WCAG A vs AA vs AAA: which level your store needs

We counted the criteria from the W3C's published texts. WCAG 2.2 lists 4.1.1 Parsing as obsolete and removed, so it is not in the 2.2 count.

The levels are cumulative. To meet AA, a page must pass every A criterion and every AA criterion. Passing 23 of the 24 AA criteria is not “mostly AA” in WCAG terms. It is Level A, if all of A passes.

WCAG adds two rules that matter a lot for stores:

• Full pages. A level applies to the whole page, including the version shown on a phone. You cannot leave out the header or a pop-up.
• Complete processes. WCAG's own example is an online store: every page from picking a product to the end of checkout must meet the level, or none of them do.

W3C sorted criteria into levels by weighing things like: is there a workaround if the rule is not met, can every kind of site and content meet it, does it need special skills, and does it limit what the page can do. So the levels are not a strict ranking of how much a barrier hurts. A Level A failure and a Level AA failure can both stop a sale.

Level A failures usually block someone completely. A shopper who cannot reach the Add to cart button with a keyboard cannot buy, however good the rest of the page is.

Level AA adds the criteria that remove the most common barriers for people with low vision, people who use a keyboard and people on phones.

Check text colours against 1.4.3 and 1.4.11 with our free contrast checker. It shows pass or fail for AA and AAA, and the nearest colour that passes.

WCAG itself says: “It is not recommended that Level AAA conformance be required as a general policy for entire sites because it is not possible to satisfy all Level AAA success criteria for some content.”

Some AAA criteria are easy. Others do not fit a store at all. 1.2.6 asks for sign language interpretation of every prerecorded video. 3.1.5 asks for a version of any text that needs more than a lower secondary school reading level, which is hard for technical products, ingredient lists and legal terms. 2.2.3 asks for no time limits on the shopper at all, apart from real-time events such as a live auction, so a cart that holds items for only 10 minutes would not pass.

W3C also notes that even content that conforms at AAA “will not be accessible to individuals with all types, degrees, or combinations of disability.” Every level is a shared, testable baseline, not a promise that every shopper can use the page.

Many topics in WCAG have a criterion at more than one level. Seeing them side by side shows what each level adds:

Level AA, every time a law names a level. What differs is the version. As of October 17, 2026:

• United States, private businesses: the ADA has no web rule. The Justice Department calls WCAG helpful guidance, and settlements usually use WCAG 2.1 AA. See ADA website compliance.
• United States, state and local governments: WCAG 2.1 AA under the 2024 Title II rule, with deadlines of April 26, 2027 and April 26, 2028.
• Ontario: WCAG 2.0 AA for organizations with 50 or more employees, except 1.2.4 live captions and 1.2.5 audio description. See AODA website rules.
• Manitoba: WCAG 2.1 AA for any organization with at least one employee in Manitoba.
• Federally regulated Canadian businesses: those with 100 or more employees, such as banks and airlines, move to WCAG 2.1 AA under the Accessible Canada Act from December 5, 2028.
• European Union: WCAG 2.1 AA through EN 301 549 v3.2.1, the standard used under the European Accessibility Act. Version 4.1.1, published September 2, 2026, aligns with WCAG 2.2.

None of these require AAA. The full table, with sources, is in which laws use which WCAG version.

WCAG 2.1 Level AA means the 30 Level A and 20 Level AA success criteria in WCAG 2.1, which the W3C published on June 5, 2018. It is the version named in the US Title II rule, Manitoba's standard and EN 301 549 v3.2.1, and the one US settlements with online stores usually use.

WCAG 2.1 added 17 criteria to 2.0. Twelve of them are Level A or AA, and most of them affect stores on phones:

Does meeting WCAG 2.2 AA cover 2.1 AA? Yes. WCAG 2.2 says content that conforms to it also conforms to 2.0 and 2.1, and that it can serve as another way to meet policies that name those versions. The rule 2.2 dropped, 4.1.1 Parsing, is now marked in 2.1 as always met for HTML. Our WCAG 2.2 AA guide covers the six criteria 2.2 added at A and AA.

You do not need AAA, but a few AAA criteria cost little and help a lot of shoppers on phones. Three examples, all of which fit in Shopify's theme-wide Custom CSS box (Online Store, Themes, Edit theme, Theme settings, Custom CSS):

• A strong focus outline (toward 2.4.13): a 2 pixel or thicker outline with good contrast.
• 44 pixel tap targets (2.5.5) for quantity buttons and close icons on phones.
• Less motion (toward 2.3.3) for shoppers who turn on reduced motion in their phone or computer settings.

:focus-visible {
  outline: 3px solid #1a56db;
  outline-offset: 2px;
}
.quantity__button {
  min-width: 44px;
  min-height: 44px;
}
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  * {
    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    scroll-behavior: auto !important;
  }
}

The class .quantity__button is from Dawn, where the buttons are about 45 pixels wide at the default font size but shrink if you raise the body font scale. Other themes name and size their buttons differently, so check with your browser's inspect tool. Pick an outline colour with at least 3:1 contrast against your backgrounds. Shopify limits theme-wide custom CSS to 1,500 characters, it does not apply to checkout, and a theme update can change the class names it relies on. Test on a duplicate theme before you publish.

• Skipping Level A. AA builds on A. A beautiful contrast fix does not help a shopper who cannot open the menu with a keyboard.
• Claiming a level without naming the version. “WCAG AA” could mean 2.0, 2.1 or 2.2. Say “WCAG 2.2 Level AA” in your records and your accessibility statement.
• Calling a page AA when some of it fails. A level is all or nothing per page. Say “working toward WCAG 2.2 AA” and list the known gaps.
• Trusting a badge or score. No one certifies WCAG levels, and a scan cannot test every criterion.
• Promising AAA to look safer. It sets a goal your store may never reach and that no law asks for.

1. Run the free accessibility checker on a product page. Each problem it finds is tagged with its WCAG criterion, so you can see which are Level A and which are AA. Fix Level A first.
2. Test the buying path with only a keyboard, from the home page to the cart. This covers 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.4.3, 2.4.7 and 2.4.11, which software cannot fully check.
3. Zoom your browser to 200%, then make the window as narrow as a small phone. Text should still fit and nothing should need sideways scrolling (1.4.4 and 1.4.10).
4. Check brand colours in the contrast checker against AA. If you have room, see which already pass AAA.
5. Keep a dated list of what fails, what you fixed and what is left. The ADA website checklist follows the A and AA criteria in order.