Theme developers may request an optional 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) review as part of the theme review process or later for an existing theme. Submitted themes (or theme updates) that pass a manual review are approved to use the accessibility-ready tag and show up in the theme directory as accessibility-ready.
How to be “Accessibility Ready”
Adding the accessibility-ready tag is a great way to show that you include web accessibility in your theme. The accessibility-ready guidelines are listed and explained with the “Theme accessibility guidelines” in the Accessibility Team’s documentation site.Â
Next to the guidelines itself you can find there information about how to document accessibility and how to test themes for the accessibility-ready tag.
You are encouraged to exceed these accessibility requirements; these are the minimum requirements for the tag.
How to request an accessibility review
Requesting an accessibility review for a new theme
To request an accessibility review for a new theme, add the accessibility-ready tag to the theme before you submit it for review.
Submitted themes that use the tag accessibility-ready will undergo an accessibility review as part of the initial theme approval process. Themes with this tag may not be made live in the theme repository until they have passed an accessibility audit.
Requesting an accessibility review of a live theme
If you want an accessibility-ready review for a theme that is already approved, log into the WordPress.org account associated with the theme author and submit the form to request an accessibility-review.
A member of the accessibility team will review your theme and provide feedback about any necessary changes. Do not add the accessibility-ready tag to your theme without prior approval. Adding this tag to your theme without passing an accessibility audit could result in suspension from the directory.
Accessibility-Ready Review Process
Accessibility reviews are completed by a member of the accessibility team.
When Reviews Happen
First-time reviews are triggered by request as described above.
When an existing theme with an accessibility-ready tag is updated, the theme is sorted into the accessibility queue on the Trac repository. This may also trigger a re-review of the theme. Themes with the accessibility-ready tag may be re-reviewed at any time.
Review Feedback
Once the accessibility review is completed, the theme author will receive a message on their theme Trac ticket. This message will have either:
- Approval to use the tag, or
- A description of the required fixes before the tag can be used.
Did your theme fail the accessibility audit?
If a reviewer finds accessibility issues in your theme that need to be fixed, you will have the opportunity to update your theme to meet the accessibility guidelines or to remove the accessibility-ready tag.
New themes that fail the accessibility review but do not want to make fixes can still be approved for addition to the Theme Repository, but must remove the tag before they can be made live.
Live themes that fail the accessibility review must fix issues promptly or remove the accessibility-ready tag. If the theme author fails to make adequate corrections promptly, it could result in suspension from the directory.
Did your theme pass the accessibility audit?
Congratulations! Your theme can be found under the accessibility-ready tag.
