Schedule and milestones - w3c/wcag2ict GitHub Wiki
This page contains the schedule for the WCAG2ICT work, including major milestones and AG WG reviews.
The WCAG2ICT update Phase 1 included new Level A and AA success criteria and definitions, and the changed 4.1.1 Parsing success criterion. This version was published on 8 October 2024. In Phase 2 the task force plans to add the 31 Level AAA success criteria and 8 definitions as well as establish an explainer for use of the document.
Update Phase 2 - Major milestones only
| Milestone | Date | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Explainer" draft content | May 2025 | Done | Contains first draft of all content explaining what WCAG2ICT does and does not include or solve. |
| Published "Explainer" content | 3Q 2025 | In progress | WAI leadership approved and published. |
| FPWD | 4Q 2025 | Planned | Contains changes due to WCAG 2.2 errata, additional guidance for specific technologies, suggested normative language changes when applied to non-web technologies, and any changes to introductory content needed. Publish with the explainer. |
| 2nd public draft | 3Q 2026 | Planned | Adds 16 Level AAA SCs and their associated definitions, and FPWD comment-driven updates. |
| 3rd public draft | 3Q 2027 | Planned | Adds remaining 15 WCAG 2.2 Level AAA criteria and their associated definitions and 2nd draft comment-driven updates. |
| Updated WCAG2ICT Note | 4Q 2027 | Planned | Addresses all issues raised in public reviews. |
Phase 2 - More detailed plan and schedule
| Milestone | Owner | Start date | End date | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Update WCAG2ICT work statement | WCAG2ICT TF | 31 Oct. 2024 | 9 Jan. 2025 | Done | TF reached agreement on what the goals are for Phase 2. Proposed changes are in PR 942. |
| AG WG review & approval of work statement updates | AG WG | 14 Jan. 2024 | 24 Jan. 2025 | Done | AG WG reviewed and WG leaders approved the updated work statement via Issue 611. |
| WCAG2ICT "Explainer" - Draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 30 Oct. 2024 | 8 May 2025 | Done | TF has agreed on all content and have incorporated the content into PR 1197 to update the WAI web page - WCAG2ICT Overview. |
| WCAG2ICT "Explainer" - WAI review | WAI leadership | 16 April 2025 | 13 May 2025 | In progress | See Issue 600 which is tracking the WAI review prior to updating the WCAG2ICT Overview web page. |
| Address editorial open issues | WCAG2ICT TF | 23 April 2025 | 1Q 2025 | In progress | See Issues opened by Mitch. |
| Add WCAG 2.2 errata content | WCAG2ICT TF | 1Q 2025 | 2Q 2025 | Planned | See Issue 580 for a list of changes to determine whether changes need incorporation. |
| Analysis: Additional guidance for existing Note content | WCAG2ICT TF | March 2025 | May 2025 | In progress | Due to scope expansion, determine where additional technology-specific guidance is needed and where additional non-web-specific normative language changes should be suggested. Work with MATF to see what guidance they developed is appropriate to add into WCAG2ICT. Working in an analysis spreadsheet where most of the SCs have been analyzed but not yet agreed by the TF. |
| Develop additional guidance or language changes | WCAG2ICT TF | 2Q 2025 | 4Q 2025? | Planned | As the TF agrees on the analysis spreadsheet results, draft language changes will be developed. |
| TF CfC for wide review | WCAG2ICT TF start | 4Q 2025 | 4Q 2025 | Planned | CfC to send to AG WG for approval to publish FPWD. |
| CfC to publish FPWD | AG WG | 4Q 2025 | 4Q 2025 | Planned | Allowing 5 working days for the CfC. |
| FPWD publication process | Facilitator, W3C staff | 4Q 2025 | 4Q 2025 | Planned | Develop communication with Shawn to accompany publication. |
| FPWD review | Public | 1Q 2026 | 1Q 2026 | Planned | 30 day review period. |
| Handle FPWD comments | WCAG2ICT TF | 1Q 2026 | 1Q 2026 | Planned | All FPWD comments must be addressed prior to 2nd publication. |
| Level AAA Group 1: 6 SC in editor's draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 1Q 2026 | 2Q 2026 | Planned | SCs: 1.2.6, 1.2.7, 1.2.8, 1.2.9, 1.3.6 (with definition of "region"), and 1.4.6 |
| Group 1: AG WG review | AG WG | 2Q 2026 | 2Q 2026 | Planned | (1 week long) Plan to open issues for AG review of guidance for each SC. |
| Level AAA Group 2: 5 SC in editor's draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 2Q 2026 | 3Q 2026 | Planned | SCs: 1.4.7, 1.4.8 (with definitions of "blocks of text" and "on a full-screen window"), 1.4.9, 2.1.3, and 2.2.3 |
| Group 2: AG WG review | AG WG | 3Q 2026 | 3Q 2026 | Planned | (1 week long) Plan to open issues for AG review of SC guidance. |
| Level AAA Group 3: 5 SC in editor's draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 4Q 2026 | 4Q 2026 | Planned | SCs: 2.2.4, 2.2.5, 2.2.6 (with definition of "user inactivity", 2.3.2, and 2.3.3 (with definition of "motion animation" |
| AG WG review | AG WG | 4Q 2026 | 4Q 2026 | Planned | Plan to open issues for AG review of SC guidance. |
| TF CfC for wide review | WCAG2ICT TF start | 4Q 2026 | 4Q 2026 | Planned | CfC to send to AG WG for approval to publish FPWD. |
| CfC to publish FPWD | AG WG | 4Q 2026 | 4Q 2026 | Planned | Allowing 5 working days for the CfC. |
| 2nd publication process | Facilitator, W3C staff | 4Q 2026 | 4Q 2026 | Planned | Develop communication with Shawn to accompany publication. |
| 2nd publication review | Public | 4Q 2026 | 1Q 2027 | Planned | 30 day review period. |
| Handle 2nd publication comments | WCAG2ICT TF | 1Q 2027 | 1Q 2027 | Planned | All FPWD comments must be addressed prior to 3rd publication. |
| Group 4: 5 SC in editor's draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 1Q 2027 | 1Q 2027 | Planned | SCs: 2.4.8, 2.4.9, 2.4.10 (with definition of "section"), 2.4.12, and 2.4.13 (with definition of "perimeter") |
| AG WG review | AG WG | 1Q2027 | 1Q 2027 | Planned | Plan to open issues for AG review of SC guidance. |
| Group 5: 5 SC in editor's draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 2Q 2027 | 2Q 2027 | Planned | SCs: 2.5.5, 2.5.6, 3.1.3, 3.1.4, and 3.1.5 (with definition of "supplemental content". |
| AG WG review | AG WG | 2Q 2027 | 2Q 2027 | Planned | Plan to open issues for AG review of SC guidance. |
| Group 6: 5 SC in editor's draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 2Q 2027 | 2Q 2027 | Planned | SCs: 3.1.6, 3.2.5, 3.3.5 (with definition of "context-sensitive help", 3.3.6, and 3.3.9 |
| AG WG review | AG WG | 2Q 2027 | 2Q 2027 | Planned | Will open issues for AG review of SC guidance. |
| TF CfC for wide review | WCAG2ICT TF | 3Q 2027 | 3Q 2027 | Planned | CfC to send to AG WG for approval to publish wide review draft. |
| CfC to publish 3rd draft | AG WG | 3Q 2027 | 3Q 2027 | Planned | AG WG to complete a 1-week long CfC to publish the third draft. |
| 3rd draft publication process | Facilitator, W3C staff | 3Q 2027 | 3Q 2027 | Planned | Develop communication with Shawn to accompany publication. |
| 3rd draft review | Public | 3Q 2027 | 3Q 2027 | Planned | 30 day review period. |
| Horizontal review | WCAG2ICT TF | 3Q 2027 | 3Q 2027 | Planned | Open issues with the 5 review groups to begin 30 day review period. |
| Handle 3rd draft public comments | 3Q 2027 | 4Q 2027 | 4Q 2027 | Planned | All 2nd draft comments must be addressed prior to final publication. |
| Handle horizontal review comments | WCAG2ICT TF | 4Q 2027 | 4Q 2027 | Planned | Handle issues found in horizontal review - must be done before final publication. |
| Editorial cleanup | Editors, WCAG2ICT TF | 4Q 2027 | 4Q 2027 | Planned | Overlapping with the review and comment handling timeframe. |
| CfC to send draft to AG WG | WCAG2ICT TF | 4Q 2027 | 4Q 2027 | Planned | Group reviews during editorial cleanup, CfC in meeting. |
| AG WG review of changes made to draft | AG WG | 4Q 2027 | 4Q 2027 | Planned | 7 days, AGWG was given a list of issues and diff file to review. |
| CfC to publish final Note | AG WG | 4Q 2027 | 4Q 2027 | In progress | Agreement to finalize note made by AG WG. |
| Publication process, transition request | Facilitator, W3C staff | 4Q 2027 | 4Q 2027 | Planned | Prepare for final publication and draft communications. |
| Publish final note | W3C Staff | 4Q 2027 | 4Q 2027 | Planned | If all goes according to plan, no blackout dates as of the publication time. |
Update Phase 1 - Major milestones only
| Milestone | Date | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| FPWD | 15 August 2023 | Planned | Contains all WCAG 2.1 Level AA criteria, definitions. May get delayed by other AG WG publications that take precedence - worst case is mid-Sept. |
| 2nd public draft | 2 July 2024 | Planned | Contains all WCAG 2.2 Level AA criteria, definitions, FPWD comment-driven updates. |
| Updated WCAG2ICT Note | 8 October 2024 | Planned | Addresses all issues raised in public and horizontal reviews. |
Update Phase 1 - More detailed plan and schedule:
| Milestone | Owner | Start date | End date | Status | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 SC in editor's draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 5 Jan. 2023 | 9 Feb. 2023 | Done | 1.3.4, 1.3.5, 2.1.4, 2.5.4, Guideline 2.5, Background section, 1 definition |
| AG WG review | AG WG | 2 March 2023 | 16 March 2023 | Done | All content approved, with proposed changes to address comments on 21 March 2023 |
| 4 SC in editor's draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 9 Feb. 2023 | 30 March 2023 | Done | 1.4.12, 1.4.13, 2.5.2 and 2.5.3, Level AAA-only terms, and Abstract. |
| AG WG review | AG WG | 31 March 2023 | 6 April 2023 | Done | All content approved with no changes on 11 April 2023. |
| 4 SC in editor's draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 9 March 2023 | 13 July 2023 | Done | Done: 1.4.10, 1.4.11, 2.5.1, 4.1.3. |
| AG WG review | AG WG | 14 July 2023 | 21 July 2023 | Done | Survey discussion on 28 July approved all content in the survey. |
| Closed Functionality and Appendix A: SC Problematic for Closed Functionality sections | WCAG2ICT TF | 13 April 2023 | 13 June | Done | All updates are in the 2nd draft published on 2 July 2024. |
| Update to Text / Command-line / Terminal Applications and Interfaces sections | Expert volunteers, WCAG2ICT TF | 21 April 2023 | 30 July 2023 | Done | Updates to existing content from the 2013 WCAG2ICT Note were incorporated into FPWD. Additional per-SC guidance will not be addressed in the WCAG2ICT note. |
| Updates to: Comparison, intro, contributors | WCAG2ICT TF | 26 June 2023 | 1 August 2023 | Done | Made another pass of changes 29 June, and another the end of July. |
| TF CfC for wide review | WCAG2ICT TF | 27 July 2023 | 3 August 2023 | Done | Send to AG WG for approval to publish draft for wide review |
| CfC to publish FPWD | AG WG | 1 August 2023 | 8 August 2023 | Done | CfC had one objection on applying color contrast requirements to non-web documents and software. |
| Transition Request for FPWD | TF Facilitator | 8 August 2023 | 11 August 2023 | Done | Approved to be published. |
| FPWD publication process | Facilitator, W3C staff | 8 August 2023 | 15 August 2023 | Done | Developed communication with Shawn and published. |
| FPWD review | Public | 15 August 2023 | 29 August 2023 | Done | 30 day review period (plus a few days because due date hadn't been communicated) |
| Handle FPWD comments | WCAG2ICT TF | 29 August 2023 | 21 June 2024 | Done | 11 public comments received. All FPWD comments have been addressed prior to 2nd publication. |
| 4 SC in editor's draft | WCAG2ICT TF | 15 August 2023 | 16 May 2023 | Done | 2.4.11, 2.5.7, 3.3.7, and 4.1.1 reviewed by AG WG; AG WG approved all but 4.1.1 Parsing. TF's updates now approved by commenters, undergoing TF survey for approval. |
| AG WG review | AG WG | 30 November 2023 | 12 December 2023 | Done | Survey discussion on 12 December. |
| 2 SC in editor's draft + remaining SC problematic for closed functionality section update | WCAG2ICT TF | 7 December 2023 | 4 April 2024 | Done | 3.2.6, 3.3.8, comments on closed functionality and closed functionality bullets. |
| CfC to send draft to AG WG | WCAG2ICT TF | 16 May 2024 | 16 May 2024 | Done | TF approved sending draft to ask the AG WG to publish. |
| AG WG review | AG WG | 16 May 2024 | 25 June 2024 | Done | Several edits were brought up by TF participants and a few by AG WG that took some time to address. AG WG review was extended to review the changes introduced in PR 378. |
| Resolve AG WG comments | WCAG2ICT TF | 16 May 2024 | 14 June 2024 | Done | Resolved remaining comments on WCAG 2.2 SC and definitions. |
| Editorial cleanup | WCAG2ICT Editors | 16 May 2024 | 27 June 2024 | Done | Updated any sections with editorial changes and any missed AG WG contributors. |
| CfC to publish 2nd public draft | AG WG | 28 June 2024 | 1 July 2024 | Done | The AG WG agreed to publish. |
| Publication process | WCAG2ICT Facilitator, W3C staff | 28 May 2024 | 2 July 2024 | Done | Planning and prep began before the CfC completed. |
| Publication review period | Public | 2 July 2024 | 6 August 2024 | Done | 30 business day review period |
| Handle public review comments | WCAG2ICT TF | 2 July 2024 | 9 Sept. 2024 | Done | Not many public comments received, several additional editorial issues were opened by TF participants and are addressed in the document. |
| Handle horizontal review comments | WCAG2ICT TF | 2 July 2024 | 17 Sept. 2024 | Done | 5 comments received, all resulted in document changes. |
| Editorial cleanup | Editors, WCAG2ICT TF | 2 July 2024 | 5 Sept. 2024 | Done | Overlapping with the review and comment handling timeframe. |
| CfC to send draft to AG WG | WCAG2ICT TF | 10 Sept. 2024 | 13 Sept. 2024 | Done | 4 days |
| AG WG review of changes made to draft | AG WG | 10 Sept. 2024 | 17 Sept. 2024 | Done | 7 days, AGWG was given a list of issues and diff file to review. |
| CfC to publish final Note | AG WG | 17 Sept. 2024 | 27 Sept. 2024 | In progress | Agreement to finalize note made and communicated to AG WG. |
| Publication process, transition request | Facilitator, W3C staff | 27 Sept. 2024 | 8 Oct. 2024 | Planned | Publication may be delayed due to TPAC. |
| Publish final note | W3C Staff | 8 Oct. 2024 | 8 Oct. 2024 | Planned | If all goes according to plan, blackout dates end after TPAC. |