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.
developingCore requirement
Change Of Content Notified
Group: user-control • Guideline: content-changes
Summary in Plain English
A meaningful visual change has to be announced programmatically, not just shown. The draft lists what counts: changes above the user's place in reading order, changes earlier in a process, notifications and status or error messages, changes in how much content there is, changes that alter meaning, and changes of audience. Continuous change with no pause is exempt.
Why It Matters
A change a sighted user sees at a glance is invisible to a screen reader user unless it is announced, so they act on a version of the page that no longer exists.
The changes appear before the user’s current position in reader order.
The changes appear earlier in the process.
Notifications, status messages, or error messages appear.
The amount of content changes.
The change affects the content’s meaning.
The audience changes.
Except when
changes are continuous, without pause.
Examples from the Draft
Worked examples the W3C editors wrote into the provision itself, not
examples invented here.
A new message is added in a conversation above the current location of focus. A message is provided that programmatically conveys that there is new content above.
Filters are adjusted which changes the number of items shown. As the number of items changes, that is provided programmatically as a status update.
Meaningful changes in visual content are conveyed programmatically.
:::applies-when
- The changes appear before the user’s current position in reader order.
- The changes appear earlier in the process.
- Notifications, status messages, or error messages appear.
- The amount of content changes.
- The change affects the content’s meaning.
- The audience changes.
:::
:::except-when
- changes are continuous, without pause.
:::
:::example
- A new message is added in a conversation above the current location of focus. A message is provided that programmatically conveys that there is new content above.
- Filters are adjusted which changes the number of items shown. As the number of items changes, that is provided programmatically as a status update.
:::