Resource guide
2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide
Moving, blinking, scrolling, or auto-updating content must be pausable, stoppable, or hideable.
By Calling All Minds·Last updated April 2026
Success criterion
Conformance level
Essential baseline — must meet for any compliance.
What it means
Moving or updating content is distracting for many users. For people with attention difficulties, cognitive disabilities, or vestibular disorders, it can make a page unusable. For screen reader users, auto-updating content can constantly interrupt the reading experience.
Any content that moves, blinks, scrolls, or auto-updates for more than five seconds must have a mechanism to pause, stop, or hide it.
In practice
Carousels must have a pause button. Auto-advancing slides are a common failure point.
Animated banners, looping videos, and ticker-style news feeds must be controllable.
Live data feeds that update automatically must either allow pausing or update in a way that does not disrupt the reading flow.
Common failures
- Automatically advancing carousel with no pause control
- Looping background video with no way to stop it
- Auto-scrolling news ticker with no pause mechanism
- Blinking promotional banner that cannot be hidden
The tricky parts
If the movement is essential to the content, such as a real-time animation showing progress of a live event, a pause mechanism may not be required. The exception is narrow: the movement must be truly essential, not merely decorative.
AXS Audit
AXS Audit checks your site against 2.2.2 and flags issues your team can act on straight away. It covers criteria that automated scanners often miss.