Learn why it's crucial to make your WordPress product accessible and discover step-by-step strategies to ensure inclusivity. Enhance user experience and boost SEO rankings with this insightful episode. Listen now!
Show Notes
In this episode of WP Product Talk, Matt Cromwell, Katie Keith, and guest Amber Hinds discuss the importance of making WordPress products accessible. Amber, the CEO of Equalize Digital, brings a rich background in WordPress accessibility and emphasizes the moral, legal, and business reasons behind ensuring accessibility. They discuss the challenges of achieving accessibility and the benefits of bringing on experts, sharing their own experiences with accessibility testing and improvements.
The discussion moves into practical advice, where Amber highlights the importance of proactive testing, even suggesting specific tools like the axe linter and her own free plugin for initial assessments. The panel agrees that accessibility should not be treated as a one-time project but rather as an ongoing commitment integrated into daily development workflows. The conversation uncovers common objections faced by product owners, such as the complexities of retrofitting accessibility into existing products and the reluctance to invest time and resources. Amber suggests gradual, prioritized improvements and automated testing to make the process more manageable.
A significant segment is dedicated to explaining the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) and its role in documenting a product's accessibility compliance. Amber explains that having a VPAT can be crucial for selling to governmental and large organizational clients, helping to avoid potential legal issues and enhancing marketability. The episode wraps up with actionable advice from each participant: Matt emphasizes the utility of hiring experts like Amber, Katie stresses the importance of regular testing and team training, and Amber encourages eager developers to start testing and learning about accessibility right away. The importance of embedding accessibility into the company culture and considering it early in the product development process is a recurring theme throughout their discussion.
Accessibility Checker pluginFree plugin on the Plugin DirectoryLearn more about the Pro plugin on the Equalize Digital websiteVoluntary Product Accessibility Templateaxe DevTools Linter by DequeWordPress Accessibility MeetupAccessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)