What is EN 301 549?
EN 301 549, “Accessibility requirements for ICT products and services”, is a European standard produced by ETSI, CEN and CENELEC. Its web, document and software chapters (clauses 9, 10 and 11) are based on WCAG.
Which version applies?
- EN 301 549 V3.2.1 (2021) is the version cited in the Official Journal for the Web Accessibility Directive (public sector). For web content it incorporates WCAG 2.1 Level AA.
- EN 301 549 V4.1.1 was adopted in August 2026 and published in September 2026. It aligns clauses 9–11 with WCAG 2.2 and adds an annex mapping it to the European Accessibility Act. According to ETSI, it gives a presumption of conformity with the EAA only once it is cited in the Official Journal under that directive – which, as of October 2026, has not happened yet.
What is WCAG 2.2?
WCAG 2.2 is a W3C Recommendation (first published October 2023, current edition December 2024). It is organised under four principles – perceivable, operable, understandable and robust – with success criteria at levels A, AA and AAA. It is backwards compatible with WCAG 2.1, except that 4.1.1 Parsing was removed.
New at level A and AA in WCAG 2.2:
- 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum) – AA
- 2.5.7 Dragging Movements – AA
- 2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum) – AA
- 3.2.6 Consistent Help – A
- 3.3.7 Redundant Entry – A
- 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum) – AA
What should you aim for?
Many teams target WCAG 2.2 Level AA today: it includes everything in WCAG 2.1 AA (except the removed Parsing criterion) and matches where EN 301 549 is heading. Allyfolio runs axe-core rules tagged for WCAG 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 A/AA.
Automated checks are only part of it
Many success criteria – meaningful alt text, focus order, understandable content – need people to judge. Automated testing finds about 57% of issues by volume (Deque). Read what automated testing can’t catch, then try a free scan.