WCAG 3.0 Preview for Designers
For: Senior designers, design system architects, accessibility leads
WCAG 3.0 has been in working-draft for years and is still incomplete — but several pieces are stable enough to inform your design system today. The APCA contrast algorithm in particular is a big departure from WCAG 2.2 and worth understanding now, even if you're still officially auditing against AA.
References: W3C WCAG 3.0 Working Draft · APCA — Accessible Perceptual Contrast Algorithm · Silver Task Force documents
Want to audit color contrast against this checklist on real screens — instantly, from your phone?
Use AccessAudit AI — runs offline, captures photo evidence per item, exports a sharable PDF.
What's Changing
Pass/fail binary replaced with a graded score (Bronze, Silver, Gold)
Contrast measured by APCA, not the WCAG 2.x ratio formula (perceptually-based)
Scope broadens beyond web to include mobile apps, native software, AR/VR
Outcome-based criteria replace technique-based ones (focuses on whether users succeed, not whether you used the right pattern)
APCA Contrast — Quick Mental Model
APCA returns a value from 0 to ~108 (or negative for inverted polarity). Higher absolute value = more readable.
Lc 90+ — body text minimum (replaces 4.5:1)
Lc 75+ — body text non-essential (footnotes, captions)
Lc 60+ — large text and bold-medium text
Lc 45+ — UI controls (replaces 3:1)
Lc 30+ — minimum visibility for non-essential UI
What to Practice Now
Try APCA on your existing design tokens (apca-online.com) and see what surprises you
Notice when WCAG 2.x passes but APCA fails (often: light-gray text on white that meets 4.5:1 but fails APCA)
Build outcome-driven design specs — describe the user goal, not the pattern (lets WCAG 3 grading apply)
Run this on your phone
Point your iPhone camera at any color pair to see WCAG contrast ratio + pass/fail in real time. 100% on-device.