RGAA (French accessibility standard)

Rédigé par David Brulin, co-fondateur de Quai des Balises

RGAA (French accessibility standard) is France's official digital accessibility framework, the Référentiel Général d'Amélioration de l'Accessibilité. It transposes the international WCAG guidelines into a controlled testing method for public-sector and certain private websites, defining concrete criteria to verify conformance and meet a legal accessibility obligation.

RGAA, WCAG and the conformance levels

The RGAA does not invent its own rules. It is built directly on the W3C's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), organised around the four POUR principles: content must be Perceivable, Operable, Understandable and Robust. What the RGAA adds is a standardised testing methodology: each WCAG success criterion is broken down into precise, checkable tests so that two auditors evaluating the same site reach the same verdict.

WCAG defines three conformance levels, and the RGAA inherits them:

Level A — the minimum: removes the most severe barriers (for example, text alternatives for images, keyboard access).
Level AA — the practical target: covers contrast ratios, resizable text, consistent navigation. This is the level public-sector bodies in France are expected to meet.
Level AAA — the most demanding: rarely achievable across a full site and not generally required as a blanket obligation.

An RGAA audit produces a conformance rate expressed as a percentage of applicable criteria that pass, which feeds the mandatory accessibility statement (déclaration d'accessibilité) published on the site.

Aspect	WCAG	RGAA
Nature	International W3C guidelines	French national framework transposing WCAG
Scope	Web content worldwide	French public sector and qualifying private organisations
Conformance levels	A, AA, AAA	Same A / AA / AAA levels, AA as the target
Format	Principles and success criteria	Operational, testable criteria with a defined method
Legal weight in France	Reference standard	Backed by national law and enforcement

Who is concerned and why it matters for a custom project

The RGAA carries a legal accessibility obligation in France. It applies to State bodies, local authorities and public institutions, and extends to certain private organisations that deliver a public-service mission or exceed defined size thresholds. Concerned organisations must publish an accessibility statement, indicate their conformance status, and provide a multi-year accessibility plan.

For a bespoke software or web application project, accessibility is far cheaper to build in than to retrofit. Practical implications during development include:

Semantic, valid HTML and correct use of ARIA where native elements are not enough.
Full keyboard operability and visible focus states, not mouse-only interactions.
Sufficient colour contrast and content that remains usable when text is resized.
Accessible forms with explicit labels, error messages and instructions.
Compatibility with assistive technologies such as screen readers.

Treating the RGAA as a specification from the design phase reduces the gap between the delivered product and the conformance level the client is legally required to reach.

Questions fréquentes

No. WCAG is the international guideline set published by the W3C, while the RGAA is France's national framework that transposes WCAG into a concrete, testable method. The RGAA reuses WCAG's principles and A/AA/AAA levels but adds standardised tests so audits are reproducible and legally usable in France.

The practical target is Level AA. Level A is the minimum baseline and Level AAA is the most demanding, rarely required across an entire site. Public-sector organisations in France are generally expected to reach AA conformance and to declare their actual conformance rate publicly.

Yes, for organisations within its scope. It applies to public-sector bodies and certain private organisations that fulfil a public-service mission or pass defined size thresholds. These organisations must publish an accessibility statement, state their conformance level and maintain a multi-year accessibility improvement plan.

From the design and specification phase. Building accessibility in early is far less costly than retrofitting it onto a finished product. Decisions about semantic HTML, keyboard navigation, contrast and accessible forms should be made before development, not patched after an audit reveals failures.

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