May 2024 WCAG 3 Working Draft Update
The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AGWG) has updated the W3C Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 3 Working Draft. This draft includes an updated list of the potential outcomes which we are exploring. The list of outcomes is longer than a listing of Success Criteria list in WCAG 2.2. Why? Because the intent at this stage is to be as inclusive as possible of potential outcomes.
We expect this exploratory list to change and evolve:
- The final set of outcomes in WCAG 3 will be different from the list in this draft.
- Outcomes will be added, combined, and removed.
- The text of the Outcomes will evolve, likely to become more specific and identify exceptions.
- Outcomes that need more research at the time of our first draft will be postponed to a future draft when the research can better support them.
- Only some of the Outcomes will be required at the base level of conformance.
Why are we publishing if the guidelines are only an early draft?
The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group wants public feedback on WCAG 3 early and often. For this update, we hope public reviewers will help us to:
- Better understand the scope of needs by providing feedback on guidance we missed and should be exploring, and
- Locate and conduct research to validate or invalidate the outcomes listed.
When reviewing this update, please focus on the Guidelines section. We did not make changes to conformance related sections and we did not publish an updated WCAG 3 Explainer.
Please consider the following questions when reviewing this list of outcomes:
- What outcomes are needed to make web content accessible and are missing from this list?
- What research supports or refutes these outcomes?
- Are any of these outcomes out of the scope of accessibility guidance? If so, please explain why.
Then give use your feedback on these questions by filing a GitHub issue or sending email to public-agwg-comments@w3.org (if you are unable to use GitHub). Please create 1 GitHub issue or send 1 email per topic – it makes our work much easier which leads to faster standards creation.
We want to hear from you, especially if:
- You know of missing guidance;
- You know of existing research relating to an Outcome; or
- You are interested in conducting research in a related area.
As always it’s worth noting that:
- This WCAG 3 draft doesn’t replace WCAG 2. WCAG 2 is used around the world and will still be required by different countries for a long time to come.
- Public feedback is an important part of the W3C process and the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group (AG) takes the comments we receive seriously.
- If you want to learn more about WCAG 3, please read the WCAG 3 Introduction.
Happy Global Accessibility Awareness Day!