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Re: Accessible WordPress?

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From: Jared Smith
Date: Mar 20, 2007 10:00PM

On 3/20/07, Mike Osborne - AccEase wrote:
> I'm looking to set up a blog using Word Press.
> Any accessibility gotchas or key things I should look out for with this blog software?

Wordpress is quite accessible out of the box. We've been quite happy
with it for our blog - http://webaim.org/blog/ If you're at least a
bit comfortable with PHP, it's relatively easy to incorporate into
your own site without the need for themes. This gives you the most
control over the accessibility of it. In short, Wordpress itself is
very accessible - it's the implementations of Wordpress in various
themes and plugins that introduce accessibility issues.

The admin interface does have a few issues. It can be fairly complex
and the authoring toolbar isn't fully accessible. It also does not
enforce accessibility (e.g., you can add images without alt text, use
big text instead of headers, etc.).

It sounds like you're doing the right things - you're concerned about
accessibility, you're testing it, and you're seeking out ways to make
it better. Fortunately, Wordpress makes it quite easy to maintain that
accessibility.

Jared Smith
WebAIM.org