Imagine building for the future, not just checking boxes. WCAG 3.0 is being designed to be more human-centered, more flexible, and better aligned with how people with different disabilities actually use the web.

What’s new & interesting in WCAG 3.0

1. Outcomes instead of “Yes/No” success criteria

• Under WCAG 2.x, each success criterion was pass/fail. WCAG 3.0 introduces outcome statements that are rated (for example, from 0 = very poor to 4 = excellent). This allows a more nuanced measure of accessibility. ¹
• This gives room for transparency: you might have excellent accessibility in some areas and room for improvement in others — without being all or nothing.

2. Bronze, silver, gold levels

• The A / AA / AAA tiers are being replaced with Bronze, Silver and Gold. Bronze is expected to align somewhat with current AA levels in many cases.²
• Silver and Gold are intended to represent higher levels of performance and more rigorous methods (usability testing, assistive technology trials, cognitive walkthroughs) beyond just automatic or atomic tests.

3. Severity & critical errors

• In WCAG 3.0, some failures are critical errors — failing those stops you from meeting even the minimum conformance (Bronze).
• This means organizations will need to prioritize fixes that block core functions (e.g. missing or wrong alt text for essential images, broken navigation).

4. More human-involvement: usability & assistive tech testing

• Automated tools are powerful but limited. WCAG 3.0 emphasizes testing by humans, with real assistive technologies. This is especially important for EU/US where legal standards are tightening, and user experience expectations are higher.
• There’s also talk of involving actual users with diverse disabilities in testing, especially for Silver/Gold levels.

Taken together, these changes show that WCAG 3.0 is less about ticking technical boxes and more about creating measurable, meaningful accessibility. It shifts the conversation from compliance to real user experience – raising the bar for everyone who designs, develops, or manages digital content.

Meaning for designers, developers, organisations

Don’t wait: start aligning with WCAG 3.0 now by auditing against AA but thinking about Bronze-level readiness (critical errors, core functions).

Focus on human testing: bring in people with disabilities early. Let them test with assistive tech. What seems “fine” in code may be confusing in screen reader or UI.

Document severity and outcomes: not just “this passes” but “this function is critical, and here’s where we rate okay vs where we need improvement.”

Accessibility is not static: as new tech emerges (AR/VR, AI, voice, etc.), WCAG 3.0 is designed to be more adaptable.

WCAG 3.0 isn’t perfect yet — it’s still in draft, and many details are evolving. But what’s exciting is how it moves beyond checklists and rigid pass/fail rules toward a more nuanced way of measuring real user experiences.

Instead of treating accessibility as black and white, WCAG 3.0 acknowledges the shades of accessibility that reflect how people actually interact with digital content. This means shifting from compliance as a minimum requirement to accessibility as an evolving practice of continuous improvement.

In other words, WCAG 3.0 is not just a new set of rules — it’s a mindset shift. It’s an invitation for designers, developers, and organizations to think less about “meeting the standard” and more about meeting people where they are.

1. What to Expect From The First Public Working Draft of WCAG 3.0 https://www.deque.com/blog/first-public-working-draft-wcag-3/ ↩︎
2. Explainer for W3C Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 3.0 https://www.w3.org/TR/wcag-3.0-explainer/ ↩︎