WCAG 3.0 progress

Where is the work done?

When is the work happening?

Research findings

WCAG 3.0 Goals

Based on the research which lead to the Silver requirements:

• Update guidelines to better address user needs and accommodate new technologies
• Incorporate tool guidance with authoring guidance to avoid the accessibility support challenge of WCAG 2
• Define clearer testing procedures and allow for multiple approaches
• Meet the needs of policies while being updated more frequently than WCAG 2

WCAG 3.0 Goals (2)

• Define ways to claim conformance for different units than web page(s)
• Reduce reading complexity where possible
• Base guidance on research where feasible and emphasize importance of future research

Example Guideline - Text alternatives

• Guideline: Provide text alternative for non-text content.
• Outcomes: A text alternative for non-text content is available via user agents and assistive technologies, which allows users who are unable to perceive and / or understand the non-text content to determine its meaning.
• Methods:
  • Text alternative for Image of text (HTML)
  • Functional Images (HTML, PDF, ePub)
  • Decorative images (HTML, PDF, ePub)
  • Author control of text alternatives (ATAG)

Scoring atomic tests

Testing is scoped to either a view, or a process. Each outcome has a section that shows how it is scored.

• Tests that results in a pass or fail condition will be assigned a 100% or 0%;
• Tests at the element level that can be consistently counted will be assigned a percentage.
• Tests that apply to content without clear boundaries will be scored using a rating scale.
• Critical errors within processes will be identified and result in score of 0.

Note: The intent is to include holistic tests in a later draft.

Overall Scoring

• The results from the atomic tests are aggregated across views and used along with the number of critical errors to assign a rating (Very Poor to Excellent).
• The ratings are averaged for a total score and a score by the functional category(ies) they support.

Note: The guidelines can be used for good-practice without using scoring or conformance.

WCAG 3.0 Conformance

• Conformance applies to views and processes.
• The scope can be an all content within a digital product.
• The scope is usually one or more sub-sets of the whole, based on processes and views.
• The scores are normalized to a 0-5 score for each functional category.
• Must have:
  • No critical errors, and
  • at least 3.5 average score, and
  • at least 3.5 score within each functional category.

Feedback

• The first public working draft is being published to encourage feedback at an early stage. It is far from finished!
• The conformance model and scoring are key areas to get feedback on before all the guidelines are created / migrated.
• The github issues is the best place for public feedback.