How we want to make WCAG 3 better

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How we want to make WCAG better Hidde de Vries #ID24 24⦁09⦁2026

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(here in personal capacity)

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WCAG Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

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EN 301 549 T “Accessibility requirements for IC products and services”

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hf.etsi.org/eu-accessibility-standard-adoption-map

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WCAG 2 → 3

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w3.org/TR/wcag3

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Note: WCAG 3 is not almost here, it is still in active development and not ready for use. Feedback on the direction is welcomed!

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Let’s start w th i WCAG 2

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4 i i Pr nc ples ( )

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Pr nc ples ( ) Understandable Operable Robust 4 i v i Percei

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Pr nc ples ( ) 4 i i i i Gu del nes (13)

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Pr nc ples ( ) Gu del nes (13) i 4 i i i i i Success Cr ter a (55)

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Example Pr 1.1.1 Non-text Content Gu i i i i Success Cr ter a (55)

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OK, r ght… i What’s the issue with 2?

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WCAG 2 s… v y i Not equall representati e of all different disabilities

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WCAG 2 s… w v w i Difficult to gear to ards ne technological inno ation

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WCAG 2 s… w v w i Difficult to gear to ards ne technological inno ation

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WCAG 2 s… x v i Non-tri ial to e pand

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WCAG 2 doesn’t really… w v Address authoring tools, bro sers and assisti e technologies

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WCAG 2 lacks… v y v A er effecti e user manual

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y (and there ha e been man great attempts at addressing parts of the problem) v T his is nobody’s fault, given context and constraints

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What’s next How will WCAG 3 improve things?

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What’s next How will WCAG 3 improve things? Note: it is a draft, not final, not set in stone

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What’s next How will WCAG 3 improve things? , e s u o t y d a “Not re r u o y r o f y d a but re comments” y r e m o g t n o M y le d a r B l — Rachae ) p u o r G g in k r o W G A ir (co-cha

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i i i i i Cover ng more d sab l t es

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i i i i i i i i i d sab l t es Cover ng more d sab l t es user needs

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WCAG is about ensuring all people can use web content.

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Web content should work… …without sight … without or with limited speech …with limited sight …with limited reach …without colour perception …with limited cognition …without hearing …with limited language ability …with limited hearing

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D g tal Access b l ty Framework Support needed Indi i i i i v i accessiblecommunity.org/daf/framework Characteristics of content

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i Innovat on

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WCAG 3 is more technology agnostic, which makes it more compatible with emerging tech

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Agnost c w i Not eb-specific

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Agnost c w i i Not eb-specific “web page” “v ew”

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W v k v v i i Content on des tops, laptops, tablets, mobile de ices, earable de ices, eb of hings de ices. i w T Access b l ty of

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i Integrat on

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b r o w s e r ? ? T A s ? e d S CM Less focus on where the i accessibility comes from

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Now (WCAG 2) Instructions: do this

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Future (WCAG 3) Outcome: this should be the case

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Updated content structure

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Content is organised differently, no Principles or Success Criteria

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Placeholder Exploratory Developing Refining Mature

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Now (WCAG 2) Principles > Guidelines > Success Criteria

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Future (WCAG 3) v Guidelines > Pro isions

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Future (WCAG 3) v Guidelines > Pro isions Core Requirements Supplemental Requirements Assertions

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Future (WCAG 3) Guidelines Outcome statements centered around documented user needs

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Future (WCAG 3) Guidelines Outcome statements centered around documented user needs

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T Future (WCAG 3) Requirements

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Requirements Type of requ rement (“Core” or “Supplemental”) i T Future (WCAG 3)

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Requirements Type of requ rement (“Core” or “Supplemental”) i T Future (WCAG 3) content status

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Requirements content status Type of requ rement (“Core” or “Supplemental”) i related ssues i T Future (WCAG 3)

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Requirements appl es/ except when i T Future (WCAG 3)

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More provisions (not necessarily more work to do for teams)

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Future (WCAG 3) Assertions Formal claim of fact. Attributed to a person or organisation. Can support a Guideline, cover things that are harder to test.

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Future (WCAG 3) Assertions - what are you asserting? - date of assertion - timeframe

scope - contact info - related Guideline

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Conformance

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i Not to be confused w th…

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Not to be confused w th… i Compliance

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Conformance answers what it means to “meet WCAG”

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Conformance is whether something satisfies the requirements listed in the guidelines

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Rule Ruler

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Rule Ruler Designed by a government Designed by team WCAG

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Rule Ruler Designed by a government Designed by team WCAG

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The WCAG 2 model Level A Level AA Level AAA

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The WCAG 2 model The WCAG 3 model Level A single level Level AA Level AAA (for now)

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The WCAG 3 model (in progress) i requ red for conformance Core requirements

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The WCAG 3 model (in progress) requ red for conformance Core requirements Supplemental requirements not requ red for conformance Assertions i i Recommended practices

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Levels still exist, but they moved from conformance to reporting

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Access b l ty supported i i i T For content to be actually accessible, it must meet the requirements in a way that is supported by UAs and A s of real users.

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Access b l ty supported i i i What real users use can differ by language, region, workplace, device.

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Access b l ty supported Different “Accessibility support sets” can exist. i i i WCAG 3 will have a default one, others could be defined by people, organizations, regulators.