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1-786-885-5165Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines
The Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) are standards developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to ensure that software, content management systems (CMS), and web design tools are accessible for both creators with disabilities and the end users who view their published content.
ATAG works alongside WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) and UAAG (User Agent Accessibility Guidelines) to form the foundation of global digital accessibility.
These principles apply to CMS platforms (like WordPress, Drupal, Wix), learning management systems, document creation tools, and software used by government agencies or enterprises that publish digital content.
Accessibility begins long before a website is live it starts at the authoring stage. ATAG ensures that the tools we use to build and edit websites automatically promote inclusion, reduce manual remediation, and meet legal obligations under accessibility laws like:
For organizations operating internationally, implementing ATAGcompliant tools provides a consistent, proactive approach to meeting accessibility requirements across all regions.
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ATAG focuses on two fundamental parts and aligns with three levels of conformance:
Ensuring that anyone, regardless of ability, can use the authoring software itself to create and edit content.
Requiring that the tool actively helps authors create accessible web pages, documents, or apps that meet WCAG standards.
Software vendors and content developers often aim for ATAG 2.0 Level AA compliance to align with global accessibility laws and procurement standards (Level A, AA, AAA).
ATAG ensures accessibility from the creator’s side, while WCAG ensures it from the user’s side. In short ATAG empowers accessibility at the source.
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While ATAG itself is not a law, failure to adhere can lead to indirect noncompliance with mandates like the ADA and Section 508. Organizations that use or develop nonaccessible authoring tools risk:
By adopting ATAGaligned systems, companies can demonstrate due diligence and significantly reduce legal exposure and long term remediation costs.
This page explains that ATAG (Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines) is a W3C standard ensuring software and CMS tools are accessible for content creators and help them produce WCAGcompliant content. ATAG has two main goals and three conformance levels (Level AA being standard). Failure to adopt ATAG leads to indirect noncompliance with laws like the ADA and Section 508, risking lawsuits and loss of contracts.
We help you integrate ATAG principles into your entire content creation workflow.
ATAG sets the standard for creating digital tools that are accessible by design, reducing long-term compliance debt.
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