Wordcamp Ottawa 2014 - WordPress Accessibility

1. WordPress Accessibility
The focus of my presentation will be on WordPress and website
accessibility; from a front-end perspective. I will cover WCAG 2.0
guidelines that will assist developers in understanding why and how to
make their WordPress websites more accessible to people with sight,
hearing, motor, and other challenges. I will also present some valuable
website and WordPress resources, plugins and various techniques
that developers can use to meet web accessibility compliance.
Building WordPress websites that
EVERYONE can use
Jordan Quintal WORDPRESS ACCESSIBILITY www.thegenius.ca @GeniusWebMedia

2. Who Am I?...
Well...I'm Jordan Quintal...and I LOVE WordPress
I've been developing websites with it for over 7 years now...
I am the current President and original
Founder of The Genius Web Media Inc.
A Toronto based Web Development studio.
We have been in operation for over 5 years.
I also Founded AgentAccelerate in 2012.
There, we supply the best WordPress
+ CREA DDF® plugins and websites.
I have attended dozens of WordCamp's across North America, and have had the pleasure of speaking at:
WordCamp Toronto 2012 / 2013 WordCamp Ottawa 2013 / 2014 WordCamp Buffalo 2013
I am currently on the organizing committee for the Toronto WordPress Group - - - www.wptoronto.com
And recently added as a contributor to the WP A11Y Group - - - Jordan_TheGenius
Jordan Quintal WORDPRESS ACCESSIBILITY www.thegenius.ca @GeniusWebMedia

3. What is Web Accessibility?
According to the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative...
http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility.php
Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web. More specifically, Web accessibility
means that people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate, and interact with the Web, and that
they can contribute to the Web.
According to Wikipedia's Web Accessibility page...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_accessibility
Web accessibility refers to the inclusive practice of removing barriers that prevent access to websites by
people with disabilities. When sites are correctly designed, developed and edited, all users have equal
access to information and functionality.
The needs that Web accessibility aims to address include:

Visual: Visual impairments including blindness, various types of low vision and poor eyesight, various types of color blindness; etc.

Motor/Mobility: e.g. difficulty or inability to use the hands, including tremors, muscle slowness, loss of fine muscle control, etc., due to
conditions such as Parkinson's Disease, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, stroke; etc.

Auditory: Deafness or hearing impairments, including individuals who are hard of hearing; etc.

Seizures: Photoepileptic seizures caused by visual strobe or flashing effects.

Cognitive/Intellectual: Developmental disabilities, learning disabilities (dyslexia, dyscalculia, etc.), and cognitive disabilities of various
origins, affecting memory, attention, developmental "maturity," problem-solving and logic skills, etc.
Jordan Quintal WORDPRESS ACCESSIBILITY www.thegenius.ca @GeniusWebMedia

4. Why is Web Accessibility so important?

1,050,000,000 people in the WORLD are disabled, according to the World Health Organization.

In Canada, the disability rate is roughly 14.3%, meaning that over 4.4 million Canadians, have a disability.

Today, 15.5% of Ontario's population have a disability.
Lucky for us...The provincial government has been making extended efforts to make Ontario
a more “disability-friendly” place for individuals and businesses alike.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA) became law on June 13, 2005. Under this landmark legislation,
the government of Ontario will develop mandatory accessibility standards that will identify, remove and prevent barriers for
people with disabilities in key areas of daily living. The standards will apply to private and public sector organizations across Ontario.
Most applicable standard provided by the AODA:

Accessible Information and Communications standards to address the removal of barriers in access
to information. The standards could include information being provided in person, through print, a website or other means.
Obligated organizations shall meet the requirements of this section according to the following schedule:
1. For the Government of Ontario and the Legislative Assembly, January 1, 2012.
2. For large designated public sector organizations, January 1, 2013.
3. For small designated public sector organizations, January 1, 2014.
4. For large organizations, January 1, 2014.
5. For small organizations, January 1, 2015.
Jordan Quintal WORDPRESS ACCESSIBILITY www.thegenius.ca @GeniusWebMedia

5. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
(WCAG) 2.0
Principle 1: Perceivability - Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways
they can perceive.
Which includes: Text Alternatives, Time-based Media, Adaptable Content, and Distinguishable Content
Principle 2: Operability - User interface components and navigation must be operable.
Which includes: Keyboard Accessibility, Time Allowance, Seizures Prevention, and Navigable Interfaces
Principle 3: Understandability - Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.
Which includes: Readability, Predictability, and Input Assistance
Principle 4: Robustness - Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety
of user agents, including assistive technologies.
Which includes: Compatibility
Read more at → http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/
Jordan Quintal WORDPRESS ACCESSIBILITY www.thegenius.ca @GeniusWebMedia

6. Web Accessibility Tools
This first tool was built by a Toronto based Web Accessibility organization:
http://www.essentialaccessibility.com/
eSSENTIAL Accessibility™ helps organizations of all kinds represent their brands meaningfully in the disability community.
When you join the global Disability Community Involvement Initiative, you positively impact many audiences—employees,
customers and other stakeholders—reinforcing your connection with advocacy groups and people touched by disability everywhere.
eSSENTIAL Accessibility™ is an innovative way of providing people with disabilities the tools they need to connect via the Web.
Clicking the icon enables visitors to download the assistive technology they require free of charge—a turnkey solution that's
active in a matter of seconds. No website modification is required and there are no system integration, IT maintenance or
security issues to manage. All functionality is client-based with updates hosted on eSSENTIAL Accessibility™ servers.
The second tool is the most popular website Accessibility evaluation tool available:
http://wave.webaim.org/
WAVE is a free, web-based tool to help web developers make their web content more accessible. WAVE allows anyone to quickly
and effectively evaluate the accessibility of their web content.
The third tool is another very popular website Accessibility evaluation tool:
http://achecker.ca/checker/index.php
AChecker is a FREE, web-based tool. This tool checks single HTML pages for conformance with accessibility standards to ensure the
content can be accessed by everyone.
Jordan Quintal WORDPRESS ACCESSIBILITY www.thegenius.ca @GeniusWebMedia

7. WordPress Accessibility Tools
WordPress - with a high quality theme - works right out of the box to help you keep your site accessible.
A great deal of the work is done for you but you still have to take the time and patience to maintain those
accessibility standards when creating your content.
There is a long list of useful WordPress tools that can help any developer optimize a website for total Accessibility.
Here is a featured WordPress Accessibility tool created by WP-A11Y member Joe Dolson:
WP Accessibility - http://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-accessibility/
This plug-in helps correct a variety of common accessibility problems in WordPress themes. While most accessibility issues can't be
addressed without directly changing your theme, WP Accessibility adds a number of helpful accessibility features with the minimum
amount of setup or expert knowledge.
Here is a another WordPress Accessibility tool created by Web-Durado:
Zoom - http://wordpress.org/plugins/zoom-widget/
Zoom is a small smart solution for improving your web site attractiveness. WordPress Zoom plugin enables site users to resize the
predefined areas of the web site.
You can find more WordPress Accessibility tools, Web Accessibility tools, and evaluation tools, as recommended by the WP_A11Y
Group, here → https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/useful-tools/
Jordan Quintal WORDPRESS ACCESSIBILITY www.thegenius.ca @GeniusWebMedia