Resource guide
Principle 2: Operable
Making sure everyone can use your website — not just people with a mouse.
By Calling All Minds·Last updated April 2026
Success criteria
Equal to Perceivable.
Level A
The essential baseline.
Level AA
The legal compliance target.
Level AAA
Enhanced operability criteria.
Principle 2
About this principle
The Operable principle ensures that everyone can interact with your website, regardless of how they navigate. Many people do not use a mouse. They might use a keyboard, voice control, a switch device, or a head pointer. Some need more time to complete tasks. Others are at risk of seizures from flashing content.
This principle covers keyboard accessibility (can people tab through your site without getting trapped?), timing (do people have enough time to read and respond?), seizure safety (does anything flash dangerously?), navigation (can people find their way around?), and input methods (do touch targets work for people with motor impairments?).
WCAG 2.2 added several important criteria here, particularly around focus management (2.4.11, 2.4.12, 2.4.13), dragging alternatives (2.5.7), and minimum touch target sizes (2.5.8). These address gaps that keyboard and mobile users have experienced for years.
Where to start
Test everything with just a keyboard. Tab through your entire site. If you cannot reach something, activate it, or get out of it using the keyboard alone, you have a failure. This single test catches the majority of Operable issues.
Guideline 2.1
Keyboard Accessible
Make all functionality available from a keyboard.
Keyboard Accessible
Every feature must work without a mouse.
Guideline 2.2
Enough Time
Provide users enough time to read and use content.
Enough Time
Users must be able to control time limits on content.
Guideline 2.3
Seizures and Physical Reactions
Do not design content in a way that is known to cause seizures or physical reactions.
Seizures and Physical Reactions
Flashing content must stay below the threshold that triggers photosensitive seizures.
High risk
Flashing content that exceeds the threshold can trigger photosensitive epileptic seizures. This is one of the few WCAG failures that poses an immediate physical danger. Never use strobing effects or rapid flashing animations.
Guideline 2.4
Navigable
Provide ways to help users navigate, find content, and determine where they are.
Navigable
Users must be able to navigate efficiently and know where they are.
New in WCAG 2.2
2.4.11, 2.4.12, and 2.4.13 are new in WCAG 2.2. They address a long-standing problem: sticky headers and overlapping elements were hiding keyboard focus indicators, making it impossible for keyboard users to see where they were on the page.
Guideline 2.5
Input Modalities
Make it easier for users to operate functionality through various inputs beyond keyboard.
Input Modalities
Functionality must work with touch, voice, and other input methods — not just keyboard and mouse.
New in WCAG 2.2
2.5.7 (Dragging Movements) and 2.5.8 (Target Size Minimum) are new in WCAG 2.2. Drag-and-drop interactions must have alternatives for users who cannot perform complex pointer gestures, and interactive targets must be at least 24×24 CSS pixels.
AXS Audit
AXS Audit evaluates your website against the full WCAG 2.2 matrix — visual, cognitive, and keyboard criteria that most automated scanners miss. Built by the same team that created this guide.