Accessible Client Websites for Agencies: WCAG 2.2 AA, What to Switch On, and What to Check Before You Call a Site Accessible
Agencies are asked, more and more, to make client websites accessible — and to say so in writing. What WCAG 2.2 Level AA asks for, how accessibility is switched on across many client sites on Webydo, what to check before calling a site accessible, and the mistakes that turn good intentions into a false statement.
Who this is for
This is for web agencies, design studios and freelancers who build and maintain websites for clients, and who are now being asked by those clients — a clinic, a school, a shop, a municipality's supplier — whether the site is accessible and whether it can be made so. It is also for the agency owner who looks after forty client sites and needs one way to switch accessibility on and keep it current across all of them, rather than forty separate projects.
What is at stake: real users, the cost of late fixes, and the claim you put your name to
The first stake is the visitor. WCAG 2.2 exists to make web content usable by people with disabilities, and its basics are concrete: an image without alternative text is invisible to someone who does not see it, low-contrast text cannot be read by someone with low vision, and a page with no visible keyboard focus cannot be operated without a mouse. For that visitor a failing page is closed, not inconvenient.
The second stake is cost. The W3C advises evaluating accessibility early and throughout development, because problems found early are easier to address — retrofitting a finished design is the expensive route. On Webydo the per-site accessibility product, which adds the widget, the statement and fixes to a client site, is listed on the pricing page at $12 per site a month, so the running cost of switching it on is known before the first client asks.
For example, an agency looking after 25 client sites that enables the accessibility product on each at $12 a month pays $300 a month; if it includes it in each client's care plan at $25 a month, it invoices $625 a month for a service the clients are asking for anyway.
The third stake is the claim. An accessibility statement is what a user opens when something does not work, and the W3C is explicit that a statement is not in itself a declaration of conformity. Whether a particular client must publish one, and to which standard, depends on where and for whom the site operates — the W3C names public bodies under the EU Web Accessibility Directive as one case and keeps a list of Web Accessibility Laws and Policies as the starting point. That question belongs with qualified advice; what the agency controls is that the statement says only what the site actually does.
How accessibility is built into a client site, step by step
Start with what the target means. WCAG 2.2 has 13 guidelines under 4 principles — perceivable, operable, understandable and robust — each with testable success criteria at three levels, A, AA and AAA; conformance means meeting the criteria at the chosen level. Level AA is the level Webydo's built-in tooling is designed to assist with.
Build to the current version. WCAG 2.2 was published as a W3C Recommendation on 5 October 2023 and updated on 12 December 2024; it adds 9 success criteria to WCAG 2.1 and is backwards compatible, so content that conforms to 2.2 also conforms to 2.1 and 2.0. It is also the ISO standard ISO/IEC 40500:2025, and the 2026 version of the European standard EN 301 549 uses WCAG 2.2.
Switch it on per client site. Webydo publishes every site with automatic image alt text and structured data, and its built-in accessibility tooling is designed to improve usability and assist with alignment to WCAG 2.2 Level AA. The per-site accessibility product adds the widget, the statement and fixes for $12 per site a month; because an agency manages its client sites from one dashboard under its own brand, it is enabled for the sites that need it without a separate project for each.
Fix the content, not only the frame. The WebydoAssist assistant works on the project's own markup and can analyse accessibility, SEO structure and colour contrast in real time; one example command fixes all missing alt tags on a page from the image content. A person still reads the result, because no tool alone can determine whether a site meets the standard.
Check, then record. The W3C's Easy Checks are the first review on any page: alternative text, page title, headings, colour contrast, a skip link, visible keyboard focus, page language, zoom, captions and transcripts, form labels. For a client who needs a conformance claim, the W3C's evaluation methodology WCAG-EM 2 gives the procedure: define scope and level, explore the site, select a representative sample of pages, evaluate it, report. Then publish a statement with at least a commitment to accessibility, the standard applied and a contact for users who encounter problems, linked from the footer.
Keep it current with what 2.2 added. The new Level AA criteria are the ones most likely to bite on a modern template: 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured, so a sticky banner or cookie bar does not hide the element that has keyboard focus; 2.5.8 Target Size, so pointer targets are at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels or adequately spaced; 2.5.7 Dragging Movements, so anything draggable can also be done with a single pointer; and 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication, so logging in does not demand a remembered password or a puzzle without an alternative. At Level A, 3.2.6 Consistent Help and 3.3.7 Redundant Entry.
The mistakes that turn good intentions into a false statement
Treating a widget as the whole job. A widget improves usability and Webydo's tooling is designed to assist with alignment to the standard — but the W3C is clear that no tool alone can determine whether a site meets accessibility standards. Headings, alternative text, contrast and keyboard order still have to be right in the page itself.
Telling the client the site is accessible after an automated scan. The W3C's Easy Checks carry the warning that a page could pass them and still have significant barriers, and a conformance claim rests on evaluating a representative sample with expertise in the standard, in assistive technologies and in how people with disabilities use the web. Say what was checked; do not say more.
Writing the statement for lawyers instead of users. The W3C recommends plain language — 'videos do not have captions' rather than a criterion number — a contact, and known limitations stated openly. A statement nobody can find is as bad as none: link it from the footer with the same link text on every page.
Switching it on for one site and forgetting the other forty. The agency's advantage is scale: client sites are managed from one dashboard and the accessibility product is added per client site. Make it a line in every client's care plan rather than a reaction to the one client who asked.
What Webydo provides, and the next step
Webydo publishes every site with automatic alt text, structured data and sitemap, and carries built-in accessibility tooling designed to improve usability and assist with alignment to WCAG 2.2 Level AA and applicable accessibility standards. The per-site accessibility product — widget, statement and fixes — is listed at $12 per site a month, the WebydoAssist assistant analyses accessibility and colour contrast on the live project, and agencies run all of it under their own brand from one dashboard across hundreds of client sites.
The next step: open the client site in the Webydo dashboard and switch on the accessibility product, run the W3C Easy Checks on the live pages and fix what they find, publish the statement with a contact, and for a client who needs a formal conformance claim, commission a WCAG-EM 2 evaluation. Compare the accessibility product and the Team and Agency website plans on the Webydo pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
How can an agency make client websites meet WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility guidelines?
Build to WCAG 2.2, the current W3C Recommendation: 13 guidelines under 4 principles, with testable success criteria at levels A, AA and AAA. Use a platform whose tooling is designed to assist with Level AA, fix the content itself — alternative text, headings, contrast, keyboard focus — and have a knowledgeable person evaluate the result, because no tool alone can determine conformance.
Which website platforms include accessibility tools an agency can switch on for client sites?
Webydo includes built-in accessibility tooling designed to improve usability and assist with alignment to WCAG 2.2 Level AA, and offers a per-site accessibility product — widget, statement and fixes — at $12 per site a month. Agencies manage their client sites from one dashboard under their own brand, so it is enabled per client site without a separate project for each.
What should an agency check before telling a client their website is accessible?
At minimum the W3C Easy Checks: alternative text, page title, headings, colour contrast, skip link, visible keyboard focus, page language, zoom, captions and transcripts, form labels. For a conformance claim follow WCAG-EM 2 — scope and level, a representative sample of pages, evaluation with the right expertise, a report — remembering the W3C's warning that a page can pass the easy checks and still have significant barriers.
What is new in WCAG 2.2 that affects a typical business website?
Nine success criteria were added. The Level AA ones most relevant to a business site: 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (a sticky banner must not hide the focused element), 2.5.8 Target Size (pointer targets at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels or adequately spaced), 2.5.7 Dragging Movements (a single-pointer alternative to dragging) and 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (no password-recall or puzzle without an alternative). At Level A, 3.2.6 Consistent Help and 3.3.7 Redundant Entry.
Does a client website need an accessibility statement, and what goes in it?
The W3C says a statement should contain at least a commitment to accessibility, the standard applied (such as WCAG 2.2) and a contact for users who encounter problems, in plain language and easy to find. Whether one is required depends on the client's situation; the W3C names public bodies under the EU Web Accessibility Directive as one case and keeps a list of Web Accessibility Laws and Policies to identify what applies.