David A. Kennedy 7:47 pm on August 27, 2014
Tags: 4.0   

WordPress 4.0 Release Candidate Testing

The first release candidate for WordPress 4.0 is out. If you’re interested in testing for accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility), here’s what to focus on:

New features in 4.0

  1. Oembed
  2. Insert from URLURL A specific web address of a website or web page on the Internet, such as a website’s URL www.wordpress.org
  3. PluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party installation
  4. Editor scrolling
  5. Media Library Grid
  6. Customize Panels

Regressions from 3.9

We don’t have a definitive list for this, but keep an eye out for anything that’s not working that you know worked in the last version.

If you run into bugs, follow the instructions from the WordPress.orgWordPress.org The community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ announcement post:

Think you’ve found a bug? Please post to the Alpha/Beta area in the support forums. If any known issues come up, you’ll be able to find them here.

To test WordPress 4.0 RC1, try the WordPress Beta Tester plugin (you’ll want “bleeding edge nightlies”). Or you can download the release candidate here (zip). If you’d like to learn more about what’s new in WordPress 4.0, visit the awesome About screen in your dashboard ( → About in the toolbar).

Things to Watch

We want to keep things simple at this point. Look for any big blockers, like:

  • keyboard traps
  • confusing or non-existent tab order
  • content that can’t be accessed via keyboard
  • content that can’t be accessed via screen reader

#4-0