When the EU's accessibility directive (European Accessibility Act) was implemented in Swedish legislation in the summer of 2025 asAct (2023:254) on the availability of certain products and services, there were many who either panicked or chose to bury their heads in the sand.

Now, in 2026, the dust has settled. The supervisory authorities are now examining the private sector, and the rules are clear: If your company has more than 10 employees or a turnover of more than 2 million euros, and you sell services or products digitally, you are covered by the law. But at Zorc, we don't see accessibility as an administrative nightmare. Up to 20% of the population has some form of permanent or temporary disability. Building inaccessible is simply turning customers away.

Here's what you actually need to know to make your site legal, profitable and future-proof.

The law: WCAG 2.1 is the law – WCAG 2.2 is the future

One of the most common misunderstandings in 2026 is which standard one must follow. Legally speaking, WCAG 2.1 (Level AA) is still the binding base level in Sweden. But the latest global standard is WCAG 2.2.

Why does it matter? Because 2.2 builds on 2.1 and addresses how we actually use the modern web today. Building a new site under 2.1 today is like buying a new car with last year's security system - it's legal, but short-term. Therefore, all actors are recommended to build according to WCAG 2.2 already now, as it is expected to be legislated shortly.

The 5 most common mistakes (and the new requirements in WCAG 2.2)

1. Too small click areas in modern design (New in 2.2)Minimalist design often leads to tiny icons or links that are too close together. WCAG 2.2 imposes a strict requirement on interaction surfaces: Clickable elements must have an area of ​​at least 24x24 pixels. This is crucial for users with reduced fine motor skills, but also works wonders for anyone who navigates via mobile with one hand on the bus.

2. Cognitive barriers when logging in (New in 2.2)Forcing users to solve puzzles, decipher fuzzy letters (CAPTCHA) or memorize complex passwords without support is now a violation of the new guidelines. Authentication should be painless and not require unnecessary cognitive tests.

3. Removed or hidden focus management (Enhanced in 2.2)Many designers hate the blue "frame" (focus outline) that appears when navigating with the keyboard and remove it in the CSS. WCAG 2.2 now imposes even stricter requirements: The element that has the focus must absolutely not be hidden behind "sticky" menus or pop-ups. The user must always know exactly where on the page he is.

  • The solution:Design neat and clearfocus-visible-states that match your brand from the start.

4. Dynamic content that screen readers missWhen you add a product to the cart in a modern React or Next.js application, the page does not reload. For a sighted person, this is quick and easy. For a person using a screen reader, absolutely nothing happens.

  • The solution:Correct implementation of WAI-ARIA (asaria liveregions) to allow code to communicate asynchronous changes directly to the utility.

5. The illusion of "Accessibility Overlays"In 2025, many companies tried to take a shortcut by buying "overlays" – third-party scripts that put a menu on the site to change text size. Experts and authorities agree:These tools do not make you legal.They often clash with users' own tools (which are already set up for their needs) and just hide the broken code base.

Why accessibility and SEO are the same thing in 2026

The beauty of coding according to accessibility principles is that it gives a massive boost to your technical SEO and visibility in AI (GEO) search engines. Google and systems like Perplexity cannot "see" your design. They read your site just like a screen reader does.

When you use proper semantic HTML—logical heading hierarchies, descriptive alt texts, and the right navigation structure—you serve your content perfectly packaged for crawlers, AI agents, and humans alike.

How ZORC is building for the future

At ZORC, we don't see accessibility as a boring checklist you check off at the end of a project. We build it into the architecture from day one. Whether we're building headless e-commerce or complex SaaS platforms, we ensure that the code not only meets today's legal requirements (2.1), but is fully future-proofed for WCAG 2.2.

The law is already here. The question is whether your platform is ready. Do you suspect that your site violates the guidelines? Get in touch with us at Zorc and we'll do a technical inspection.