Translating W3C Standards for Designers, Developers, QA & Product teams
Reviewed 8 October 2026. Publication dates are checked against the W3C documents themselves every week. Every fact links to a source at the bottom of the page.
COGA is a task force shared by the Accessibility Guidelines and Accessible Platform Architectures Working Groups. It does not write a standard. It writes research and design guidance, and it reviews WCAG drafts from the point of view of people with cognitive and learning disabilities.
Its main document, Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities, describes itself as supplemental guidance beyond WCAG 2.2. Following it is not needed for conformance. Its importance for WCAG 3 is that many cognitive needs are hard to write as pass or fail tests, and COGA is pushing for them to be covered by WCAG 3 assertions instead.
| Document | Status | Date | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Making Content Usable for People with Cognitive and Learning Disabilities | Group Note | 29 April 2021 | Eight objectives, with user stories, design patterns, personas and usability testing guidance. |
| WCAG 2.2 criteria that address cognitive needs | Recommendation | 12 December 2024 | For example 3.2.6 Consistent Help, 3.3.7 Redundant Entry and 3.3.8 Accessible Authentication (Minimum), all new in 2.2. Date shown is the December 2024 update of WCAG 2.2. |
Five first drafts published together on 5 February 2026. Each covers user needs, barriers, possible directions and open research questions.
On 14 September 2026 the task force set three modules as its 2026 priority, plus a new cover paper introducing all the modules.
A provision-by-provision review of the WCAG 3 draft, aiming to finish by the end of 2026. Feedback on user needs for each guideline may run into early 2027.
No change. Making Content Usable sits beside WCAG 2.2 as advice, and it is the best single source for cognitive issues a 2.2 audit will not catch.
WCAG 3 has far more cognitive coverage than 2.2, much of it as assertions: statements that an organisation did something, such as usability testing, rather than a pass or fail test. In the 14 September minutes a COGA member stressed that assertions matter for concerns that cannot be written as testable requirements. Draft provisions close to COGA's work include:
Each item says how firm it is: something that has happened, a plan the group has stated, a proposal not yet agreed, or this site's own reading of where things are heading.
The three new research modules reach final edit and pre-publication. Getting one module ready takes about a month.
Planned by the groupFinish the WCAG 3 provision review, if possible.
Planned by the groupUpdate the Supported Decision-Making module.
Planned by the groupA new version of Making Content Usable. On 14 September the task force agreed to wait because of the WCAG 3 review and research module load.
HappenedHow many COGA needs end up as WCAG 3 assertions, and whether assertions count toward conformance or only toward higher reporting tiers. That depends on the conformance model, which is not settled.
This site's readingUseful whatever happens next
It is finished, it is free, and its patterns work no matter how WCAG 3 lands.
Several WCAG 3 assertions describe exactly this kind of testing, and it finds problems automated tools cannot.
Low cost, likely to pay off
Voice, wayfinding, safety and decision-making each preview needs WCAG 3 may later address.
Too early to build for
They are first drafts that describe open questions, not rules.