Unusual Words
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
A mechanism is available for identifying specific definitions of words or phrases used in an unusual or restricted way, including idioms and jargon.
Normative text
Verbatim from WCAG 2.2, W3C Recommendation 12 December 2024. Underlined terms are defined below.
A mechanism is available for identifying specific definitions of words or phrases used in an unusual or restricted way, including idioms and jargon.
Definitions used (4)
Glossary definitions are normative. Their notes are informative.
- mechanism
-
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.
- used in an unusual or restricted way
-
words used in such a way that requires users to know exactly which definition to apply in order to understand the content correctly
- idiom
-
phrase whose meaning cannot be deduced from the meaning of the individual words and the specific words cannot be changed without losing the meaning
Informative notes (1)
Idioms cannot be translated directly, word for word, without losing their (cultural or language-dependent) meaning.
- jargon
-
words used in a particular way by people in a particular field
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 3.1.3, so raise them as usability defects. Known failures, including failures of related criteria, are listed in Tier 1.
A glossary on a separate page technically counts but interrupts reading.
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.
Define jargon inline on first use, or link it to a glossary entry.
W3C's Understanding document and techniques for SC 3.1.3 ↗ 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 3.1.3 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.”