The Tangled Web We're Weaving: The Future of WordPress Accessibility

WordPress now powers over one third of all websites on the internet. The decisions that the WordPress community makes ripple out and make an impact on the ways people use the web, how web developers and designers do their work, and influence future technologies and development. That’s a lot of power in our hands – are we using it wisely? We have a responsibility to lead by example.

Let's explore the influence the WP community is having on accessibility and inclusive design, the things we’re neglecting, the impact that our decisions are having on people across the globe, and what we could be doing better.

Transcript

1. THE
   TANGLED WEB
   WE'RE WEAVING
   THE FUTURE OF WP ACCESSIBILITY
   N ATA L I E M a c L E E S
   ! @nataliemac
   digita11y
   Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash
   

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2. Accessibility 

   means making the 

   web usable for 

   people with disabilities.
   

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3. One in four adults in the U.S.
   has a disability that impacts 

   major life activities
   

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4. CAPACITY
   no mobility
   

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6. CAPACITY
   no mobility elite athletes
   ♂
   

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7. CAPACITY
   disability
   

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8. CAPACITY
   ♂
   

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9. On a long enough timeline,
   accessibility becomes
   important to everyone.
   JOHN BROWNLEE
   Why Accessibility Is the Future of Tech
   

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10. Permanent Temporary Situational
    " " "
    

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11. Accessibility 

    means making the 

    web usable for 

    people with disabilities.
    

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12. Accessibility 

    means making the 

    web usable for 

    everyone.
    

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13. WebAIM Million
    

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14. have identifiable
    accessibility errors
    98%
    have blocking
    accessibility issues
    60%
    

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15. Our lives are digital.
    

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16. Accessibility is 

    more important
    than ever
    

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17. We are
    leaving people behind.
    

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18. DEMOCRATIZE
    PUBLISHING
    

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19. WCAG 2.0 AA
    

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20. Two
    Things
    

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21. MOVE FAST AND
    BREAK THINGS
    

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22. We think that the current interface
    could be a ton more streamlined, but
    we’ve compromised a lot of the
    alternative approaches we’ve wanted
    to take based on accessibility
    feedback and trying to have a single
    interface that serves all types of users
    MATT MULLENWEG
    

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23. Accessibility
    requirements stifle
    innovation.
    

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24. Inclusive design
    encourages
    innovation without
    barriers.
    

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25. I would rather release it for the
    users who will find it usable (which
    should include many-but-not-all
    users of assistive technologies),
    and accept not everyone can use
    Gutenberg on Day One.
    MATTHEW MCPHERSON
    

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26. ...all of us who build the web
    collectively decided that we
    could ignore some people's
    needs so that the work
    could be done faster.
    WINSTON HEARN
    

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27. The web industry has
    collectively exercised its
    power to state that disabled
    people do not belong here.
    WINSTON HEARN
    

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28. Legal Lost Trust Fall Short
    # $ %
    

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29. SO
    WHERE
    DO WE BEGIN?
    

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30. ...make accessibility about
    real people, not guidelines.
    JONATHAN HASSELL
    

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31. Stop leaving
    accessibility
    for last
    

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32. ...a key thing we have to fix is
    the [accessibility] team
    working in a less adversarial
    way with all the other
    contributors to WordPress...
    MATT MULLENWEG
    

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33. …you need to fix the problem
    in the process not the
    product…
    JONATHAN HASSELL
    

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34. 31.2%
    of the top 1 million sites
    

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35. ATAG 2.0
    

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36. Sponsored 

    accessibility professionals
    

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37. Accessibility competence 

    on every team
    

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38. Accessible coding standards 

    extended to plugins & themes
    

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39. What kind of world are we building?
    

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40. The
    Toynbee
    Convector
    

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41. Those who say it cannot be
    done should not interrupt
    those doing it.
    UNKNOWN
    

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42. Thank You!
    Natalie MacLees
    hiredigitally.com
    Download presentation slides:
    speakerdeck.com/nataliemac
    &
    

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43. BIBLIOGRAPHY
    • Why Accessibility Is The Future of Tech, John Brownlee, https://modus.medium.com/
    why-accessibility-is-the-future-of-tech-a3f535cc4f0e
    • WebAIM Million https://webaim.org/projects/million
    • Perpetuating Harm, Winston Hearn, https://www.winstonhearn.com/wrote/2019/
    perpetuating-harm/
    • WordPress and ATAG compliance, Joe Dolson, https://www.slideshare.net/
    joedolson/wordpress-and-atag-compliance
    • Including your missing 20% by embedding web and mobile accessibility,
    Johnathan Hassell, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26099137-including-
    your-missing-20-by-embedding-web-and-mobile-accessibility
    • To Whom Does The Burden Fall, Anne Gibson, https://medium.com/the-
    interconnected/to-whom-does-the-burden-fall-7349f9cc11fd
    

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44. BIBLIOGRAPHY
    • https://make.wordpress.org/core/2018/10/18/regarding-accessibility-in-gutenberg/
    #comment-34198
    • https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/issues/10318#issuecomment-429106511
    • We are actively destroying the web, Chris Ferdinandi, https://gomakethings.com/
    we-are-actively-destroying-the-web/
    • A Model For WordPress Accessibility, Adrian Roselli, http://adrianroselli.com/
    2019/05/a-model-for-wordpress-accessibility.html
    • Fighting Uphill, Eric Bailey, https://ericwbailey.design/writing/2019-03-05-fighting-
    uphill.html
    • The Web We Broke, Ethan Marcotte, https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/the-web-we-
    broke/
    • Accessibility is a civil right, Marcy Sutton, https://marcysutton.com/accessibility-is-a-
    civil-right
    

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