Originally started in 2020 by the WordPress core Accessibility Team, WP Accessibility Day is now an independent event volunteer organized by members of the Accessibility Team and other community members. Our mission is to demystify website accessibility for WordPress developers, designers, content creators, and users so that they can more easily build websites that work for everyone, regardless of ability.
What is website accessibility?
An accessible website is one that has been coded and had content entered in a way that it can be used by people with disabilities and who may use assistive technology to navigate the web. Over 1 billion people worldwide have a disability of one type or another, many of which can make it challenging to use websites that are poorly coded or have not had special attention paid to how content is entered.
Who benefits from accessibility on the web?
Examples of disabilities that can cause challenges in navigating or interacting with content on the web include:
- blindness or visual impairments,
- deafness or hearing loss,
- motor challenges ranging from loss of a limb to quadriplegia to the tremors and arthritis that are common as people age,
- cognitive disabilities related to conditions people are born with or traumatic brain injuries that happen later in life,
- epilepsy,
- motion sickness,
- reading difficulties such as dyslexia,
- and more…
There are also broad groups of people who do not identify as disabled but who also benefit from accessible features on the web. Accessible websites are easier for translation tools to accurately translate into another language. They have good color contrast which makes them easier to read for all people, especially on a mobile phone outside in the sun. And, they frequently have less JavaScript and animations that can slow download times and hurt search engine optimization.
Accessible websites benefit everyone.
How the Event Works
WP Accessibility Day is a 24-hour event with presenters from around the world. There will be a single track of about 24-27 presentations. Attendees can register for free and watch live streams of talks in a Zoom webinar.
We’re prioritizing accessibility to ensure everyone has access to the presentations. We provide live captioning and American Sign Language (ASL) Interpretation for attendees who need it. After the event, recordings will be available on the WP Accessibility Day YouTube channel with corrected captions and on this website with captions and full transcripts.
For examples of past talks, visit our past events page.