Accessibility Team’s goals for WordPress 6.0 and beyond

As the first Release CandidateRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. of WordPress 5.9 shipped on January 4, the 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) Team is already gearing up for the next major releaseMajor Release A set of releases or versions having the same major version number may be collectively referred to as “X.Y” -- for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, and all other versions in the 5.2. (five dot two dot) branch of that software. Major Releases often are the introduction of new major features and functionality..

The 6.0 development cycle details and the potential release date are yet to be defined, pending a decision about the schedule for WordPress releases in 2022. Still, WordPress 6.0 Alpha began on January 4, and Trunk is now open for business; also, in case there will be four major releases in 2022, early planning will be essential to get things included in time for each release, especially if we want to tackle large projects.

Because of that, the Accessibility Team wants to revive the tradition started with WordPress 5.6 to collect ideas and ask for public feedback about possible team’s goals, which is why you’re invited to leave a comment below and propose which accessibility improvements you’d like to see shipped with WordPress 6.0.

The discussion to identify major team goals will be held during the next weekly meeting, happening on Friday, January 21, 2021 at 17:00 UTC in the #accessibility channel of the Making WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. (requires registration).

You’re more than invited to share your ideas, take part in the discussion and suggest what to prioritize. Just remember that, while the Accessibility Team is doing its best to make WordPress as accessible as possible, our team’s resources are limited and we’ll have to carefully decide what to focus on.
In case you aren’t aware, the Accessibility Team is organized into seven working groups, focusing respectively on Design, Documentation, Media, MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress., General, GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/, and Themes. Such an internal organization has proven successful in keeping issues moving more quickly: as such, in the end, it’ll be up to each working group to decide what to work on and assess if a suggested goal can be completed by the 6.0 release or not.

If a certain goal isn’t selected for the 6.0 release, anyway, it might be reconsidered in the future and become a goal for one of the next WordPress major releases (maybe already in WordPress 6.1).

In general, trying to focus on goals that can be reached in a single release cycle is the best option to be sure that the work gets completed: if you think that solving a specific issue or adding a new feature may require work that spans over multiple releases, let us know and we’ll find together a solution to get this working.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below or in the #accessibility channel on Slack.

#6-0, #goals

Accessibility Team’s goals for WordPress 5.8 and beyond

After the first Release CandidateRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. of WordPress 5.7 was shipped on February 23, the 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) Team is looking into setting goals for the next release.

The 5.8 development cycle is yet to be defined: according to the original plan, WordPress 5.8 potential release date would be June 8, 2021, but a discussion about having four major releases in 2021 is ongoing and the release date is yet to be confirmed.

Nevertheless, the Accessibility Team wants to be ready when the release cycle will be announced, so this is a good time to start to collect ideas on possible team’s goals.

As such, we invite you to leave a comment below and propose which accessibility improvements you’d like to see shipped with WordPress 5.8. The discussion to identify major team goals will be held during the next weekly meeting, happening on Friday, March 5, 2021 at 16:00 UTC in the #accessibility channel in the Making WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. (requires registration).

During the 5.7 release cycle, the team decided to improve its workflow by creating seven working groups, focusing respectively on Design, Documentation, Media, MetaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress., General, GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/, and Themes. The new team structure helped in moving issues faster, so we’re going to follow the same scheme also for WordPress 5.8. This means that the final choice about goals and targets will be in the hands of each working group, but you’re still invited to share your ideas, take part in the discussion and suggest what to prioritize.

If a certain goal won’t be selected for the 5.8 release, it can always be included in the list that will be created for the 5.9 release.

As the number of releases planned for 2021 is probably going to be reduced, the release cycle may be longer and some larger projects might make it into the list of the release goals. Anyway, if you think that solving a specific issue or adding a new feature may require work that spans over multiple releases, let us know so that we can try to coordinate and help you get the job done.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below or in the #accessibility channel on Slack.

#5-8, #goals

Accessibility Team’s goals for WordPress 5.7 and beyond

After the release of WordPress 5.6 on December 8th, the 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) Team is already at work to plan the next release.

The 5.7 development cycle hasn’t been defined yet, but a tentative release date was set for March, 9th 2021, a bit less than three months from now. This isn’t really a lot of time: after the release of the first betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process., only bugs introduced during the relase cycle can be fixed, with no possibility to add new features or enhancements or to fix bugs introduced in WordPress 5.6 or before. Given that some contributors may slow down their activity during alpha because of the holiday season, it’s probably better not to delay further the discussion on possible targets.

Because of this, the Accessibility Team is going to discuss possible goals for the 5.7 release during the next weekly meeting, happening on Friday, December 18, 2020 at 16:00 UTC in the #accessibility channel in the Making WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. (requires registration).

By that time, you are invited to suggest possible goals as a comment to this post, so that it can be included in the discussion.

Given the team decision to create working groups focusing on specific areas of interest, it’ll be up to each working group to set goals and choose targets for the release, but you’re more than invited to share your ideas, take part in the discussion and suggest what to prioritize.

If a certain goal won’t be selected for the 5.7 release, it can always be included in the list that will be created for the 5.8 release.

Four WordPress releases are planned in 2021 with shorter release cycles: if you think that solving a specific issue or adding a new feature may require work that spans over multiple releases, let us know so that we can try to coordinate and help to get the job done.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments or in the #accessibility channel on Slack.

#5-7, #goals

Accessibility Team’s goals for WordPress 5.6 and beyond

Following a pattern established during the last WordPress releases, it has become common for the WordPress 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) Team to set targets for each release during the final stages of the previous one.

Given the heavy involvement of the Team between 5.5 RCRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. 1 and the 5.5 release, it was impossible to discuss possible goals before. Also, given that the kickoff meeting for WordPress 5.6 took place on Wednesday, 19th August, this discussion can’t be delayed anymore.

As such, the Accessibility Team is going to discuss possible targets for WordPress 5.6 during the next weekly meeting, which will take place on Friday, 28th August, 2020 at 15:00 UTC.

If you have an accessibility goal you would like to see the team pursue on WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., you are more than invited to add it in the comment section below and let us know. You are then invited to attend to the next weekly meeting, when possible goals will be discussed and prioritized.

If a certain goal won’t be selected for the 5.6 release, it can always be included in the list that will be created for the 5.7 release.

While a strict timeline can’t be set too many months in advance, the next Call for Accessibility Team’s goals will likely be published around Friday, 13th November, 2020, that is, the Friday before WordPress 5.6 RC 1. Possible goals will then be discussed during the weekly meeting on Friday, 20th November, 2020. Around the same time, an extra bug-scrub to identify possible good-first-bug Core tickets and GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ issues will take place.

All the above dates are flexible and can be changed according to specific needs, in particular in case they run the risk of detract from bug fixing during Release CandidateRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge..

Such an early planning will probably become even more useful with next releases, given that four major WordPress releases are already planned for 2021 and each release cycle will be shorter. Planning in advance possible goals during Release Candidate will also allow contributors to have a break in between releases, reducing possible sources of burnout.

#5-6, #goals

Accessibility Wish List for 4.6 and beyond

Following the example from development on the WordPress Editor, the 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) team is going to start posting our goals in wish list format. If you have an accessibility goal you’d like to see the team pursue on WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress., add it in a comment and let us know!

Current Accessibility Goals

  • Color Contrast: coordinate with the Design team to finish the colors. See #31713, #35659, #35596, #35622. (@afercia)
  • Settings APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways.: collaborate with the team working on the Fields API to make sure they’re fabulously accessible. See #18801 for history, Fields API development (@joedolson, @afercia)
  • Uniform Search: Work to address the numerous different search interfaces within the WordPress admin so they offer the same experience through the admin. See #31818. (@cheffheid)
  • Develop libraries for Accessible Tabs & Accessible Modals
  • Accessible Video: improve the user interface and metaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. data relationships for captions & subtitles to make accessible video easier to manage. See #31177. (@rianrietveld)
  • Accessible Media Grid
  • Review usage of target=”_blank” in the admin. See #23432. (@trishasalas)
  • Finish headings improvements: remove controls from headings. See #26601. (@trishasalas)
  • start accessibility work on Select2. See issue 3744 on Select2. (@afercia)
  • Finish working on an accessible TagTag Tag is one of the pre-defined taxonomies in WordPress. Users can add tags to their WordPress posts along with categories. However, while a category may cover a broad range of topics, tags are smaller in scope and focused to specific topics. Think of them as keywords used for topics discussed in a particular post. Cloud WidgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user.. See #35566.

#4-6, #goals, #wishlist

Team Meeting 3/21/2016

Our team meeting for today focused primarily on goal setting. As we’re nearing the release candidateRelease Candidate A beta version of software with the potential to be a final product, which is ready to release unless significant bugs emerge. stage for WordPress 4.5, it’s time to move our attentions forward to the future again.

Coming out of 4.5, we know that while we’ve made a lot of progress on our top issues for that release, there’s still a fair amount of work to do, so we’ll be trying finish off the top issues from 4.5: color contrast audits and resolutions and the continuing removal of title attributes. Most of these questions require some significant design decisions, so we’ll be working closely with the design team to get these accomplished.

Moving forward into 4.6, we want to start work on making the internal search functions inside WordPress more consistent. We also need to tackle a few thorny problems in the media management UIUI UI is an acronym for User Interface - the layout of the page the user interacts with. Think ‘how are they doing that’ and less about what they are doing..

Looking further forward, we’re going to start developing some libraries to create accessible modal dialogs, accessible tabbed interfaces, and accessible tooltips for eventual inclusion in WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.. The goal is for these to be available for theme and plug-in developers to use as well as for use within the core, so that everybody developing in WordPress can easily generate these types of user interfaces easily and accessibly.

Review the meeting at Slack

#4-6, #goals, #meetings