WCAG 2.1 QA Checklist

From WCAG WG

This is a detailed list of editorial characteristics to assure completeness and consistency in WCAG 2.1.

  • SC
    • Header uses title case
    • Lists in SC
      • Lists with headers use definition lists and title case in headers (styling will be used to avoid a definition list look)
      • Lists without headers use unordered lists
      • List items end with semi-colons, last item ends with period
    • Exceptions should be at end of SC
    • Notes are not normative, so should be used only for clarifications
    • Editorial notes are used as notes to the reader of the draft, and should be able to be removed without changing meaning
    • Wording describes a success condition, not worded imperatively
    • Common usages
      • "programmatically determined", not "determinable" etc.
      • "a mechanism is available" not "there is a mechanism to" etc.
    • SC should start with the header, then the conformance level, then the change indicator, then the ednote pointing to issues, then the SC text.
    • Only link to terms on first usage of the term in a given SC.
  • Terms
    • Use a singular, not plural form in the definition; use data-lt attributes if plural forms needed inline in SC
    • terms are lower case unless using proper names other other forms that must be capitalized
    • first line of term should be a phrase that in principle could drop in place of the term within the SC text
    • first line of term is not capitalized and does not end with punctuation
    • Additional information for the definition starts in a new paragraph, and uses full sentences and normal capitalization
    • use the shortest clear version of the term, with expansions if needed in a parenthetical, e.g., "easily available" is the term, followed by "(or easily available mode or setting)"
    • minimize alternate forms of term, normally there should be only one or two forms
    • referenced from somewhere in the doc
  • Meta information
    • New SC should be marked with class="new" on the section element, and a paragraph with class="change" and text content "New". A paragraph with class="new" will not format correctly.
    • Conformance level should be indicated in a paragraph with class="conformance-level".
    • Notes pointing to issues should be in a paragraph with class="ednote".
  • Understanding
    • Understanding page exists for each SC
    • Understanding file named same as SC file
    • Understanding file referenced from Understanding index
    • Properly follows the Understanding template
  • General
    • Avoid first or second person voices
    • Follow W3C Manual of Style and Chicago Manual of Style, notably use U.S. English spelling, Oxford comma, ...
    • Keep related clauses together in the sentence, don't separate and reference with prepositions unnecessarily.