Title: Accessibility
Author: George Stephanis
Published: December 3, 2012
Last modified: May 12, 2013

---

 [  ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/georgestephanis/) [George Stephanis](https://profiles.wordpress.org/georgestephanis/)
7:49 pm _on_ December 3, 2012     
Tags: a11y, [accessibility ( 3 )](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/tag/accessibility/),
eu, standards   

# Accessibility

## In Attendance:

 * Aaron Jorbin
 * Emil Uzelac
 * Kevinjohn
 * Amy Hendrix
 * Michael Fields
 * Dave Martin
 * Jake Goldman
 * Isaac Keyet
 * George Stephanis (note taker)

## Discussion Notes

Kevinjohn brought up the initial concern that, in the EU, some groups can’t use 
WordPress, as it hasn’t met some 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) requirements for a few releases now — but we’re close.  
Have to meet [AAA](http://ec.europa.eu/ipg/standards/accessibility/validation/index_en.htm)
standards for EU.

How’s the back-end for accessibility? Jorbin brought up that he, Nacin, and Koop
sat down with a blind user and did accessibility testing of post screen — everything
was properly set up except for the post box itself.

(aside: question of if we should / how we could make it easier for front-end users
to be accessible is nipped in the bud for later discussion)

Amy Hendrix brought up the question of new accessibility tests for themes — [ which is a work in Progress](https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/2012/11/12/weve-now-completed-the-draft-theme-accessibility-audit/)

What is the accessibility group? [https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/](https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/)

Aaron Jorbin pointed out that we should get accessibility experts more involved 
in WordPress. By bringing the accessibility community into the WordPress community,
we all benefit.

One of the challenges is that it is hard for much of the coreCore Core is the set
of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress.
team to test accessibility patches do to them not having copies of accessible technology
software. A good deal of the software is commercial (or only runs on one operating
system) and few people have copies to test patches against.

(aside: someone pointed out that it would be nice to automate patch applying by 
generating trunk installs on the fly and applying patches to them, to enable less-
technically-minded people to contribute to testing.  Perhaps on [wpusertesting.com](http://wpusertesting.com)
or similar?)

We need to migrate from being reactionary to proactive!  While there are a couple
patches for 3.5, we may need a set of guidelines for a11yAccessibility 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) standards, the same way that we have php and
css guidelines.

It would be very useful to add a high-contrast theme for the admin 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..

We also need to emphasize the reasons to focus on accessibility — better SEO results
and marketing, for one. The W3CW3C The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international
community where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together
to develop Web standards.[https://www.w3.org/](https://www.w3.org/). has an article
on [the web accessibility business case](http://www.w3.org/WAI/bcase/Overview).

(aside: could we possibly include an 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. for toggling high contrast mode on 
or off?)

It would be nice if TwentyThirteen was designed accessible as a number one priority,
but how do we get there? We need someone to take responsibility.

Isaac Keyet mentions that mobile apps are mostly compliant, but it’s more dependent
on the platform that you’re on.

Drupal contacted the governments and asked what they needed to do to become fully
compliant. We need to get data / feedback that lists what we have already, and what
we need to be properly up to spec.

Standards — which ones should we focus on? There are multiple options.

Checklists to compare patches against would be really helpful! Accessibility is 
much more than that, but it’s a tool that could help devs not as familiar with Accessibility.
Not a solution.

Should we add a `not-accessible` or `needs-accessibility` tag in tracTrac Trac is
the place where contributors create issues for bugs or feature requests much like
GitHub.[https://core.trac.wordpress.org/](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/).? These
could make it easier and puts accessibility on the same level as UI or UXUX UX is
an acronym for User Experience - the way the user uses the UI. Think ‘what they 
are doing’ and less about how they do it.. It’s not a feature, it’s a core asset.

We need more accessibility talks at WordCamps … bring accessibility into the popular
mindset.

## TAKE AWAYS:

 * Add a section to the Handbook.
 * Add in some requirements for patches that they be tested against accessibility
   guidelines.
 * Need someone to take ownership for things going forward.
 * Page on .org talking about what certifications we meet.
 * Challenge TwentyThirteen to be designed with accessibility as it’s number one
   Priority.

## Action Item:

We want to add 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/](https://wordpress.org/)/
accessibility which will be a one stop shop for successes we’re having and ways 
people can get involved. This is partially inspired by [The Drupal Accessibility Page](http://drupal.org/about/accessibility).

[#a11y](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/tag/a11y/), [#accessibility](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/tag/accessibility/),
[#eu](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/tag/eu/), [#standards](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/tag/standards/)

### Share this:

 * [  Threads ](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/2012/12/03/accessibility/?share=threads)
 * [  Mastodon ](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/2012/12/03/accessibility/?share=mastodon)
 * [  Bluesky ](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/2012/12/03/accessibility/?share=bluesky)
 * [  Facebook ](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/2012/12/03/accessibility/?share=facebook)
 * [  X ](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/2012/12/03/accessibility/?share=x)
 * [  LinkedIn ](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/2012/12/03/accessibility/?share=linkedin)

### Like this:

Like Loading…

 1.  ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e3a3eab4b3c5018dbd30d88a0ff9f3305a1fd88ba058750298292aac4d3c7e23?
     s=32&d=mm&r=g)
 2.   [Joseph Karr O'Connot](http://accessiblejoe.com)  11:32 pm _on_ December 3, 2012
 3.  It is wonderful to read the notes from this discussion. Continuous improvement
     of 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) is needed and this post points to that being a reality. Thank you
     all very much for making this a priority, it is much appreciated.
 4.  ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/208fc79215fe2f85086543ab615ad1cc00f660b603b63973bd79b0dd6f8ad97f?
     s=32&d=mm&r=g)
 5.   [Kevinjohn Gallagher](http://kevinjohngallagher.com)  1:44 am _on_ December 4,
     2012
 6.  The big thing for me is to put 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) (and usability) at the forefront of 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. decisions.
 7.  This was a great discussion, but to took a while to get past the “but we fixed
     that in 3.5” viewpoint, without realising that it’d had been broken since 3.3 
     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. 1. 3.5 isn’t
     out yet, so it’s been a while year of being broken!
 8.  WP iterates so fast, and thats awesome, but it also comes with a huge risk that
     we focus on “cool looking stuff” over accessible features 🙂
 9.  ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/4f684f4cc972282de186d82860316d741081e106110096762e4b2588b3d5920a?
     s=32&d=mm&r=g)
 10.  [Graham Armfield](http://www.coolfields.co.uk)  8:47 am _on_ December 4, 2012
 11. This is excellent news. Just to echo what Joseph said – continuous improvement
     is vital – we can’t afford to stand still. Drupal have had a strong focus on a11yAccessibility
     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) for some time now and 
     substantial improvements have been made.
 12. I also agree with Kevinjohn, 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) needs to be fully at the forefront of 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. decisions and design.
     Designers and developers all need to understand what accessibility means and the
     benefits it brings.
 13. There have been many positive steps taken in the admin area in 3.5 but there is
     still much to do.
 14. I’m happy to play a part where I can.

Comments are closed.

# Post navigation

[← Education and Training Discussion](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/2012/11/23/education-and-training-discussion/)

[WordPress Global Communities →](https://make.wordpress.org/summit/2012/12/10/wordpress-global-communities/)