Public sector tenders in the UAE increasingly name WCAG 2.1 level AA as a requirement. It gets written into contracts more often than it gets read. Here is what it actually asks of you.
It is not a checklist of features
WCAG is organised around four principles. Content must be perceivable, operable, understandable and robust. That framing matters, because most failures are not a missing feature — they are a working feature that only works one way.
A carousel with arrows you can click is operable. If those arrows cannot be reached by keyboard, it fails.
The requirements that catch most sites
- Contrast. Body text needs 4.5:1 against its background. Large text and the boundaries of interface components need 3:1. This is measurable, so it is the first thing an auditor runs.
- Keyboard access. Everything you can do with a mouse must be reachable and operable from a keyboard, in an order that makes sense.
- Visible focus. Wherever keyboard focus lands, it must be obvious. Removing the focus outline without replacing it is one of the most common single-line failures we find.
- Labels on inputs. A placeholder is not a label. It disappears when typing starts, and assistive technology may never announce it.
- Reflow and zoom. The page has to stay usable at 200% zoom without horizontal scrolling or clipped content.
- Motion. Anything that moves automatically for more than five seconds needs a way to pause it.
What 2.1 added over 2.0
Version 2.1 brought in criteria aimed at mobile and at cognitive load: orientation, pointer gestures, target size, and status messages that are announced without moving focus. If a supplier tells you their 2.0 conformance covers 2.1, it does not.
Where AA stops
AA does not require sign language for video, or 7:1 contrast, or context-sensitive help. Those sit at AAA. Specifying AAA across a whole estate is usually unrealistic; specifying AA and meeting it fully is worth considerably more than claiming AAA and missing.
Evidence, not assurances
A conformance claim is only as good as the record behind it. What survives scrutiny is a per-criterion statement of how the site was tested, by whom, and what remains open. That is the document we produce, because it is the one a procurement officer can actually use.