Welcome to the October edition of Word on the Future! 🎃
In honour of WP Accessibility Day (15-16 Oct), which saw 2,297 attendees from 64 countries join 28 speakers from across the globe, we wanted to dedicate this month’s issue to the cause.
With a whopping +40% of the internet running on WordPress, we’ve got a responsibility and an opportunity to lead the way in making the web as inclusive as it can be.
Let’s dive in!
What’s inside this issue 📚
– The WordPress Accessibility Knowledge Base is on the way 💛
– Accessibility tools and workflows that actually work 🛠️
– How do you go about creating accessible designs? Rian Rietveld reveals all 📝
– What’s an accessible design system, and how can it scale? 🎯
– Your chance to be the first to receive Accessibility in WordPress: The Definitive Guide 😍
Human Made joins the mission to make WordPress accessible 💛
We believe in building a web that is open, inclusive, and accessible to everyone: that’s why we’re so proud to sponsor accessibility specialist Rian Rietveld’s latest project, a comprehensive Accessibility Knowledge Base for WordPress.
“At Human Made, we know accessibility is about more than ticking boxes – it’s about empowering people and removing barriers. Supporting Rian’s work on the Accessibility Knowledge Hub is one way we’re helping the WordPress community step up, learn, and take real action. Together, we can make the web a better place for everyone.”
– Tom Willmot, CEO, Human Made
Find out more about the project, what Rian’s been up to, and how you can get involved over on the blog.
Coming Soon: Accessibility in WordPress: The Definitive Guide
Accessibility in WordPress: The Definitive Guide brings together best practices, standards, and strategies for enterprise teams that want to embed accessibility across design, development, and content. And it’s coming really soon!
Get the guide as soon as it launches →
Mastering accessibility: Tools & workflows that work 🛠️
Rian is keen to spread the word, and in this post she runs through which accessibility guidelines to use, when to test, what to look out for when checking for accessibility errors, and which checks and tools to use to help you with testing.
Knowing which sources to trust can be the first hurdle, so we’re grateful to Rian for collating these. We recommend bookmarking this one – we guarantee you’ll want to keep it handy!
Check out all the accessibility best practices from Rian here →
Accessible design helps deliver content to a wider audience. Even small improvements make websites more robust, easier to maintain, and better prepared for future technologies.
This practical overview of accessibility principles and best practices to include in design workflows is a must-share with all your design colleagues.
For a deeper dive, Rian’s included a list of excellent additional resources at the end of this post. From your first steps into accessible design to expert level, there’s something for everyone to learn here.
Find out more about accessible design →
Accessible Design Systems: Scaling Inclusive Design 🎯
Human Made design guru Paweł Mikolajek is exploring how design systems can help teams scale accessibility across enterprise WordPress projects.
With a range of example accessible design systems from heavy-hitters like GOV.UK, IBM, and the BBC, Paweł offers practical lessons for applying their principles to WordPress development.
