WCAG 3.0 is an unfinished W3C working draft, renamed the W3C Accessibility Guidelines, and it has no release date: W3C has not committed to one, no law requires it, and you should keep building to WCAG 2.2. The draft swaps success criteria for outcomes and proposes a new way of scoring conformance.
It is worth knowing what is coming, because it changes how accessibility will be measured. It is not worth redesigning anything around it yet, since the content still shifts from one draft to the next.
Quick facts
Status
Working draft. W3C publishes new drafts roughly twice a year.
Release date
None announced. W3C has not committed to a date.
Full name
W3C Accessibility Guidelines, still shortened to WCAG.
Legal status
Not required by any law or regulation.
What to use now
WCAG 2.2 at level AA.
What WCAG 3.0 is
The third major version is a rewrite, not an update. WCAG 2.x grew criterion by criterion from a design set in December 2008, and some needs, especially cognitive and learning disabilities, never fitted its pass or fail tests well. The new draft starts again with a broader scope and a different structure.
The name change matters. "Web Content" became "W3C" so that the guidelines can cover apps, documents, authoring tools and newer technology, not only web pages. The abbreviation WCAG was kept because everyone already knows it.
W3C keeps an up to date introduction to WCAG 3 that links the latest working draft. Read that page rather than old blog posts, which often describe ideas that have since been dropped.
WCAG 2.2 vs the 3.0 draft
Here is how the draft differs from the version you test against today. Everything in the right column may still change.
| Topic | WCAG 2.2 (current) | WCAG 3.0 (draft) |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Final W3C Recommendation, October 2023 | Working draft, no date |
| Basic unit | 86 success criteria | Outcomes grouped under guidelines |
| How results work | Each criterion passes or fails | A scoring model is proposed instead of strict pass or fail |
| Levels | A, AA, AAA | Bronze, silver and gold were proposed |
| Scope | Web content, applied to apps by extension | Web, apps, documents and emerging technology by design |
| Cognitive needs | A few criteria | Expected to get more attention |
| Used in law | Yes, widely | No |
Main ideas in the WCAG 3.0 guidelines
These are the main ideas that have appeared across drafts. Treat each one as a direction of travel, not a rule.
- Outcomes instead of success criteria. Each outcome describes a result for users, with methods that explain how to meet it in a given technology.
- Scoring rather than a single fail. Earlier drafts explored rating how well a page meets an outcome, so one small issue would not sink a whole page the way it can under 2.x.
- Bronze, silver, gold. Proposed conformance levels, with bronze roughly where AA sits today. The exact link to AA is not settled.
- Testing whole tasks. More weight on whether people can complete real processes, not just on single page elements.
- New measurement methods. Early drafts explored a different way to judge text contrast. Nothing has replaced the 2.x ratios, so keep using the 4.5:1 and 3:1 rules.
Draft vocabulary decoded
Drafts introduce some new vocabulary. Here is a quick glossary so the W3C pages make sense.
| Draft term | Rough 2.x equivalent | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Guideline | Guideline | A broad user need, such as text alternatives |
| Outcome or requirement | Success criterion | A result that must be true for users |
| Method | Technique | How to meet an outcome in one technology |
| Assertion | None | A documented claim that a process was followed, such as user testing |
| Bronze, silver, gold | A, AA, AAA | Proposed conformance levels |
Is there a WCAG 3.0 release date?
The honest answer to "when is the WCAG 3.0 release date" is that nobody knows, including W3C. Drafts appear about twice a year, each one changing parts of the structure. After the text is final, W3C needs implementation testing, and then governments and standards bodies need years to adopt it into law, as they did with each 2.x version.
Be wary of products or audits sold as "WCAG 3 compliant". There is no final standard to comply with.
For comparison, 2.0 became final in December 2008, 2.1 in June 2018 and 2.2 in October 2023, and laws are still catching up with 2.1. The full history is on our WCAG versions page.
What to do while you wait
The good news: almost nothing you do for 2.2 is wasted. The draft keeps the same aims, and well built HTML, clear content and solid keyboard support will score well under any future model.
- Keep WCAG 2.2 AA as your design and test target.
- Fix structural issues first: headings, labels, focus, contrast and names for controls.
- Test complete journeys with real assistive technology, which the new model is expected to value.
- Pay extra attention to clear language and help for people with cognitive needs.
- Check the W3C introduction page twice a year and skim what changed.
If a contract asks for "the latest WCAG", agree in writing that it means the latest W3C Recommendation, which is 2.2, not a draft.
Version 3 and the law
Laws move slowly. In the US, the ADA Title II web regulation adopted 2.1 AA. The EU harmonised standard, EN 301 549, mirrors that same level for websites, and UK public sector guidance has moved to 2.2 AA. None of them names 3.0, and none can until it is final. See the WCAG compliance guide for how to pick a version today, and WCAG explained for how the current guidelines are structured.
Questions people ask
When will WCAG 3.0 be released?
There is no release date. W3C has not committed to one and still publishes working drafts that change the structure. Expect several more drafts before a final version.
Should I start using WCAG 3 now?
No. Use WCAG 2.2 AA for building and testing. Reading the drafts is useful for planning, but they are not stable enough to test against and no law refers to them.
Is version 3 meant to supersede 2.2?
Eventually it is meant to, but 2.2 will stay valid for a long time after that, just as 2.0 is still valid now. Laws will keep citing 2.x versions until they are formally updated.
What are bronze, silver and gold in WCAG 3?
They are proposed conformance levels in the draft. Bronze would be the base level, roughly comparable to AA today, with silver and gold above it. The details are not final.
Is WCAG 3.0 backward compatible with WCAG 2?
Not in the strict way 2.1 and 2.2 are with 2.0. It uses a new structure. Good 2.2 work should still do well under it, because the user needs behind both are the same.