cases even parts of private sector). And with European Accessibility Act we will also have EN 301 549 as a standard for parts of private sector as well.

So, when will WCAG 2.2 be a part of EN 301 549? I don’t know for sure, but let’s think about some indications that may hide the answer.

EN 301 549 will incorporate WCAG 2.2

It’s a fact that EN 301 549 needs to be updated with WCAG 2.2. At least with newest success criteria on levels A and AA – so adding at least 6 new requirements. I am not familiar with the standardization details, and am not involved in them in any way, but I can speculate about dates a bit when I read official news from European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).

EN 301 549 will be revised with the aim to publish V4.1.1 in 2025 in support of the European Directive (EU)2019/882 on the accessibility requirements for products and services (the European Accessibility Act).

ETSI on EN 301 549 (opens in new window).

So, if not before, we can speculate that EN 301 549, version 4.1.1 will incorporate WCAG 2.2 in 2025, and we can also speculate that European Accessibility Act will then be about WCAG 2.2 on levels A and AA.

I also can’t help myself with thinking about a strange coincidence: EN 301 549 version 4.1.1 will leave WCAG 4.1.1 as a side note (I guess, based on WCAG 2.2 update).

When we check the latest Work Item Schedule from ETSI (opens in new window) it is not exactly supporting the claims of aiming towards 2025 but it seems that publication is planned for 15th February of 2026.

I do hope that I am mistaken in my speculation, as WCAG 2.2 does bring improvements that impact a lot of people, but this is currently the only publicly available resource known to me.

And please do use WCAG 2.2 in your work where you can. It’s a standard already.

Author: Bogdan Cerovac

I am IAAP certified Web Accessibility Specialist (from 2020) and was Google certified Mobile Web Specialist.

Work as digital agency co-owner web developer and accessibility lead.

Sole entrepreneur behind IDEA-lab Cerovac (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Accessibility lab) after work. Check out my Accessibility Services if you want me to help your with digital accessibility.

Also head of the expert council at Institute for Digital Accessibility A11Y.si (in Slovenian).

Living and working in Norway (🇳🇴), originally from Slovenia (🇸🇮), loves exploring the globe (🌐).

Nurturing the web from 1999, this blog from 2019.

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