WCAG 2.2 Deja Vu

It feels like deja vu, but WCAG 2.2 has reached the Candidate Recommendation (CR) stage, again. After it reached the CR stage in September 2022, enough feedback was provided to drive these changes. One of them, in particular, makes me happy. The obsolete 4.1.1 Parsing has been removed. Parsing issues no longer cause accessibility blockers thanks to how much browsers and assistive tech have improved. When performing accessibility testing, it has often been difficult to justify failing this success criterion. Focus Visible is bumping up from AA to A, which is the other great news I’ve been aware of for a while. Now we’ve just got to keep waiting it out until WCAG 2.2 is final.

While we wait for that, there’s plenty to keep us occupied in our community:

March

• International Wheelchair Day celebrated annually on March 1st
• CSUN Assistive Technology Conference: From March 13-17, 2023 an inclusive setting for researchers, practitioners, exhibitors, end users, speakers and other participants to share knowledge and best practices in the field of assistive technology.
• axe-con 2023: Hosted on March 15-16, 2023, axe-con is completely free and virtual. Axe-con is an open and inclusive digital accessibility conference that welcomes developers, designers, business users, and accessibility professionals of all experience levels to a new kind of accessibility conference focused on building, testing, and maintaining accessible digital experiences.

April

• Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month
• World Autism Awareness Day (though I would prefer Acceptance): Sunday, April 2nd, 2023
• Script and sequence your accessibility action plan: Tuesday, April 25th, 2023

May

• Knowbility’s Slatin AccessU conference: Hybrid: Tuesday, May 9th — Friday, May 12th, 2023
• Global Accessibility Awareness Day: Thursday, May 18th, 2023