On 10 September 2026 the W3C published updated working drafts of WCAG 3 (W3C Accessibility Guidelines 3.0). The previous drafts were from March 2026 and September 2025.
What changed in this draft
The biggest change is the conformance model. In the September draft:
- Core requirements are tagged by their impact on people: physical harm, risk, barrier or friction.
- There are six reporting tiers. Tier 3 means all core requirements are met.
That is a different way of thinking from WCAG 2's pass or fail per success criterion. It is still a draft, and the details are likely to change.
What W3C says about timing
The W3C is clear about three things:
- "WCAG 3 is not expected to be a completed W3C standard for a few more years."
- "WCAG 3 will not supersede WCAG 2 and WCAG 2 will not be deprecated for several years after WCAG 3 is finalized."
- "The best way to prepare for WCAG 3 ... is to meet WCAG 2.2 success criteria now."
We have seen specific years for WCAG 3's final stages quoted in summaries, but not on a W3C page, so we would not plan around them.
What this means for you
- Laws reference WCAG 2. The EU's EN 301 549 v3.2.1 and the US ADA Title II rule reference WCAG 2.1 AA, Section 508 references WCAG 2.0, and the new EN 301 549 v4.1.1 adopts WCAG 2.2. None references WCAG 3.
- Meeting WCAG 2.2 AA also meets 2.1 and 2.0 AA (4.1.1 Parsing, removed in 2.2, aside). It is the safest target for the next few years.
- Follow WCAG 3, don't build to it. Read the drafts to see where accessibility thinking is going, especially for cognitive accessibility, but don't rewrite your requirements around a draft.
Our WCAG 3 readiness guide explains the main ideas, and our scanner tests against WCAG 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2.
Sources: W3C news, 10 Sep 2026, W3C: WCAG 3 introduction and W3C: WCAG 3.0 publication history.