The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has just announced new updates on the Explainer for WCAG 3 and the WCAG 3 Working Draft for September 2025.
This update highlights updated guidance, further commentary on background information and future timelines for the standard. Furthermore, it notes potential guidelines, requirements, and assertions that have been advanced into the Developing status.
The development of WCAG 3.0, formerly codenamed Silver, has been in development for several years and will mark a significant shift in how online content is assessed for its accessibility. The idea of WCAG 3.0 is that it brings together several W3C standards including the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG) and endeavours to be applicable to current and future technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
In a statement by W3C, it was announced that “WCAG 3 is intended to be easier to understand and more flexible than WCAG 2. The flexibility is to address different types of web content, apps, and tools — as well as organizations and people with disabilities. WCAG 3 has a significantly different approach than WCAG 2.”
For people interested in learning about WCAG 3.0, W3C WAI recommends the WCAG 3.0 Introduction resource as the best starting point.