Published October 17, 2026

WCAG 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide, Level A

Does WCAG require a way to pause animation?

Yes. Success criterion 2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide is Level A, so it is also required at Level AA. For moving, blinking, or scrolling information that starts automatically, lasts more than five seconds, and is presented in parallel with other content, there must be a mechanism to pause, stop, or hide it, unless that movement is essential. The text is in the W3C WCAG 2.2 Recommendation.

What moving content needs a pause, stop, or hide control?

Content in which the visible content conveys a sense of motion. The W3C explanation names motion pictures, synchronized media, animations, real-time games, and scrolling stock tickers. “Starts automatically” means the motion is not the direct result of the user activating a control. It also covers motion that starts from an indirect action, such as hover, focus, or scrolling the content into view. Extra content that appears on hover or focus, without that sense of motion, is a different check on the content on hover or focus page. Five seconds is long enough to get attention, and short enough that a person can wait it out if they have to. The explanation is in Understanding Success Criterion 2.2.2. A carousel or ticker that keeps moving beside other content, with no control, fails. Content that stops on its own within five seconds can meet the moving, blinking, and scrolling part of the criterion without a control.

Does auto-updating content have the same five-second limit?

No. Auto-updating information changes or disappears on a timer. Examples include weather, news, stock prices, and auto-advancing presentations. If it starts automatically and is shown in parallel with other content, the user needs a way to pause, stop, or hide it, or a way to control how often it updates, unless the updating is essential. There is no five-second exception for auto-updating. A pause may resume in real time for status information, such as a stock ticker, or continue from the point where the user stopped it when the content is not a live status. A sufficient technique for movement that should resume from the pause point is technique G4. A scrolling news banner with no way to pause and restart it is failure F16.

When is movement essential?

Essential means that removing it would fundamentally change the information or functionality, and that information cannot be achieved another way that would conform. A loading animation that is the only content on the page, while no one can interact yet, does not need a pause control even if it runs longer than five seconds, because it is not presented in parallel with other content. The same is true of a full-page message that every user must see before other content is available. An animation that demonstrates a process beside other page content is not essential in that sense. It needs a pause and a way to restart it.

Does a pause that ends when focus leaves count?

No. Paused means stopped by user request and not resumed until the user asks. A control that stops the animation only while it has focus, then starts again as soon as focus moves, does not let the person use the rest of the page. Understanding 2.2.2 says that is not a mechanism to pause. The control itself has to meet the other criteria at the level you claim, including keyboard access, covered on the keyboard access page. Blinking that is meant to draw attention is this criterion. Flashing that can trigger a seizure is a different rule, Guideline 2.3, covered on the three flashes page, and a pause control does not make that flashing allowed. A tool often misses a carousel that has no pause control. A person has to watch the page, which is why a passing score is not conformance, as covered on the scanner page.

Is automatic audio the same rule?

No. Success criterion 2.2.2 is about moving, blinking, scrolling, and auto-updating visual content. Audio that plays automatically for more than three seconds is success criterion 1.4.2 Audio Control, covered on the autoplay audio page. Captions and transcripts are on the video and audio page. A video that plays beside other content can fail both: 2.2.2 for the motion, and 1.4.2 if the sound starts by itself and lasts more than three seconds.

Does the Title II web rule include pause, stop, hide?

Yes. The Department of Justice rule for state and local government websites names WCAG 2.1 Level AA. That level includes 2.2.2, which is Level A. Governments with a population of 50,000 or more have until April 26, 2027. Smaller governments and special districts have until April 26, 2028. Who must comply is on the Title II web rule page. Adding a pause, stop, or hide control to carousels, tickers, and auto-updating regions is remediation.