Visual Presentation
Tier 1 · The normative floor
Baseline compliance
What the normative text of WCAG 2.2 requires, and nothing more. Only a failure of this tier is a WCAG failure.
The bare minimum
For blocks of text, a mechanism is available to: choose foreground and background colors; limit width to 80 characters (40 for CJK); avoid justified text; get line spacing of at least 1.5 and paragraph spacing at least 1.5 times the line spacing; and resize text to 200 percent without horizontal scrolling in a full-screen window.
Normative text
Verbatim from WCAG 2.2, W3C Recommendation 12 December 2024. Underlined terms are defined below.
For the visual presentation of blocks of text, a mechanism is available to achieve the following:
- Foreground and background colors can be selected by the user.
- Width is no more than 80 characters or glyphs (40 if CJK).
- Text is not justified (aligned to both the left and the right margins).
- Line spacing (leading) is at least space-and-a-half within paragraphs, and paragraph spacing is at least 1.5 times larger than the line spacing.
- Text can be resized without assistive technology up to 200 percent in a way that does not require the user to scroll horizontally to read a line of text on a full-screen window.
Not required by the normative text
Common claims that this criterion does not support. Don't log these as WCAG failures.
- Using these values by default. The requirement is that a mechanism is available, and W3C's note says it can be the browser.
Definitions used (4)
Glossary definitions are normative. Their notes are informative.
- blocks of text
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more than one sentence of text
- mechanism
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process or technique for achieving a result
Informative notes (2)
The mechanism may be explicitly provided in the content, or may be relied upon to be provided by either the platform or by user agents, including assistive technologies.
The mechanism needs to meet all success criteria for the conformance level claimed.
- assistive technology
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hardware and/or software that acts as a user agent, or along with a mainstream user agent, to provide functionality to meet the requirements of users with disabilities that go beyond those offered by mainstream user agents
Informative notes (3)
Functionality provided by assistive technology includes alternative presentations (e.g., as synthesized speech or magnified content), alternative input methods (e.g., voice), additional navigation or orientation mechanisms, and content transformations (e.g., to make tables more accessible).
Assistive technologies often communicate data and messages with mainstream user agents by using and monitoring APIs.
The distinction between mainstream user agents and assistive technologies is not absolute. Many mainstream user agents provide some features to assist individuals with disabilities. The basic difference is that mainstream user agents target broad and diverse audiences that usually include people with and without disabilities. Assistive technologies target narrowly defined populations of users with specific disabilities. The assistance provided by an assistive technology is more specific and appropriate to the needs of its target users. The mainstream user agent may provide important functionality to assistive technologies like retrieving web content from program objects or parsing markup into identifiable bundles.
- on a full-screen window
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on the most common sized desktop/laptop display with the viewport maximized
Informative notes (1)
Since people generally keep their computers for several years, it is best not to rely on the latest desktop/laptop display resolutions but to consider the common desktop/laptop display resolutions over the course of several years when making this evaluation.
Notes in the criterion Informative
WCAG 2.2 lists notes among its informative material, which "does not create requirements that impact a conformance claim." They help interpret the criterion but are not part of the floor.
Content is not required to use these values. The requirement is that a mechanism is available for users to change these presentation aspects. The mechanism can be provided by the browser or other user agent. Content is not required to provide the mechanism.
Writing systems for some languages use different presentation aspects to improve readability and legibility. If a presentation aspect in this success criterion is not used in a writing system, content in that writing system does not need to use that presentation setting and can conform without it. Authors are encouraged to follow guidance for improving readability and legibility of text in their writing system.
Tier 2 · The gap
Usability & user impact
Where content can meet this criterion and still make things harder for people with disabilities. These are not failures of SC 1.4.8, so raise them as usability defects. Known failures, including failures of related criteria, are listed in Tier 1.
Relying on users to find browser settings means many never benefit.
Tier 3 · The golden path
Recommended best practice
The pattern that meets the floor, closes the gap, and avoids audit disputes. A recommendation, not a requirement.
Design body text that meets these values by default: short lines, left-aligned, generous spacing.
W3C's Understanding document and techniques for SC 1.4.8 ↗ are informative: sufficient techniques show ways to pass, and documented failures show common ways to fail, but neither changes what the criterion requires.
How SC 1.4.8 maps to the WCAG 3 draft
From this site's reviewed map to the WCAG 3 editor's draft. It's an interpretation: W3C has not published a mapping.
Successor provisions
From WCAG 2.2, section 5.1: “The main content of WCAG 2.2 is normative and defines requirements that impact conformance claims. Introductory material, appendices, sections marked as "non-normative", diagrams, examples, and notes are informative (non-normative). Non-normative material provides advisory information to help interpret the guidelines but does not create requirements that impact a conformance claim.”