No Timing
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
Timing is not an essential part of the event or activity, except for non-interactive synchronized media and real-time events.
Normative text
Verbatim from WCAG 2.2, W3C Recommendation 12 December 2024. Underlined terms are defined below.
Timing is not an essential part of the event or activity presented by the content, except for non-interactive synchronized media and real-time events.
Definitions used (3)
Glossary definitions are normative. Their notes are informative.
- essential
-
if removed, would fundamentally change the information or functionality of the content, and information and functionality cannot be achieved in another way that would conform
- synchronized media
-
audio or video synchronized with another format for presenting information and/or with time-based interactive components, unless the media is a media alternative for text that is clearly labeled as such
- real-time event
-
event that a) occurs at the same time as the viewing and b) is not completely generated by the content
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 2.2.3, so raise them as usability defects. Known failures, including failures of related criteria, are listed in Tier 1.
Removing time limits can conflict with security policies, which need a design answer rather than an exception.
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.
Replace time limits with save-and-resume, and re-authenticate without losing data.
W3C's Understanding document and techniques for SC 2.2.3 ↗ 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 2.2.3 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.”