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Number of posts in this thread: 9 (In chronological order)
From: Jared Smith
Date: Aug 22, 2025 3:11PM
Subject: Decommissioning the WebAIM email discussion list
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It is with sadness that I share that effective next Wednesday, August 27th, this email list will be shut down.
Unfortunately with modern spam filters and complex and inane requirements for sending bulk emails (especially on behalf of others) it has simply become untenable for us to maintain the list. Many of the major email providers are currently blocking all list messages from being delivered and no suitable resolution has been achieved with them. Our hardware – which has sent 10s of millions of emails – is nearing its end of life. We have also seen a drop in participation and content quality in recent years. We’re very sad to see it go, but it is time.
The WebAIM list was started almost 26 years ago with a small group of WebAIM staff members conversing back and forth. Since then there have been nearly 50,000 distinct messages distributed to thousands of subscribers. Once described as “the water cooler of web accessibility”, the list has provided invaluable information sharing and collaboration. The list archives (https://webaim.org/discussion/archives) will be maintained to provide ongoing access to this body of knowledge. WebAIM also hosts a blog (https://webaim.org/blog/), monthly newsletter (https://webaim.org/newsletter/), and will host another WebAIM online conference (https://conference.webaim.org/) next month – all to support the incredible WebAIM community.
We’re grateful to all of you for your participation over the years!
Jared Smith
Director, WebAIM
From: Ilana Gordon
Date: Aug 22, 2025 3:13PM
Subject: Re: Decommissioning the WebAIM email discussion list
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Hi Jared,
That is really a shame. There have been so many times where reaching out to
the list has been so helpful.
Thanks for 26 years of making it work.
Regards,
Ilana
On Fri, Aug 22, 2025 at 5:11 PM Jared Smith via WebAIM-Forum <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> It is with sadness that I share that effective next Wednesday, August
> 27th, this email list will be shut down.
>
> Unfortunately with modern spam filters and complex and inane requirements
> for sending bulk emails (especially on behalf of others) it has simply
> become untenable for us to maintain the list. Many of the major email
> providers are currently blocking all list messages from being delivered and
> no suitable resolution has been achieved with them. Our hardware – which
> has sent 10s of millions of emails – is nearing its end of life. We have
> also seen a drop in participation and content quality in recent years.
> We’re very sad to see it go, but it is time.
>
> The WebAIM list was started almost 26 years ago with a small group of
> WebAIM staff members conversing back and forth. Since then there have been
> nearly 50,000 distinct messages distributed to thousands of subscribers.
> Once described as “the water cooler of web accessibility”, the list has
> provided invaluable information sharing and collaboration. The list
> archives (https://webaim.org/discussion/archives) will be maintained to
> provide ongoing access to this body of knowledge. WebAIM also hosts a blog (
> https://webaim.org/blog/), monthly newsletter (
> https://webaim.org/newsletter/), and will host another WebAIM online
> conference (https://conference.webaim.org/) next month – all to support
> the incredible WebAIM community.
>
> We’re grateful to all of you for your participation over the years!
>
> Jared Smith
> Director, WebAIM
>
>
>
--
Ilana Gordon
CEO
Word Wizards, Inc
8609 2nd Avenue, Unit 406-B
Silver Spring, MD 20910
*v.*301-986-0808 *fax.*301-986-0809
*Direct: 240-380-2639*
www.wordwizardsinc.com
From: Hayman, Douglass
Date: Aug 22, 2025 3:16PM
Subject: Re: - Decommissioning the WebAIM email discussion list
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Nooooo! Could it move to a mailman list? When I was at UW we had at least 90 lists we ran and I think that Athen is still hosted there. I'm no longer there and instead across Puget Sound but perhaps one of the people still in Accessible Technology services would host?
Doug Hayman
IT Accessibility Coordinator
Information Technology
Olympic College
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
(360) 475-7632
From: Steve Green
Date: Aug 22, 2025 3:17PM
Subject: Re: Decommissioning the WebAIM email discussion list
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That's very sad. I participate in a few other discussion forums such as IAAP and WCAG GitHub, but WebAIM has a different vibe and has members I don't see elsewhere. It would be interesting to hear which other forums people participate in.
Steve Green
Managing Director
Test Partners Ltd
From: Ryan E. Benson
Date: Aug 22, 2025 3:39PM
Subject: Re: Decommissioning the WebAIM email discussion list
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I am in a number Google Groups that are on this topic, but they have been
dead for 10+ years. There's a number of groups on Facebook, and subreddits.
--
Ryan E. Benson
On Fri, Aug 22, 2025 at 5:26 PM Steve Green via WebAIM-Forum <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> That's very sad. I participate in a few other discussion forums such as
> IAAP and WCAG GitHub, but WebAIM has a different vibe and has members I
> don't see elsewhere. It would be interesting to hear which other forums
> people participate in.
>
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
>
From: Dean.Vasile---
Date: Aug 22, 2025 6:15PM
Subject: Re: Decommissioning the WebAIM email discussion list
← Previous message | Next message →
Wow, Jared
I only found this list maybe about two years ago.
I’m sad to see it go but thank you for doing all that you did for all these years
Dean Vasile
IAAP, CPACC
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED =
617-799-1162
> On Aug 22, 2025, at 5:11 PM, Jared Smith via WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
>
> It is with sadness that I share that effective next Wednesday, August 27th, this email list will be shut down.
>
> Unfortunately with modern spam filters and complex and inane requirements for sending bulk emails (especially on behalf of others) it has simply become untenable for us to maintain the list. Many of the major email providers are currently blocking all list messages from being delivered and no suitable resolution has been achieved with them. Our hardware – which has sent 10s of millions of emails – is nearing its end of life. We have also seen a drop in participation and content quality in recent years. We’re very sad to see it go, but it is time.
>
> The WebAIM list was started almost 26 years ago with a small group of WebAIM staff members conversing back and forth. Since then there have been nearly 50,000 distinct messages distributed to thousands of subscribers. Once described as “the water cooler of web accessibility”, the list has provided invaluable information sharing and collaboration. The list archives (https://webaim.org/discussion/archives) will be maintained to provide ongoing access to this body of knowledge. WebAIM also hosts a blog (https://webaim.org/blog/), monthly newsletter (https://webaim.org/newsletter/), and will host another WebAIM online conference (https://conference.webaim.org/) next month – all to support the incredible WebAIM community.
>
> We’re grateful to all of you for your participation over the years!
>
> Jared Smith
> Director, WebAIM
>
>
From: Joshua Hori
Date: Aug 22, 2025 6:17PM
Subject: Re: Decommissioning the WebAIM email discussion list
← Previous message | Next message →
Athen has recently moved to google groups as UW also closed down their listservs. Sad to see WebAIM go but thankful for bringing us all together over the years.
Best,
Joshua Hori
Get Outlook for Android<https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
From: WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > on behalf of Ryan E. Benson via WebAIM-Forum < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Sent: Friday, August 22, 2025 2:40:09 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Cc: Ryan E. Benson < = EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Decommissioning the WebAIM email discussion list
I am in a number Google Groups that are on this topic, but they have been
dead for 10+ years. There's a number of groups on Facebook, and subreddits.
--
Ryan E. Benson
On Fri, Aug 22, 2025 at 5:26 PM Steve Green via WebAIM-Forum <
= EMAIL ADDRESS REMOVED = > wrote:
> That's very sad. I participate in a few other discussion forums such as
> IAAP and WCAG GitHub, but WebAIM has a different vibe and has members I
> don't see elsewhere. It would be interesting to hear which other forums
> people participate in.
>
> Steve Green
> Managing Director
> Test Partners Ltd
>
From: Philip Kiff
Date: Aug 22, 2025 7:56PM
Subject: Re: Decommissioning the WebAIM email discussion list
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This is indeed sad news, Jared. Though understandable, given the
challenges of mailing lists these days, and the other reasons you mention.
I cannot express strongly enough how grateful I am to you and the WebAIM
team for starting this list and keeping it going all these years. It is
not often that anything on the web lasts more than 5 years, let alone
more than 25.
I just checked my files, and I see that I first subscribed to this list
around 2002-2003 - they year when I first started to learn about web
accessibility. My first post was in 2004. Since then, I have learned
more about accessibility from this list and its members than from any
other single source on the web. It has served as a virtual community for
me, and a vast, detailed archive of (sometimes obscure, and sometimes
arcane!) knowledge on all kinds of accessibility issues.
A sincere, deeply felt, thank you. I know that WebAIM will continue to
do great work moving forward, and I will no doubt consult the archives
for many years to come, but this list and its community and collective
knowledge will be sorely missed.
Philip Kiff
D4K Communications
On 2025-08-22 5:11 p.m., Jared Smith via WebAIM-Forum wrote:
> It is with sadness that I share that effective next Wednesday, August 27th, this email list will be shut down.
>
> Unfortunately with modern spam filters and complex and inane requirements for sending bulk emails (especially on behalf of others) it has simply become untenable for us to maintain the list. Many of the major email providers are currently blocking all list messages from being delivered and no suitable resolution has been achieved with them. Our hardware – which has sent 10s of millions of emails – is nearing its end of life. We have also seen a drop in participation and content quality in recent years. We’re very sad to see it go, but it is time.
>
> The WebAIM list was started almost 26 years ago with a small group of WebAIM staff members conversing back and forth. Since then there have been nearly 50,000 distinct messages distributed to thousands of subscribers. Once described as “the water cooler of web accessibility”, the list has provided invaluable information sharing and collaboration. The list archives (https://webaim.org/discussion/archives) will be maintained to provide ongoing access to this body of knowledge. WebAIM also hosts a blog (https://webaim.org/blog/), monthly newsletter (https://webaim.org/newsletter/), and will host another WebAIM online conference (https://conference.webaim.org/) next month – all to support the incredible WebAIM community.
>
> We’re grateful to all of you for your participation over the years!
>
> Jared Smith
> Director, WebAIM
>
>
From: shankar
Date: Aug 22, 2025 9:29PM
Subject: Re: Decommissioning the WebAIM email discussion list
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I am sorry to know about the shutting down of this list.
I am the member since 2018 and learnt a lot from the list.
All the best for list owner and the moderators.