WCAG 2.2: what actually changed, and what to fix first

WCAG 2.2 added nine new success criteria on top of 2.1, and most of them target problems that automated scanners have always struggled to catch: focus visibility, target size, and consistent help placement. If your team has been treating 'WCAG compliant' as a fixed checkbox, this release is a good excuse to revisit it.

The criterion we see teams miss most often is Focus Not Obscured (2.4.11). It sounds narrow, but it catches a genuinely common pattern: sticky headers or cookie banners that cover a focused element as a keyboard user tabs through the page. If your site has any fixed-position UI, it's worth a manual keyboard pass specifically looking for this.

Target Size (2.5.8) is the other one worth prioritizing early. It sets a minimum tap-target size of 24 by 24 CSS pixels for most interactive elements, which affects icon buttons and dense toolbars more than most teams expect. The fix is usually a padding adjustment, not a redesign — but it touches a lot of components, so it's worth doing as a dedicated pass rather than fixing it component-by-component as you happen to notice it.

Our advice for prioritization: run an automated scan first to clear the easy, high-volume issues (contrast, missing labels, alt text), then do a manual keyboard-only pass focused specifically on the new 2.2 criteria. That combination catches far more than either approach alone, and it's the same process we run in our own accessibility audits.