WCAG 3.0 is an active W3C Working Draft in development by the AGWG. Requirements, assertions, the conformance model and reporting tiers are still being developed and may change. The latest published draft is the 10 September 2026 Working Draft; this site follows the editors’ draft, which also includes exploratory provisions.
Biometric identification cannot be the only way to identify or authenticate - there has to be another route in.
Why It Matters
Fingerprint and face recognition fail for people whose bodies the sensors were not designed around, including people with tremor, limb differences, facial differences or certain eye conditions. A failed scan with no alternative locks the account.
When requiring biometric information for authentication, provide an additional way to authenticate that is not biometric. For example, if a fingerprint is required for authentication, then a password must also be supported.
W3C Working Group Status
W3C Maturity Status:developing
Track / Group:input-operation
The draft records no open editors' notes on this provision.
W3C Threads on This Provision
1 GitHub thread carrying 3 comments,
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tracker. Titles, numbers and states are the threads' own.
Nobody has read these threads and written up the positions yet, so
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Biometric identification is not the only way to identify or authenticate.
:::note
Biometrics includes facial recognition software, fingerprinting, vocal patterns and other voice characteristics.
:::