Redundant Entry: The WCAG 2.2 Metric That Exposes Checkout Rework

WCAG 2.2, published as a W3C Recommendation on October 5, 2023, added nine new success criteria, and 3.3.7 Redundant Entry is the simplest of them to prove. It says that within a single process, information the user already entered must be auto-populated or offered for selection, not typed again. It is Level A, the most basic conformance level, which makes it the easiest failure for a plaintiff's attorney to demonstrate.

The exceptions are narrow and specific. Re-entry is allowed when it is essential for security, as with a password or a one-time code, and when the earlier information is no longer valid. Everything else is a failure. A checkout that asks for the shipping address and then asks for it again as the billing address, with no auto-fill and no selectable previous value, fails 3.3.7 on its face.

Level A, and the simplest failure to prove

The redundant-entry rate is the number of fields that repeat information already entered in the same session, divided by the total number of fields in the process. Measure it per checkout, not per site, because the same store can have a clean guest checkout and a redundant account-creation flow. A rate above zero is a Level A failure, and the rate itself tells you how much rework the shopper is doing.

The classic case is the billing address. The shopper enters the shipping address, and the next step asks for the billing address from scratch. The second classic is the email, entered at the cart, entered again at account creation, and entered a third time at the order confirmation. Each repetition is a field the shopper types twice, and each one is a chance to mistype, to give up, or to enter something different by accident.

The metric is a count

Multi-step forms rebuilt per step are the usual hiding place. Each step is a fresh form, and the fresh form does not know what the previous step collected. Address forms that forget the first entry are the most common case, and they are the hardest to spot in an audit, because each step looks complete on its own. The failure only appears when you walk the whole process.

Account creation inside checkout is the other hiding place. The shopper enters an email to check out, and the account step asks for the same email again, plus a password, plus a confirmation. The email is redundant, the password is exempt, and the confirmation is a second entry of the same new information, which is a different question. Audit the whole process, not the step.

Where it hides in Shopify checkouts

The fix is auto-fill or a selectable previous value. Pre-fill the billing address from the shipping address, editable, and let the shopper change it if it differs. Offer the previously entered email as a choice at account creation. The criterion explicitly allows either approach, and both are cheaper than rebuilding the form.

Keep reading: Target Size Minimum: The 24 Pixel Rule Your Audit Keeps Missing, Focus Not Obscured: Measuring 2.4.11 Instead of Guessing.

Auto-fill or select, never retype

Track the metric after the fix, not before. The rate should fall to zero on the flows you fixed, and the completion rate should move with it. A redundant-entry rate that stays above zero after the fix means the fix missed a step, and the step it missed is the one to audit next.

Frequently asked questions

What is WCAG 2.2 criterion 3.3.7?

Redundant Entry, Level A: a process must not ask for information already entered in the same process, unless re-entry is essential for security.

How do I measure redundant entry?

Count the checkout fields that repeat information already given in the same session, divided by the total fields in the process.

Is asking for the billing address after shipping a failure?

Yes, unless it is auto-filled or offered as a selectable previous value. Passwords and one-time codes are exempt.

What is exempt from redundant entry?

Passwords, one-time security codes, and information that is no longer valid. Everything else must be auto-filled or selectable.