WCAG 2 style guide

Any updates to WCAG guidance should follow the WAI Style Guide and W3C Manual of Style, which specifies Merriam-Webster's online dictionary as the primary source for spelling, and the Chicago Manual of Style as the arbiter of style (online subscription necessary, but pick up a used copy in used bookstores anywhere).

For commonly used constructs not covered in the WAI guide, the following style and word usage guides have been started. These should be considered draft; they have not been vetted or adopted. However, they follow the most established conventions currently used in documents.

Style

Figures and illustrations

In figure captions and references, spell out the word figure, numbering illustrations sequentially within the document. Separate the figure number from the captions only by a space, then capitalize of the first word of the caption. Captions are generally written as sentences with terminating punctuation. Do not use a period if the caption is only a sentence fragment.

Example

Figure 4 A customized checkbox with light grey check (#E5E5E5), which has a contrast ratio of 5.6:1 with the purple box (#6221EA).

Word usage

Since the terms section of the W3C guide is sparse, WCAG-specific word usage is being begun here.

S

Success Criterion, Success Criteria

always capitalize (this is contrary to WAI style, but is the long-standing practice for AG WG documents)

W

web

lowercase except if proper noun meaning World Wide Web

use webpage, website (not web page, website)