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.
developingSupplemental requirement
Return To Start Supported
Group: layout • Guideline: user-orientation
Summary in Plain English
There is a mechanism, available both visually and programmatically, to get back to the starting point of the conformance scope. Pages that are themselves the starting point are exempt, as is content where withholding the mechanism is essential.
Why It Matters
A dependable route home is what makes it safe to explore an unfamiliar interface, and it is what a disoriented user reaches for first.
The page/view is the starting point of the conformance scope.
It is essential to the functionality not to provide this mechanism.
Notes in the draft
Where the conformance scope is a sub-part of larger digital product, then the starting point should be the conformance scope starting point. For example, an organization’s careers website that is separate from the main website.
A visual and programmatically available mechanism exists that allows users to return to the starting point of the conformance scope.
:::except-when
* The page/view is the starting point of the conformance scope.
* It is essential to the functionality not to provide this mechanism.
:::
:::note
Where the conformance scope is a sub-part of larger digital product, then the starting point should be the conformance scope starting point. For example, an organization's careers website that is separate from the main website.
:::