Kwame A.
Sample Accessible and honest teaching
No scare tactics about lawsuits, just clear reasons and fixes. The regulatory overview was balanced and helped me brief our product lead.
Accessible interfaces: design and test for WCAG 2.2 AA
Learn the WCAG 2.2 criteria that matter most, test with keyboards and screen readers, and design components everyone can use
Created by Owen Gallagher
- Updated September 2026
- English
- Intermediate
What you will learn
- Explain the structure of WCAG 2.2 and the new criteria it added
- Check colour contrast for text and interface components
- Run a full keyboard and screen reader test of a page
- Annotate designs with headings, labels, focus order and roles
- Build accessible forms with clear labels and error messages
- Manage focus correctly in dialogs and single page apps
- Write an audit report that prioritises fixes by impact
Course content
How accessibility standards work
Testing like a professional
- Article: Automated checks with axe and Lighthouse 10 min
- Article: A manual keyboard pass 9 min
- Article: Screen reader basics with VoiceOver and NVDA 14 min
- Article: Zoom, reflow and text spacing 8 min
- Article: Writing an audit report 9 min
Accessible design in Figma
- Article: Annotating designs for accessibility 10 min
- Article: Target sizes and spacing 7 min
- Article: Designing focus, hover and error states 9 min
- Article: Motion and reduced motion 7 min
Accessible components
- Article: Buttons and links done right 8 min
- Article: Forms, labels and error messages 13 min
- Article: Dialogs and focus management 11 min
- Article: Menus, tabs and disclosure widgets 12 min
- Article: Images, icons and alt text 8 min
Content and structure
- Article: Headings and landmarks 8 min
- Article: Link text and page titles 7 min
- Article: Accessible authentication and redundant entry 9 min
- Article: Accessible data tables 8 min
Keeping accessibility alive
- Article: Accessibility in the design system 9 min
- Article: Triage and severity for accessibility bugs 7 min
- Article: The regulatory landscape 9 min
- Quiz: Final check 6 min
Requirements
- Basic knowledge of HTML and how web pages are built
- A computer with a modern browser; a Mac or Windows PC for screen reader practice
Description
Accessibility is often treated as a checklist that someone runs at the end of a project. By then fixes are expensive and the team is tired. This course teaches you to design and test for WCAG 2.2 level AA as part of normal work, so accessible interfaces become the default rather than a late rescue.
What the course covers
We start with how WCAG is structured and which success criteria cause the most real problems: contrast, keyboard access, focus visibility, labels, error handling and target size. You will then learn a testing routine that combines automated tools with manual checks using a keyboard, browser zoom and screen readers such as VoiceOver and NVDA.
- Read and apply WCAG 2.2 criteria without getting lost in the spec
- Run an audit with axe DevTools, Lighthouse and a manual keyboard pass
- Use VoiceOver and NVDA well enough to find real issues
- Annotate Figma designs so developers build the right semantics
- Build accessible forms, dialogs, menus and tabs
Who it is for
The course suits designers, front end developers and QA engineers who already build interfaces and want to do it accessibly. Code examples use plain HTML and a little ARIA, so they apply whatever framework you use. The final section covers how to keep accessibility alive in a design system and what current regulations, such as the European Accessibility Act, mean for digital teams.
Who this course is for
- Product designers who want accessible designs from the first draft
- Front end developers responsible for semantics and interaction
- QA engineers adding accessibility to their test plans
Instructor
Owen Gallagher
Accessibility specialist and UX writer teaching inclusive, clear interfaces
- 4.4 instructor rating
- 16 reviews
- 5,330 students
- 2 courses
- Sample
I work on accessibility and content design for web and mobile products. I audit interfaces against WCAG, test with screen readers and keyboards, and write the words people see in buttons, forms and error messages.
I teach these two skills together because they overlap more than most people expect: a clear label helps a screen reader user and everyone else. My courses cover practical WCAG 2.2 testing, accessible patterns for common components, and writing microcopy that is short, specific and kind.
I keep the tone practical. You will test real pages, rewrite real copy and learn to explain accessibility issues to a team in a way that gets them fixed.
Student reviews
Lucas B.
Sample The screen reader lesson was gold
I had installed NVDA before and given up after five minutes. The short command list and the side by side comparison with VoiceOver finally made testing feel doable.
Mariam G.
Sample Changed how I design forms
Labels, hints and error messages are now part of my first draft in Figma. The annotation kit is something our developers specifically thanked me for.
Chiara D.
Sample Useful but dense in places
The content is accurate and useful, but some lessons move fast if you are new to ARIA. I had to rewatch the menus and tabs lesson twice.
Ethan W.
Sample Clear explanation of WCAG 2.2
The plain language walk through of the new criteria was the clearest I have read. I wish there were a few more React examples, but the HTML ones translate easily.
Fatima A.
Sample Practical audit routine
We now run the keyboard pass and axe on every pull request. The audit report template helped me group issues by component, which cut the number of tickets a lot.
Jonas H.
Sample Good depth on components
The dialog and focus management lesson fixed a long standing bug in our app. The section on tables felt a little short.
Yuki T.
Sample Great for designers
As a designer I appreciated that half the course is about decisions made before code. Target size and focus ring guidance is now in our design system.
Ben C.
Sample Worth it for the checklists
The contrast, keyboard and screen reader checklists are printed on my desk. I found three blockers in our sign up flow the same afternoon.
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