First Public Working Draft: W3C Accessibility Guidelines Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) 2.0

W3C Accessibility Guidelines Evaluation Methodology (WCAG-EM) 2.0

https://www.w3.org/TR/2026/DNOTE-wcag-em-2-20260205/

Published by
 Accessibility Guidelines Working Group

Abstract

This document describes a methodology with a step-by-step process to evaluate how well digital products conform to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2. 

It provides technology-agnostic guidance to define the evaluation scope, explore the target product, select a representative sample set from products, evaluate the selected sample set, and report the evaluation findings. This procedure is suitable for use in different evaluation contexts, including self-assessment and third-party evaluation. 

This document does not define feature-specific instructions, as the WCAG Success Criteria and supporting documents cover those. It also does not define additional WCAG 2 requirements, nor does it replace or supersede them in any way.

Status of the Document

This section describes the status of this document at the time of its publication. A list of current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be found in the W3C standards and drafts index.

This document builds on WCAG-EM 1.0, which was developed by the WCAG 2.0 Evaluation Methodology (Eval) Task Force, a joint task force of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Working Group (now renamed Accessibility Guidelines (AG) Working Group) and Evaluation and Repair Tools (ERT) Working Group. It provides informative guidance on evaluation in accordance with Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2. 

In the review of this draft, we are seeking input on the following questions.  Are all digital products that evaluators commonly evaluate (because of regulation or otherwise) covered by this methodology, or are any explicitly excluded? Does the terminology of 'sample set' and 'sample' match how evaluators use it in their evaluations? Is this new version more useful for evaluators when they evaluate apps, given that there are legal requirements for apps in addition to websites in some jurisdictions? 

This document was published by the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group as a Group Note Draft using the Note track.

Group Note Drafts are not endorsed by W3C nor its Members.

This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this document as other than a work in progress.

The W3C Patent Policy does not carry any licensing requirements or commitments on this document.

This document is governed by the 18 August 2025 W3C Process Document.

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Received on Thursday, 5 February 2026 04:31:41 UTC