As a QA or developer, you're constantly pushing for quality, but when it comes to digital accessibility, the goalposts can seem to shift. The demand for regulatory compliance is growing globally, with laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 508, the European Accessibility Act (EAA), and RGAA enforcing digital inclusivity. This raises a crucial question: What are the concrete steps to achieve compliance?

The answer lies in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Success Criteria (SCs). To meet most global accessibility regulations, your digital products must conform to specific WCAG levels, typically WCAG 2.0 AA or WCAG 2.1 AA. The table below shows how regulations tie into WCAG levels:

Country/Region Standard/Regulation WCAG Level
United States ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) WCAG 2.1 AA (by case law)
United States Section 508 (Rehabilitation Act) WCAG 2.0 AA
European Union EN 301 549 (EU Accessibility Act) WCAG 2.1 AA
France RGAA (Référentiel Général d’Amélioration de l’Accessibilité) WCAG 2.1 AA
Germany Disability Equality Act (BGG)
Barrier-Free Information Technology Ordinance (BITV 2.0)
Accessibility Strengthening Act (BFSG)		 WCAG 2.1 AA
United Kingdom Public Sector Accessibility Regulations WCAG 2.1 AA
Canada AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act) WCAG 2.0 AA → Moved to 2.1 AA
Australia DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) WCAG 2.1 AA
India GRR (Guidelines for Indian Government Websites & Apps) WCAG 2.0 AA
Japan JIS X 8341-3 WCAG 2.1 AA
China Information Accessibility Standard WCAG 2.0 (loosely followed)

The Challenge: Getting a unified view of conformance

While the directive to conform to WCAG is clear, the path to understanding your exact status across 55 Success Criteria, depending on different level of WCAG conformance, is often obscured. You might be asking:

  • Which specific WCAG success criteria do I need to conform to based on the regulations of my target region?
  • Out of the many WCAG Success Criteria, how many does my website and mobile apps meet?
  • Which SCs are not met, and what's my overall progress toward achieving the required WCAG level?

Navigating these questions with fragmented reports or manual tracking can be overwhelming. You need a centralized, definitive view to truly understand your conformance posture.

Introducing BrowserStack's conformance summary: your roadmap to compliance

This is precisely where BrowserStack's new Conformance Summary comes in. It's a significant enhancement to BrowserStack’s accessibility reporting, providing you with a single-pane view that maps accessibility issues with specific WCAG Success Criteria. This isn't just a list of errors; it's a strategic framework designed to help you identify gaps and prioritize what to fix.

Here's how the Conformance Summary helps

Instant overview of compliance status

A key challenge in accessibility is understanding which WCAG SCs are automatically detected by BrowserStack and which require manual verification.

Conformance Summary provides a detailed breakdown for each SC, clearly represented by color-coded indicators.

Clicking on any criterion provides specific recommendations for further action:

  • Passed (green checks): Fully covered and passed by the Spectra™ Rule Engine.
  • Failed (red crosses): These highlight criteria where Spectra™ Rule Engine found issues that still need to be fixed
  • Assisted Tests (Blue checks): These criteria require deeper validation via Assisted Tests
  • Manual Checks (Grey circles): Criteria that typically require manual testing or are outside the scope of automated checks. We provide guidance on "What else needs to be done?" via our Accessibility Checklist.

Targeted remediation and prioritization

Pinpoint exact issues: The view shows exactly which Success Criteria are failing. Each SC directs you to the relevant code or design element that needs fixing, saving valuable debugging time. The grid explicitly lists all Success Criteria under each WCAG principle, ensuring no criterion is accidentally overlooked during testing.

Data-driven prioritization: Knowing the specific failing criteria helps you make informed decisions about prioritization. But how do you decide which ones to tackle first for maximum impact? According to our Web Accessibility Coverage Report 2025, some WCAG SCs are violated far more frequently than others. By focusing your efforts on these frequently occurring and high-impact issues, you can overcome real-world accessibility barriers for disabled users

Identify additional testing required to achieve full conformance: Beyond automated checks, you need to identify what manual checks or additional reviews are still needed to reach complete conformance. The Conformance Summary provides a clear SC-level view that helps teams plan next steps efficiently. It also helps close remaining compliance gaps by suggesting use of manual checklist or assisted tests as needed.

Actionable remediation guidance: For developers and QAs less familiar with WCAG, this view helps understand the guidelines' structure, principles, and specific criteria. Clicking on an SC to "view more details" provides remediation guidance including explanations, examples, and techniques.

Streamlined reporting and communication

Clear Stakeholder Communication: This visual format is more effective for communicating accessibility status to stakeholders (e.g., management, legal teams) than raw test reports. They can quickly grasp the overall compliance level and see where the gaps are, fostering better understanding and buy-in.

Audit trail: It provides a clear, documented record of which criteria were tested and their outcome, serving as an essential part of an accessibility audit trail for compliance purposes.

Simplified VPAT creation: The detailed mapping of WCAG Success Criteria and their pass/fail status directly supports the creation of Voluntary Product Accessibility Templates (VPATs). With the Conformance Summary, you have the structured data needed to efficiently complete the WCAG sections of your VPAT reports.

What to do next

With BrowserStack's Conformance Summary empowering your workflow, here are some concrete actions to take:

  • Monitor and prioritize remediation: Make it a regular practice to review your Conformance Summary. Use the insights on frequently occurring and high-impact issues to prioritize your development and QA efforts, ensuring you tackle the most critical barriers first.
  • Facilitate leadership reporting & VPAT creation: Leverage this clear, visual overview to communicate your accessibility status to leadership and stakeholders. Crucially, utilize the structured data to efficiently prepare and update your VPAT reports for compliance and procurement needs.
  • Integrate into your workflow: Embed Conformance Summary reviews into your CI/CD pipelines and regular sprint planning. Make it a standard practice to check conformance status before releases and after significant updates.

Our commitment to your accessibility journey

This change comes at a critical time. As digital accessibility regulations become more stringent worldwide, organizations are under increasing pressure to demonstrate measurable progress and maintain accessible digital experiences. Our Conformance Summary is designed to support you through this shift, making it easier to identify risks, prioritize work, and stay ahead of regulatory changes.

Check your accessibility reports to explore the Conformance Summary