Accessibility
What size should tap targets be on mobile?
WCAG 2.2 AA requires at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with spacing so adjacent targets do not overlap. Platform guidance recommends more — around 44 by 44 — and on a real phone the larger figure is what stops people tapping the wrong thing.
Where sites usually fail
- Small text links sitting close together in a footer or a breadcrumb
- Icon-only buttons sized to the icon rather than to a finger
- Close buttons on modals and cookie banners
- Pagination controls, and quantity steppers in a cart
- Links inside body text placed on consecutive lines
Spacing counts as much as size
A 24-pixel target beside another 24-pixel target with no gap still produces mis-taps. The requirement is about the effective target area, which spacing contributes to as directly as dimensions do.
Test it the only way that works
On a real phone, held in one hand, ideally while walking. Desktop device emulation shows you the layout and nothing about whether a thumb can hit it, which is the entire question.
The longer version
This answer is deliberately short. If you want the full treatment, Website accessibility, without the compliance theatre covers it in about 5 minutes — free, ungated, written from client work.
Who answered this
Anas Bin Masud builds e-commerce sites and does technical SEO for businesses in the UK, Canada and Pakistan — fifteen live client sites, six of them stores taking real payments. These answers come from those projects rather than from a content brief. More about how I work, or ask me something directly.