WCAG 3.0 release date: status, timeline and what to do now

The facts about WCAG 3 on this page were read on October 11, 2026 from W3C's WCAG 3 introduction, which W3C last updated on September 25, 2026, from the Working Draft of September 10, 2026 and from the working group's schedule. The draft is changing, so check the dates on those pages before relying on anything here.

Where WCAG 3.0 stands today

Each section of the draft carries one of five statuses: placeholder, exploratory, developing, refining or mature. Developing means the content has been roughly agreed in terms of what is needed, although not all high-level concerns are settled and the details are still to be worked out. Refining is the stage the draft describes as ready for wide public review and experimental adoption.

W3C describes the path a technical report takes to become a standard as a Working Draft, then a Wide Review Working Draft, then a Candidate Recommendation, then a W3C Recommendation (W3C WAI, how WAI develops standards). WCAG 3 is at the first of those stages.

When will WCAG 3.0 be released?

No W3C source gives a release date for WCAG 3 as a finished standard, and we do not give one either. Here is what the sources do say about timing.

W3C's introduction links to that GitHub page as the group's projected schedule, so it is the closest thing to a timeline that exists. It is a plan, not a commitment, and one of its dates has already moved. We do not add its Candidate Recommendation objective and its two-year note together into a date for final publication, because nothing in the sources does that. For planning, the useful conclusion is simpler: there is no finished WCAG 3 to conform to today, and W3C says there will not be for a few more years.

Draft history since January 2021

The clearest evidence of pace is how often drafts have appeared. W3C's publication history for WCAG 3.0 lists 10 publications since January 21, 2021, the first a First Public Working Draft and the other nine Working Drafts.

Will WCAG 3 replace WCAG 2?

W3C says WCAG 3 "will not supersede WCAG 2." It adds that WCAG 2 will not be deprecated until several years after WCAG 3 is finalized, and that it will provide guidance on moving from WCAG 2 to WCAG 3 once WCAG 3 is more stable (W3C, WCAG 3 introduction). The Working Draft makes the same point in plain language: WCAG 3 does not replace WCAG 2, and WCAG 2 will still be required by different countries for a long time to come. The draft also calls WCAG 3 "a successor to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2 and previous versions, but does not deprecate WCAG 2." W3C's own text therefore uses both "successor" and "will not supersede," and in both WCAG 2 is not deprecated. It expects that some organizations will keep using WCAG 2 while others migrate.

The current standard is WCAG 2.2, a W3C Recommendation since October 5, 2023 and updated on December 12, 2024, which is also ISO/IEC 40500:2025 (W3C, WCAG overview).

What changes in WCAG 3

W3C says WCAG 3 will have similar accessibility requirements to WCAG 2, with a different structure, a different conformance model and a broader scope. The draft's own description of the differences:

Two details in the draft are worth knowing because they come up in coverage of WCAG 3. First, the draft's reporting table labels tiers 4, 5 and 6 Bronze, Silver and Gold, and an editor's note says the group is exploring tiers and an alternative proposal that uses scoring, inviting public comment on which shows more promise. Expect the conformance model to keep changing. Second, the draft says content that conforms to WCAG 2.2 Level A and AA is expected to meet "most of the minimum conformance level" of WCAG 3, but that WCAG 3 includes additional tests and different scoring, so additional work will be needed for full conformance. No one can say how large that work will be while the requirements are still moving.

For what WCAG 2.2 requires at each level, see WCAG A vs AA vs AAA.

What explains why no law references WCAG 3

This page is general information, not legal advice. None of the laws in our table of laws and the WCAG version each names refers to WCAG 3. Its rows name WCAG 2.0, 2.1 or 2.2, name no version, or point to the "most current" or "latest" version of WCAG, as New York State's law and the Australian federal Digital Inclusion Standard do. How wording like that applies once WCAG 3 is a Recommendation is a question for a lawyer, and W3C says WCAG 3 will not supersede WCAG 2.

We have found no regulator that says why. These facts are consistent with it:

• It is a draft. W3C says it is inappropriate to cite the Working Draft as anything other than a work in progress.
• WCAG 2 stays in force. The draft says WCAG 2 will still be required by different countries for a long time to come.
• Standards bodies are moving to WCAG 2.2. ETSI published EN 301 549 v4.1.1, aligned to WCAG 2.2, on September 2, 2026, although the EU still applies v3.2.1 until the new version is cited in the Official Journal (AccessibleEU). UK public sector guidance names WCAG 2.2 Level AA.

See web accessibility laws worldwide and EN 301 549 explained for the position by jurisdiction, and the accessibility law updates log for changes as they happen.

What to do now

1. Meet WCAG 2.2 Level AA

   W3C's introduction says the best way to prepare for WCAG 3 is to meet the WCAG 2.2 success criteria now. WCAG 2.2 Level AA includes the criteria of the WCAG 2.0 and 2.1 versions that the laws in our table name (see the 4.1.1 caveat on which WCAG version the law requires), but read the source for the law that applies to you. Start with the WCAG 2.2 checklist, the full criteria list and what is new in WCAG 2.2.

2. Keep a record per criterion

   W3C says it will provide transition support materials for WCAG 3, which may use mapping. Our reading is that a record of what you tested against each WCAG 2.2 criterion, and how, is the easiest thing to map later. What a website accessibility audit contains covers scope and method, and how much of WCAG can be automated shows which criteria need a person to test.

3. Treat "WCAG 3 ready" claims with care

   There is no final standard to conform to. The FTC's final order against accessiBe (April 2025, $1,000,000) concerned claims that a product would make a website meet WCAG, which the complaint charged were false or unsubstantiated (FTC). A claim to meet a draft that W3C says will change has nothing fixed to be measured against. See overlays and the FTC.

4. Follow the draft from W3C's pages

   W3C suggests reading the WCAG 3.0 explainer before the draft itself. W3C says it will update its introduction page regularly, and WAI announces Working Drafts for review by email, LinkedIn, Mastodon and feed (Subscribe to WAI News). If you want to comment on the draft, W3C asks for separate issues in the WCAG 3 GitHub repository, or an email to public-agwg-comments@w3.org if GitHub is not feasible.