The rules and the reference
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the reference almost everywhere. WCAG 2.2 is the current version, and most legal requirements point to level AA. In the EU, the European Accessibility Act, Directive (EU) 2019/882, has applied since 28 June 2025 to a defined set of products and services, including e-commerce, consumer banking, e-books and electronic communications, with the European standard EN 301 549 as the technical benchmark. Microenterprises providing services are exempt. The Act does not cover all marketing, but content published inside covered services, such as product pages and checkout journeys, falls within it. Public bodies have separate duties under the Web Accessibility Directive.
Alt text, text in images and contrast
Alt text should say what an image contributes, not inventory what it contains. A product image needs the product name and the detail that matters, such as colour or variant; a lifestyle image needs its point in a few words; a decorative image needs empty alt text so screen readers skip it. Generated alt text tends to describe everything and stress nothing, so edit it. Keep essential text out of images, and where it must appear, repeat it in the alt text or on the page. At level AA, text needs a contrast ratio of 4.5:1, or 3:1 for large text; check every generated background, because a busy scene can lose contrast in one version and not another.
Captions, transcripts and audio description
Pre-recorded video needs synchronised captions at WCAG level A, and audio description at level AA wherever visual information is not carried by the soundtrack. Automatic captions are a draft: check brand and product names, numbers, prices and any regulated claim, which is where speech recognition most often goes wrong. Identify speakers and include meaningful sounds. Audio description is easier to plan than to retrofit, so write scripts in which the voice-over names what is on screen, such as the product and the offer, and fewer additions will be needed later. Provide transcripts for audio-only content, and do not let footage flash more than three times in any one second unless the flashes stay below WCAG's general flash and red flash thresholds.
Plain language at scale
Reading level is an accessibility issue as much as a matter of style. Short sentences, common words, one idea per sentence and concrete verbs help people with cognitive disabilities, people reading in a second language and anyone reading on a phone in a hurry. WCAG's level AAA criterion on reading level asks for a simpler supplementary version when text needs more than lower secondary education to understand. AI is good at producing plain versions, but check that simplifying has not changed a claim or dropped a condition. The studio's brand hub holds tone of voice and banned words, so plain-language guidance can be written into the tone and applied at generation across all 30 copy languages.
Updated 25 September 2026 · General information, not legal advice. Rules change, so check the current text with your legal team before relying on it.