Key points
- An estimated 1.3 billion people, 16% of the world's population, live with a significant disability.1
- Ask for WCAG 2.2 AA. It adds nine success criteria to WCAG 2.1, including a minimum touch target of 24 by 24 CSS pixels.2
- In the US, HHS-funded providers with fifteen or more employees meet WCAG 2.1 AA for web content and apps from May 11, 2026, under the 2024 Section 504 rule.3
- In England and Wales in 2021, 1.5% of residents could not speak English well and a further 0.3% could not speak it at all.4
- wai's booking widget meets WCAG 2.2 AA, intake can be answered by voice in any language, and a person at the clinic approves every patient message.67
Summary
Ask for WCAG 2.2 AA on everything a patient or staff member touches, and test it yourself with a keyboard and a screen reader before signing. For language, let AI understand and draft in the patient's language, keep a person approving every message, and book professional interpreters for clinical conversations.
Every patient books, understands their care and is understood, whatever their language or ability. The booking page and the WhatsApp thread are the clinic's front door, and the standard for opening them to everyone is already written.
See it in your clinicThirty minutes on your own patients and doctors.
Request a demoSee the booking widget, a drafted reply and the patient record on a phone with the screen reader on.
| Area | Test | A pass looks like | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Booking with a keyboard | Book and pay using only Tab, Shift and Enter | Every step reachable, focus always visible | WCAG 2.2 AA, focus not obscured |
| Booking with a screen reader | Complete a booking with the phone's screen reader on | Each button and time slot is announced by name | WCAG 2.2 AA |
| Tap targets | Choose a time slot on a small phone | Slots at least 24 by 24 pixels or well spaced | WCAG 2.2 AA, target size |
| Sign in | Log in to the patient record | No puzzle or memory test without an alternative | WCAG 2.2 AA, accessible authentication |
| Video consultation | Join a test call with sound off | Live captions available | Clinic policy |
| Message in another language | Send a WhatsApp in a second language | Reply drafted in that language, approved by a person | Clinic policy |
| Clinical conversation | Ask how an interpreter is booked | A named route to a professional interpreter | Clinic policy |
| Staff application | Approve a draft with a keyboard alone | Approval possible without a mouse | WCAG 2.2 AA |
One patient in six
The World Health Organization estimates that 1.3 billion people experience a significant disability, 16% of the world's population.1 The number is growing as people live longer, and WHO lists inaccessible health facilities and information among the barriers these patients meet.1 Each of them meets the clinic's booking page before they meet a clinician.
WCAG 2.2 AA is the bar
The W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines are the reference standard. Version 2.2 adds success criteria to 2.1, among them focus not obscured, dragging movements, minimum target size and accessible authentication at level AA.2 Content that conforms to 2.2 also conforms to 2.0 and 2.1, and the W3C advises using 2.2 so the work lasts.2
A button or link must be at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, or spaced so that a 24 pixel circle around it touches no other target.2 A patient with a tremor then books the 10.30 they meant to choose.
The 2024 Section 504 rule from the US Department of Health and Human Services requires funded recipients with fifteen or more employees to make web content and mobile apps meet WCAG 2.1 AA from May 11, 2026, including content provided through contractual arrangements, and smaller recipients from May 10, 2027.3 That reaches the clinic's software, so write the level into the contract, and check the rule where the clinic practises.
Where clinic AI meets the patient
wai's booking widget meets WCAG 2.2 AA, and it is the same widget that sits on the clinic's own site.6 Video consultations run with live captions, and intake questions can be answered by voice in any language for the clinician to read in English.7 Every reply to a patient is drafted for the team and approved by a person before it sends, as set out in our guide to human approval for patient messages.
Language is access too
In the 2021 Census of England and Wales, 880,000 residents, 1.5% of the population, could not speak English well, and 161,000, or 0.3%, could not speak it at all.4
A message in Arabic or Polish is understood and a reply drafted in the same language for a person at the clinic to approve. wai understands more than thirty-five languages and is built for Arabic-first care in the Gulf, as described in our guide to UAE data residency.8
A systematic review of 28 studies found professional interpreters associated with better communication, use of services, clinical outcomes and satisfaction than ad hoc interpreters, bringing care for patients with limited English close to or level with care for patients without a language barrier.5 The clinician decides when a trained interpreter belongs in the consultation.
Accessible for the team as well
Ask for the conformance level of the staff application as well as the patient pages, and watch the main approval screen used with a keyboard alone.
A note drafted from the conversation, for the clinician to review and sign, takes typing out of the consultation, which helps a clinician with a repetitive strain injury or dyslexia.
Test it yourself in an hour
Book an appointment on the demo widget with only the Tab and Enter keys. Turn on the phone's screen reader and complete a booking with the screen dark. Set the phone's text to its largest size and check nothing is cut off.
Send a message in a second language, read the drafted reply, and ask a colleague who speaks it to judge the tone. The table sets out what a pass looks like.
Where to start
Write WCAG 2.2 AA into every software contract for patient and staff facing parts, with a named date for any open items, and file the results of the one hour test.
List the five languages your patients use most after English, name who approves replies in each, and confirm how the clinic books a professional interpreter. Add both to the procurement checklist and request the documents through the evidence pack.
Bring a patient message in your second most common language and see the drafted reply and the approval, live.
Frequently asked questions
Which accessibility standard should clinic software meet?
WCAG 2.2 level AA. It is the current W3C recommendation, and content that meets it also meets WCAG 2.0 and 2.1, which most laws still name.2
Is accessibility a legal requirement for a private clinic?
It depends on the country and the clinic's funding. In the US, the 2024 Section 504 rule requires HHS-funded providers to meet WCAG 2.1 AA, from May 11, 2026 for those with fifteen or more employees.3 Confirm the rule that applies with the clinic's adviser.
Does wai's booking widget meet WCAG?
Yes. The wai Checkout widget meets WCAG 2.2 AA.6
Where does AI fit alongside an interpreter?
AI helps the clinic understand messages and draft replies in the patient's language, for a person to approve. The evidence favours professional interpreters for clinical conversations, and the clinician decides when one is needed.5
How many languages does wai understand?
Who checks a reply written in a language the front desk does not speak?
Name a bilingual approver for each common language before go-live, and route clinical questions to a clinician with an interpreter where needed.
Sources
- 1World Health Organization, 2023Disability, fact sheetRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 2World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), 2024Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2Read 14 October 2026Read source
- 3US Department of Health and Human Services, Federal Register, 2024Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance, final ruleRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 4Office for National Statistics, 2022Language, England and Wales, Census 2021Read 14 October 2026Read source
- 5Health Services Research, Karliner and colleagues, 2007Do professional interpreters improve clinical care for patients with limited English proficiency? A systematic review of the literature (PubMed abstract)Read 14 October 2026Read source
- 6wai, 2026wai Checkout, booking and payment for clinicsRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 7wai, 2026Changelog, what changed in waiRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 8wai, 2026AI scribes and UAE data residencyRead 14 October 2026Read source
Every patient books and is understood, in their own language.
Fifteen minutes with a clinician who uses wai daily, on your own booking page and messages. We reply within one working day.
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See it on your own patients, then build it with us
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