Success Criteria

WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide

Success Criterion 2.2.2 requires a mechanism to pause, stop, or hide any content that moves, blinks, or scrolls automatically and lasts more than 5 seconds, and similarly for any auto-updating content. It's a Level A criterion under Guideline 2.2 (Enough Time).

Why moving content is a barrier

Auto-advancing carousels, scrolling marquees, and auto-refreshing content streams can be genuinely difficult or impossible for some users with cognitive or attention-related disabilities to read before it changes — and for people with certain vestibular disorders, ongoing motion on screen can cause real physical discomfort. Screen reader users can also find auto-updating content disorienting, since their assistive technology may re-announce or lose track of content that keeps shifting underneath them.

What's covered

• Auto-advancing image carousels/sliders that cycle without user interaction
• Scrolling news tickers or marquees
• Auto-refreshing content (a live sports score, a stock ticker, a social media feed that inserts new posts above what the user is reading)
• Animations that loop continuously beyond 5 seconds

The three acceptable controls

At least one of these is required for qualifying content:

1. Pause — temporarily stop the motion/update, resumable later
2. Stop — permanently stop it
3. Hide — remove the moving/updating content from view entirely

What's exempt

Motion or updates that are essential to the activity itself — a loading spinner indicating genuine progress, for instance — don't need a pause control, since the content's entire purpose is to reflect a real-time process the user is waiting on.

The common carousel failure

Auto-rotating homepage carousels are probably the single most common real-world violation of this criterion — many ship with no visible pause button at all, cycling through slides on a fixed timer regardless of whether the visitor has finished reading the current one. Adding a simple, visible pause/play control (or just not auto-advancing at all, letting the user navigate manually) is the standard fix.

Common questions

What is WCAG 2.2.2?

A Level A criterion: for content that moves, blinks, or scrolls (like a carousel or marquee) running more than five seconds, or that auto-updates, users must be able to pause, stop, or hide it.

Why is auto-moving content a problem?

It distracts users with attention or cognitive disabilities and can move content out from under people who read or interact slowly.

What is a common violation?

An auto-advancing image carousel with no pause control, or an animated banner that loops indefinitely.