Results of an inspection of WordPress as relates to the Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines

1. WordPress and ATAG
Compliance is a work in progress

2. What does ATAG require?
- An accessible user interface
- The ability to create accessible content
- Promotion and integration of accessible
content creation

3. An Accessible User Interface
- Constantly improving
- Committed to meeting WCAG 2.0
requirements
- But it's a long way to go...

4. Excluding WCAG 2.0,
where does WordPress
stand with ATAG?

5. A.2 Editing Views Are Perceivable

6. A.2.1 Make alternative content available to
authors
✅ Image alternative text
✓ Video captions: very difficult to manage
⛔ No support for audio description
⛔ No support for programmatically associated
transcripts of audio/video

7. A.2.2 Editing view presentation can be
programmatically determined
✅ Well, we think so...
⛔ ...but without any systematic testing.

8. A.3 Editing Views Are Operable

9. A.3.1 Provide keyboard access to authoring
features
✅ All aspects of the admin are accessible via
the keyboard.
✓ Well, almost all.
⛔ But some require keyboard shortcuts that
may be hard to discover.

10. A.3.2 Provide authors with enough time
✅ WordPress has no time limitations.

11. A.3.3 Help authors avoid flashing that could cause
seizures
✅ Videos loaded in the editor do not play
automatically.
⛔ Animated GIF images do play.

12. A.3.4 Enhance navigation and editing via content
structure
✅ Possible to discover the content structure
for context
⛔ No ability to navigate via the content
structure in the editor.

13. A.3.5 Provide text search of the content
⛔ No method to search content within the
visual editor
✅ All page content searchable within text
editor using the browser's search feature

14. A.3.6 Manage preference settings
✅ Preferences to change look & options in
admin
⛔ No ability to modify the look and feel of the
editor beyond text/visual

15. A.3.7 Ensure previews are at least as accessible as
in-market user agents
✅ Web-based previews in the browser.

16. A.4 Editing Views Are Understandable

17. A.4.1 Help authors avoid and correct mistakes
✅ WordPress revisions help restore main
content;
⛔ Content outside the editor not always
stored.
⛔ Settings are not reversible

18. A.4.2 Document the user interface, including all
accessibility features
✅ WordPress has extensive in-page
documentation.
⛔ Do you know where it is?
⛔ Some complex features have minimal
documentation.

19. B.1 Fully automatic processes create
accessible content

20. B.1.2 Ensure that accessibility information is
preserved
⛔ Editor strips some HTML and attributes,
including ARIA attributes.

21. B.2 Authors are supported in creating accessible
content

22. B.2.1 Ensure that accessible content production
is possible
✅ It is.
⛔ No tools to assist with tabular data
⛔ No tools to assist with forms

23. B.2.2 Guide authors to create accessible content
⛔ Alt attributes underexplained,
underemphasized, frequently invalid
⛔ Media captions difficult to use
⛔ Hands-off approach to complex data

24. B.2.3 Assist authors with managing alternative
content for non-text content
✅ Alt attributes are editable, both in library
and independently in editor.
⛔ Captions not editable

25. B.2.4 Assist authors with accessible templates
✅ "accessible" themes are available
⛔ What constitutes an accessible theme
is...complicated

26. B.2.5 Assist authors with accessible pre-authored
content
✅ WordPress does not provide any pre-
authored content.

27. B.3 Authors are supported in improving the
accessibility of existing content

28. B.3.1 Assist authors in checking for accessibility
problems
⛔ Nope. Nothing.

29. B.3.2 Assist authors in repairing accessibility
problems
⛔ Nope. Nothing.

30. B.4 Authoring tools promote and integrate their
accessibility features

31. B.4.1 Ensure the availability of features that
support the production of accessible content
✅ Accessibility features are enabled by
default, and there is no option to disable them.
⛔ There aren't a lot of accessibility features...

32. B.4.2 Ensure that documentation promotes the
production of accessible content
⛔ It doesn't, for the most part, mention
accessibility at all.

33. Overall?
✅
16
⛔
24

34. Some plugins that can help:
WP Accessibility https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-
accessibility/
Access Monitor https://wordpress.org/plugins/access-
monitor/
Accessible Video Library
https://wordpress.org/plugins/accessible-video-library/

35. Questions?
Joe Dolson // joe@joedolson.com // https://www.joedolson.com