Graham Armfield gave a presentation on making WordPress accessible. He discussed that while WordPress is a popular content management system, creating accessible websites on it can be challenging. Themes, plugins, and content all need to support accessibility. Many themes are not fully accessible, but some like Weaver II include useful features. Plugins can help or hinder accessibility. Content authors need training on making images, links, headings and other elements accessible. The WordPress admin interface also has accessibility issues. Overall, progress is being made but in an uncoordinated way.
In June 2009 we collaborated with the Centre for Food Policy in the School of Community and Health Sciences at City University to develop an online micro-module on sustainable development. The aim of the module was to introduce the subject of sustainability to all University students and staff members.
We approached this design task by carrying out various user research activities, which led to a number of conceptual prototypes before the final design was chosen and implemented. Discussions with the stakeholders led us to focus on the undergraduate students as our main target audience early on in the process.
This presentation lists the sustainability related iPhone apps we came across during the research stage of the project.
HCID 2014: 3D printing now and in the future. Martin Stevens & Trupti Patel, ...City University London
This talk is about why 3D is an important technology for kids to learn, the benefits it brings them and (after a brief summary of the history of 3D printing), where it is going and why it will be of great significance in their lifetimes, covering such sectors as fashion, aerospace, medicine, construction and space travel, finishing on whether 3D printers will end up in the home.
In June 2009 we collaborated with the Centre for Food Policy in the School of Community and Health Sciences at City University to develop an online micro-module on sustainable development. The aim of the module was to introduce the subject of sustainability to all University students and staff members.
We approached this design task by carrying out various user research activities, which led to a number of conceptual prototypes before the final design was chosen and implemented. Discussions with the stakeholders led us to focus on the undergraduate students as our main target audience early on in the process.
This presentation lists the sustainability related iPhone apps we came across during the research stage of the project.
HCID 2014: 3D printing now and in the future. Martin Stevens & Trupti Patel, ...City University London
This talk is about why 3D is an important technology for kids to learn, the benefits it brings them and (after a brief summary of the history of 3D printing), where it is going and why it will be of great significance in their lifetimes, covering such sectors as fashion, aerospace, medicine, construction and space travel, finishing on whether 3D printers will end up in the home.
This presentation was given at the Greenwich university "Talk web design" day, 11th January 2012. It discusses what open web standards are and why they are a better alternative to proprietary technologies, what the W3C is and how web standards are created, and what relationship the W3C has with the rest of the web community.
Open standards and open source mean open for business cms expo session mc-k...Cheryl McKinnon
Session delivered at CMSExpo May 2012 by Cheryl McKinnon. Session outlines the Web's 3 O's - open standards, open source and open data and their importance in the content management sector
My presentation from WordCamp Vegas 2012. In this presentation, I identify key parts of the WordPress community, highlight some core features of WordPress, and give resources for new users of WordPress.
WordPress is increasing in popularity within the world as a content management tool for producing and maintaining all kinds of websites - not just blogs. But is it possible to create accessible websites using WordPress. This presentation looks at the meaning of web accessibility, why it's important, and what factors can influence accessibility within the WordPress framework. I also cover how things are changing for the better within future releases of WordPress.
WordPress London - Favourite Plugins - March 2012Graham Armfield
The slides from my presentation on Favourite WordPress Plugins to WordPress London on March 1st 2012.
All the plugins come with recommendations from at least one member of the WordPress London meetup group.
ICONUK 2015: Files, files everywhere! Do you know where your organisations do...Femke Goedhart
As delivered on Sept 21st in London at ICONUK
session abstract: The good old 'document' might not be sexy anymore, it is still often the work horse of the organization. Containing most of our business information and knowledge and often being the preferred way of distribution by users, customers and partners alike. Traditionally we used formal document management tools and the 'good old' file share for storing documents but with collaboration tools like teamrooms, discussion databases and Quickr, the rise of Enterprise social Networking tools like IBM Connections and the ease with which users can get external tools like OneDrive, Dropbox and many others, a lot of that has become muddled. I will take you through some of the scenario's of modern document management, talk about the struggles of migration and give you tools and insights that can help you device a strategy to keep both your users as well as auditors happy.
HCID 2014: Join the geeks: why designers should contribute to Free and Open S...City University London
The Yocto Project is a set of tools to build customised versions of Linux for embedded products. What do you say? That you haven't understood a single word of that? Oh, don't worry: that means that you
are a normal HCI person. The Yocto Project is the most unlikely place on earth to find a designer of any kind, and yet,there is design life there. Why?
This presentation was given at the Greenwich university "Talk web design" day, 11th January 2012. It discusses what open web standards are and why they are a better alternative to proprietary technologies, what the W3C is and how web standards are created, and what relationship the W3C has with the rest of the web community.
Open standards and open source mean open for business cms expo session mc-k...Cheryl McKinnon
Session delivered at CMSExpo May 2012 by Cheryl McKinnon. Session outlines the Web's 3 O's - open standards, open source and open data and their importance in the content management sector
My presentation from WordCamp Vegas 2012. In this presentation, I identify key parts of the WordPress community, highlight some core features of WordPress, and give resources for new users of WordPress.
WordPress is increasing in popularity within the world as a content management tool for producing and maintaining all kinds of websites - not just blogs. But is it possible to create accessible websites using WordPress. This presentation looks at the meaning of web accessibility, why it's important, and what factors can influence accessibility within the WordPress framework. I also cover how things are changing for the better within future releases of WordPress.
WordPress London - Favourite Plugins - March 2012Graham Armfield
The slides from my presentation on Favourite WordPress Plugins to WordPress London on March 1st 2012.
All the plugins come with recommendations from at least one member of the WordPress London meetup group.
ICONUK 2015: Files, files everywhere! Do you know where your organisations do...Femke Goedhart
As delivered on Sept 21st in London at ICONUK
session abstract: The good old 'document' might not be sexy anymore, it is still often the work horse of the organization. Containing most of our business information and knowledge and often being the preferred way of distribution by users, customers and partners alike. Traditionally we used formal document management tools and the 'good old' file share for storing documents but with collaboration tools like teamrooms, discussion databases and Quickr, the rise of Enterprise social Networking tools like IBM Connections and the ease with which users can get external tools like OneDrive, Dropbox and many others, a lot of that has become muddled. I will take you through some of the scenario's of modern document management, talk about the struggles of migration and give you tools and insights that can help you device a strategy to keep both your users as well as auditors happy.
HCID 2014: Join the geeks: why designers should contribute to Free and Open S...City University London
The Yocto Project is a set of tools to build customised versions of Linux for embedded products. What do you say? That you haven't understood a single word of that? Oh, don't worry: that means that you
are a normal HCI person. The Yocto Project is the most unlikely place on earth to find a designer of any kind, and yet,there is design life there. Why?
HCID 2014: The Graphics Revolution and how Visual Effects became accessible t...City University London
A brief history of how the rapid advances in GPU technology have
allowed film makers and designers to create high end visual effects
using accessible computing technology, and how this has lead to the
normalisation of VFX in low to mid-range video productions.
Touching on software design & development and visual effects
processes, the talk will take the form of a brief introduction,
software demonstration and examples and Q&A session, examining
both backend and front end design considerations.
HCID 2014: Developing jewellery for the future. Dan Moller, Kovert Designs.City University London
Wearable Tech refers to electronic devices worn on the body. Almost all devices released to date are in the form of rubber fitness bands or smartwatches, both worn on the wrist. Whilst in its infancy, Wearable Tech has some innovative potential uses. Imagine being able to control any device in your home by the snap of a finger; unlock your door, car or computer just by touching it; be alerted if your stress level, heart rate or blood sugar level is abnormal or even allow your doctor to remotely administer medication if he sees your vitals drop.
We’re on the cusp of a new wave of electronics which will re-define the way people use technology. But fundamentally, people need to want to wear these devices. Whilst Samsung and Apple will no doubt take care of the early adopters and technology advocates who care about functionality and convenience, the fashion conscious consumer has yet to be accounted for. This is the gap in the market that Kovert will exploit through being not only a wearable tech company but also a fashion brand.
This talk is about how, as Designers, can we move beyond the need to
design a screen into everything and embrace physical interactions? Now computing is becoming ever more ubiquitous & entwined into our lives, surely an acceptable solution isn't to cover our world in icons & screens. There is an emerging trend of beautifully crafted products that are becoming the face of complex systems, yet they have no screen at all and still provide a rich suite of interactions that are easily accessible by the user. What tools are available to us as Interaction Designer’s to give us the courage to step away from our wireframes & start designing beautiful, engaging physical interactions?
HCID 2014: Defending users, helping businesses: the transactional aspects of ...City University London
The idea of 'designing for users’ is most appealing until business reality hits home: what the users want is work to discover, not what the Product Owner had in mind, what the competition is doing, too hard to build, and so much more. UX is often called at the last minute, in the hope that miracles can happen, “can you add some ux there, it’s not doing terribly well” being an oft-heard preamble to a conversation that’s likely to tumble down and capsize hopes and dreams. The practice of UX requires to support business reality whilst catering for, and sometimes defending users. I will share with you how I've ported my UX knowledge in the teams I've worked with to ensure UX doesn't become the costly harbinger of bad news, enemy of design, arch-enemy of tech and general spanner in the works. I’ll explain what worked and didn't work, the appropriate pace to grow UX in any environment and why HCI academics are the best card in my pocket.
HCID 2014: Film & broadcasting techniques applied to UX design. Rebeca Mirand...City University London
- Storytelling techniques along the research and design process.
- Elements of a story (Characters, plot, space, time)
How to create stories
- Creating characters from your users
- Using the plot as problem solving tool.
- Ordering the information to make sense for the viewer.
- Narrative types and uses
- Filming and broadcasting audiovisual techniques to tell your stories.
- Your user as a story creator
HCID2014: Using Sci-Fi to brainstorm ux. Oliver Shreeve, Spotless.City University London
Science Fiction can be source of inspiration when thinking and designing UX. From the icon gestural interface of Minority Report to the use of PADDs in Star Trek, writers and film makers have been lucky enough to come up with ideas that are both creative and realistic. This talk with cover a few examples as to how science fiction predicted current technology and behaviours, but also how to choose the right technology to draw inspiration from. The talk will also cover techniques to help get creative through the power of future thinking
HCID2014: In interfaces we trust? End user interactions with smart systems. D...City University London
There are many cutting-edge systems that learn from users and do something smart as a result. These systems are often reasonably reliable but they do make mistakes. This talk gives an overview of research that investigates what matters to trust as users interact and how we could design interfaces to support users better.
HCID2014: Evaluating the effects of a virtual communication environment for p...City University London
Overview and demonstration of the technology of a project investigating the use and efficacy of delivering conversation therapy in an on-line 3-D world to people with acquired language difficulties following stroke and brain injury. The project is currently running jointly between the schools of Human Computer Interaction and Language and Communication Science, here at City University London.
HCID2014: Adapting to responsive web design. Matt Gibson, Cyber-duckCity University London
We can no longer predict how people are accessing our websites
now, let alone in a few years’ time when the technology people use
to access the web will inevitably diverge even further and perhaps in
ways we haven’t even considered yet. Rather than seeing this unpredictability and lack of control as a problem, we should embrace
these ‘known unknowns’ and the inherent flexibility of the web.
Put simply, responsive web design is about being more flexible and assuming less about our users, from how they’re accessing our websites and what technology they’re using to their environment. This talk will discuss the four tenets of good responsive design: content parity, performance, future friendliness and accessibility against a backdrop of Matt's experiences designing and building responsive websites over the past 3 years with plenty of useful tips and takeaways along the way.
The aim of this presentation is to introduce the concept of accessibility, and will cover what is meant by being accessible, why it’s important, who is affected, and how you can incorporate accessibility into your design, development and planning. There will be particular focus on the practical aspects of testing for accessibility.
HCID2014: How to involve children in design. Monica Ferraro, City University ...City University London
What are the advantages and challenges inherent in working with children in the design process for creating games or apps? How do you stop them getting bored, and get useful information?
This case study looks in detail at a project that tried to do just that, and provides some handy tips at the end.
The case study builds on the speaker's dissertation, Designing applications for children, that was submitted as part of the Masters course in Human-Centred Systems at City University London in September 2012. For the dissertation, she worked with children aged 4-5 years old to design an iPad application to learn the names and sounds of the letters, and to read and spell simple words.
Observability Concepts EVERY Developer Should Know -- DeveloperWeek Europe.pdfPaige Cruz
Monitoring and observability aren’t traditionally found in software curriculums and many of us cobble this knowledge together from whatever vendor or ecosystem we were first introduced to and whatever is a part of your current company’s observability stack.
While the dev and ops silo continues to crumble….many organizations still relegate monitoring & observability as the purview of ops, infra and SRE teams. This is a mistake - achieving a highly observable system requires collaboration up and down the stack.
I, a former op, would like to extend an invitation to all application developers to join the observability party will share these foundational concepts to build on:
Generative AI Deep Dive: Advancing from Proof of Concept to ProductionAggregage
Join Maher Hanafi, VP of Engineering at Betterworks, in this new session where he'll share a practical framework to transform Gen AI prototypes into impactful products! He'll delve into the complexities of data collection and management, model selection and optimization, and ensuring security, scalability, and responsible use.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 5DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 5. In this session, we will cover CI/CD with devops.
Topics covered:
CI/CD with in UiPath
End-to-end overview of CI/CD pipeline with Azure devops
Speaker:
Lyndsey Byblow, Test Suite Sales Engineer @ UiPath, Inc.
GraphSummit Singapore | The Future of Agility: Supercharging Digital Transfor...Neo4j
Leonard Jayamohan, Partner & Generative AI Lead, Deloitte
This keynote will reveal how Deloitte leverages Neo4j’s graph power for groundbreaking digital twin solutions, achieving a staggering 100x performance boost. Discover the essential role knowledge graphs play in successful generative AI implementations. Plus, get an exclusive look at an innovative Neo4j + Generative AI solution Deloitte is developing in-house.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
Dr. Sean Tan, Head of Data Science, Changi Airport Group
Discover how Changi Airport Group (CAG) leverages graph technologies and generative AI to revolutionize their search capabilities. This session delves into the unique search needs of CAG’s diverse passengers and customers, showcasing how graph data structures enhance the accuracy and relevance of AI-generated search results, mitigating the risk of “hallucinations” and improving the overall customer journey.
Encryption in Microsoft 365 - ExpertsLive Netherlands 2024Albert Hoitingh
In this session I delve into the encryption technology used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. Including the concepts of Customer Key and Double Key Encryption.
Pushing the limits of ePRTC: 100ns holdover for 100 daysAdtran
At WSTS 2024, Alon Stern explored the topic of parametric holdover and explained how recent research findings can be implemented in real-world PNT networks to achieve 100 nanoseconds of accuracy for up to 100 days.
State of ICS and IoT Cyber Threat Landscape Report 2024 previewPrayukth K V
The IoT and OT threat landscape report has been prepared by the Threat Research Team at Sectrio using data from Sectrio, cyber threat intelligence farming facilities spread across over 85 cities around the world. In addition, Sectrio also runs AI-based advanced threat and payload engagement facilities that serve as sinks to attract and engage sophisticated threat actors, and newer malware including new variants and latent threats that are at an earlier stage of development.
The latest edition of the OT/ICS and IoT security Threat Landscape Report 2024 also covers:
State of global ICS asset and network exposure
Sectoral targets and attacks as well as the cost of ransom
Global APT activity, AI usage, actor and tactic profiles, and implications
Rise in volumes of AI-powered cyberattacks
Major cyber events in 2024
Malware and malicious payload trends
Cyberattack types and targets
Vulnerability exploit attempts on CVEs
Attacks on counties – USA
Expansion of bot farms – how, where, and why
In-depth analysis of the cyber threat landscape across North America, South America, Europe, APAC, and the Middle East
Why are attacks on smart factories rising?
Cyber risk predictions
Axis of attacks – Europe
Systemic attacks in the Middle East
Download the full report from here:
https://sectrio.com/resources/ot-threat-landscape-reports/sectrio-releases-ot-ics-and-iot-security-threat-landscape-report-2024/
Essentials of Automations: The Art of Triggers and Actions in FMESafe Software
In this second installment of our Essentials of Automations webinar series, we’ll explore the landscape of triggers and actions, guiding you through the nuances of authoring and adapting workspaces for seamless automations. Gain an understanding of the full spectrum of triggers and actions available in FME, empowering you to enhance your workspaces for efficient automation.
We’ll kick things off by showcasing the most commonly used event-based triggers, introducing you to various automation workflows like manual triggers, schedules, directory watchers, and more. Plus, see how these elements play out in real scenarios.
Whether you’re tweaking your current setup or building from the ground up, this session will arm you with the tools and insights needed to transform your FME usage into a powerhouse of productivity. Join us to discover effective strategies that simplify complex processes, enhancing your productivity and transforming your data management practices with FME. Let’s turn complexity into clarity and make your workspaces work wonders!
Essentials of Automations: The Art of Triggers and Actions in FME
HCID 2012 - Graham Armfield
1. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
Harnessing Themes, Plugins and
Features to Make WordPress
Accessible
Graham Armfield
Coolfields Consulting
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
2. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
Introduction
Wordpress
– Increasingly popular platform for websites
– Originally a blogging tool but now a true
Content Management System (CMS)
– Useful for business websites of many types
Q. But can you create accessible websites
using WordPress?
2
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
3. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
What Makes Up a WordPress Site?
Theme
• The overall page template
Plugins
• Extra functionality for specific tasks
Content
• What you want the world to see
3
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
4. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Themes
4
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
5. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Themes
– Thousands available – free and premium
– Many/most are blog orientated
– Many are hideously out of date
– Bespoke themes can be built from designs
• This is what many developers do – including me
5
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
6. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Themes contd
Q. So are there themes that include or
enable accessible features?
A. Of the useful themes, many have some
good practices but very few get close to
delivering ‘full accessibility’
6
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
7. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Themes contd
WordPress Default Themes
– Twentyten
– Twentyeleven
Many sites are built with these themes –
using the customisation options
7
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
8. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Themes contd
Weaver II
– Advantages
• extremely configurable
• suits business websites,
• also includes many useful a11y features – skip links etc
– Disadvantage –
• extremely configurable means huge learning curve so
potentially hard work for anyone who is not a
developer.
• still not perfect from accessibility perspective
8
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
9. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Themes contd
Others alleged to be accessible
– Temple Gate – configurable, suits small
sites, blog orientated
– Dodo – suitable for blogs only, submenus not
shown properly
– VeryPlainText – no visual focus
– Precious – blogs only, poor visual focus
– Whitepress - submenus not shown properly
– So not much of any use there
9
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
10. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
My Future Theme Project
To build a theme that is:
• As accessible as I can get it
• Sufficiently configurable but not too complex
• That suits needs of small businesses
• That can be used for blogs and brochureware
sites
10
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
11. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Plugins
11
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
12. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Plugins
Q: So what are plugins?
A: Nuggets of extra functionality that can
be added to existing WordPress sites.
Many are free, but there are also premium
ones
12
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
13. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Plugins contd
Q: So are there useful plugins that don’t
compromise accessibility?
A: Fortunately yes.
– Relevanssi – improved search capability
– Platinum SEO Pack – SEO for your site
– Breadcrumb NavXT – breadcrumb trail
– Plus others
13
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
14. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Plugins contd
Q: And any plugins that do compromise
accessibility?
A: Unfortunately yes.
– Lightboxes – where does focus go?
– Carousel/slider – keyboard focus, movement
– Form builders – form elements without labels
– Etc, etc
14
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
15. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Plugins contd
Q: Any accessibility-related plugins?
A: Not many.
– Remove title attributes
– Wp-chgfontsize
– Accessible tag cloud
– Myreadmore
– Plus my own…
15
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
16. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Plugins contd
My own plugin projects
– Accessible dropdown menus – v0.1
– Accessible social bookmarks – v0.2
– Accessible admin menus – v0.1
– Accessible lightbox – designed
– Accessible carousel – some way off
16
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
17. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Content
17
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
18. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
Content Authors
Images and
alternate text
18
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
19. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
Content Authors contd
Links and link text Opening new windows
19
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
20. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
Content Authors contd
Using headings
20
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
21. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
Content Authors contd
Lists
If it’s a list of items
– use the list
capability
Video
Avoid auto-start
Add captions (easier
said than done)
21
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
22. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Admin
Screens
22
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
23. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Admin
Q: How accessible is the WordPress Admin
backend?
A: Patchy – and can be a huge barrier in
some areas
23
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
24. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Admin contd
Q: What are WordPress developers doing to
help??
A: Progress is sporadic and uncoordinated
24
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
25. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
WordPress Admin contd
Plugins can help mitigate
25
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
26. #hcid2012
City University London, 12th April 2012
Any Questions
26
www.coolfields.co.uk
Coolfields Consulting @coolfields
Editor's Notes
Statistics indicate that over 5 million sites worldwide are built upon WordPressInformation from W3Techs shows that WordPress is used to power over 15% of the world’s one million largest websites and over 54% of all websites using a CMS.WordPress.org reports that 22 out of every 100 new active domains in the US are running WordPress, and the popularity of WordPress can be seen in Google Trends.
Going to focus mainly on accessibility of the front end – ie accessibility of the website as rendered by WordPressBut I’m also going to cover the accessibility of the admin back end - the screens that people use to maintain their WordPress site.
Choosing the right theme is the first part of the success or failure in our quest to produce an accessible websiteBlog orientated – betrays WordPress’ roots as a blogging tool.Out of date – don’t support newer features like custom menus or static home page, so can’t be used for brochureware sites
Accessibility features can be baked in to the page templates at this stage or they can be left out.Most themes typically do not take accessibility into account – and in many casestheme developers probably only get it right by accident. Premium themes are no better in this regard – and can often be worse as they are often geared up for magazine or portfolio sites with lots of functionality which can be inaccessible – flash, ajax calls etc
A brand new installation of WordPress will give you two default themes 'twentyten' and the newer 'twentyeleven' – a truly HTML5 theme. These themes are updated from time to time with new WordPress releases.Many people use the default themes as the basis for their site as there are a number of customisation options available (Demonstrate – use church site + flowers)Good NewsThe default WordPress themes are not too bad from an accessibility perspective and they're gradually getting better. Bad NewsUnfortunately there are still some issues that could be better. Examples:Fixed font size in content in twentytenSome colour contrast issues in twentytenKeyboard accessibility – menus still true in both (demonstrate)Search box label missing in twentyten but OK in twentelevenRead more links (demonstrate)Title attributes everywhere (demonstrate)
Weaver II is a free, highly featured theme. A premium version is available that offers even more configuration.
Could take a while but have started on design.
The second opportunity to affect the level of accessibility of a website
The functionality normally covers specific needs – eg SEO, Search, Backup, Maintenance, Social Media integration.More extensive ones (and typically more expensive) – eCommerce, Membership sites, etcPlugins can typically 'monkey around' with the HTML that is generated by the site's theme and is being delivered to the browser. So the plugin functionality can add to or subtract from the level of accessibility of a website.
Demo - lightbox, carousel
Demo – remove title attributes, chgfontsizechgFontSize only works successfully with themes where fixed fonts are not present. You also need to know a suitable container id to get it to work – beyond some people’s capability.
Demo – dropdown menus, social bookmarks
Content authors are the third strand in creating an accessible WordPress siteWordPress supports many features that authors can put in to ensure accessibility
Visibility of focus has improved but still could be much better (demo)Nonsensical links - 5 pagesTab order can be confusingSome skip links would be usefulSome disabled users have learned how to use the backend as it was fairly constant over a period of time. They'd know that the 3rd link from the top was the Profile menu option etc. But with v 3.3 there were some UI changes that have forced people to relearn the screens.Blind users may disable the visual (WYSIWYG) editor as this is hard to use with a screen reader – demo. It helps if you know a bit of HTML.Sighted keyboard users can have a frustrating time because of the lack of visible focus in key areas. It is also v difficult or impossible to tab to key bits of functionality – eg adding images into posts or pages.
A few WP developers have some basic knowledge of accessibility and a desire to incorporate it, but most don't.Within WP releases there is often a request for an accessibility review right at the end of the development process. This is really the opposite of what should happen as a11y needs to be built in from the start. There isn't much evidence that the suggestions that are received are implemented. WP developers feel they've be burned by 'accessibility experts' in the past and are suspicious as a result. My view is that it's a fundamental lack of understanding of how disabled users use the web – and significantly that different groups of disabled users have different needs.
Demo – Accessible Admin Menus pluginBut then show tab order