For Review: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 First Public Working Draft

The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group has published a First Public 
Working Draft of Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1:
   https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/

*Background*

WCAG 2.1 will be the first update to Web Content Accessibility 
Guidelines since WCAG 2.0. This first draft includes 28 new Success 
Criteria, three of which have been formally accepted by the Working 
Group and the remainder included as proposals to provide an opportunity 
for early feedback. Over the course of 2017 the Working Group intends to 
refine these proposals, as well as another 35 proposals that have not 
yet been included in the draft. A final version of WCAG 2.1 is planned 
for the end of 2017, so *early feedback on proposals is critical*.

Further information about the background, goals, and process for WCAG 
2.1 is available in the introduction to the specification and in the 
blog post:
   https://www.w3.org/blog/2017/02/wcag21-fpwd/

*Goals of WCAG 2.1*

WCAG 2.1 is designed as a dot-release to WCAG 2.0. WCAG 2.1 is designed 
so that websites that conform to WCAG 2.1 will also conform to WCAG 2.0, 
which means they meet the requirements of any policies that reference 
WCAG 2.0, while also better meeting the needs of users on the current 
Web. In future drafts the Working Group will optimize the new Success 
Criteria to reduce duplication and increase clarity. The Working Group 
will also make final decisions about characteristics of the 
specification such as numbering and position of added Success Criteria.

Because WCAG 2.1 extends WCAG 2.0, all the Success Criteria from WCAG 
2.0 are included. In this draft the WCAG 2.0 Success Criteria remain 
unchanged. This does create some redundancy, but the Working Group seeks 
review of the new Success Criteria at this time and will evaluate where 
to modify existing WCAG 2.0 Success Criteria later in the process. This 
draft also includes proposed success criteria that have not yet been 
approved by the Working Group. These are included to provide a broader 
perspective of the sort of new Success Criteria that are anticipated for 
WCAG 2.1. These proposals could change significantly before final 
approval, and some might be dropped. Public feedback will be important 
to these decisions.

*Comments*

To comment, the Working Group requests input be filed as issues at:
   https://github.com/w3c/wcag21/issues/

Please raise new issues for your comments, putting each separate topic 
into a separate issue. If it is not feasible to file issues in this 
tool, you can also submit comments by email to:
   public-agwg-comments@w3.org

The Working Group requests comments on this draft be filed by 31 March 
2017. The Working Group plans to publish updated Working Drafts 
frequently over the course of 2017 to incorporate input received and 
continued review of proposals.

*About the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group*

The Accessibility Guidelines Working Group is the new name for the 
former Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Working Group. This name 
reflects a more generic focus in order to bring together and find 
synergies among work that formerly took place in separate Working 
Groups. In addition to WCAG 2.1, the Accessibility Guidelines Working 
Group is currently engaged in early work on Accessibility Conformance 
Testing Framework 1.0, and Accessibility Guidelines 3.0 which would be a 
more substantial revision of accessibility guidelines than WCAG 2.1. 
Depending on the final state of WCAG 2.1, the group could also start 
development on a WCAG 2.2.

More information about the Accessibility Guidelines Working Group is 
available from its home page:
   https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/

In addition to public comments, the Working Group relies on work from 
its dedicated participants. If you have availability and expertise to 
contribute to this effort, you might consider joining the group:
   https://www.w3.org/WAI/GL/participation

Regards,
Andrew Kirkpatrick, Accessibility Guidelines WG Chair,
Joshue O Connor, Accessibility Guidelines WG Chair,
Michael Cooper, Accessibility Guidelines WG W3C Staff Contact