The 10 Most Common WCAG Failures and How to Fix Them

Based on the WebAIM Million analysis of the top 1,000,000 websites, these are the most prevalent WCAG failures. Fixing these issues alone would dramatically improve web accessibility across the internet.

1. Missing Alternative Text (68% of pages): Images without alt attributes or with non-descriptive alt text. Fix: Add descriptive alt text to meaningful images, use alt="" for decorative images.

2. Low Color Contrast (83% of pages): Text that doesn't meet the 4.5:1 contrast ratio for normal text or 3:1 for large text. Fix: Use a contrast checker tool and adjust colors to meet minimums.

3. Missing Form Labels (50% of pages): Form inputs without associated label elements. Fix: Add explicit label elements with for/id pairing for every input.

4. Empty Links (44% of pages): Links with no discernible text (often icon-only links without aria-label). Fix: Add descriptive text or aria-label to every link.

5. Missing Document Language (18% of pages): HTML element without lang attribute. Fix: Add lang="en" (or appropriate language) to the html element.

6. Empty Buttons (27% of pages): Buttons without accessible names. Fix: Add text content or aria-label to every button.

These six issues account for the vast majority of detectable accessibility barriers. A focused effort on these areas will make a substantial difference in your site's accessibility.