The WordPress Philosophy acknowledges that most online communities are built primarily by a vocal minority and states that a responsible project actively seeks feedback from those who are not always heard within that minority.
People with disabilities are historically underserved, and their voices are not always heard. They are not the vocal minority; they are people who may not have a voice at all, because the mechanisms for communicating are too often inaccessible.
Users are the heart and soul of accessibility. WP Accessibility Day is here to be a voice for users with disabilities, regardless of their content management system, their hosting environment, or their assistive technology.
We welcome all people who support our core philosophies to join us as volunteers, speakers, sponsors, event attendees, and members of our community.
Our Core Philosophies
Accessibility-First
Our first priority is always accessibility. To the best of our ability, we aim to maximize the accessibility of our events and the content we share. Accessibility will always take precedence over design preferences, functionality, or speed of delivering content.
Assistive Technology Belongs to the User
WP Accessibility Day firmly believes that creating accessible content and websites is the responsibility of creators. We believe the best accessibility comes from thoughtful design and careful content entry within a foundation of semantic HTML. Websites should work with users’ native assistive technology without requiring special settings or additional tools.
To that end, we oppose accessibility overlays in principle and practice. This includes rejecting sponsors who promote or sell accessibility overlays as a solution to web accessibility.
Free and Open Education
The first step to building a more accessible web is to provide open access to educational materials that enable anyone around the world to learn accessibility best practices. We strive to provide resources and learning opportunities that are barrier-free. There is no cost to participate in our events or to access our content on an ongoing basis, and where possible, we provide alternate format or language materials.
Supporting our Community
Whenever possible, WP Accessibility Day will give back to the global accessibility and WordPress communities. This includes paying our speakers, making donations to charitable organizations that support accessibility on the web, encouraging contributions to accessibility in WordPress core and plugins/themes, and helping to promote other nonprofit accessibility and WordPress events.
We believe in open-source philosophies and collaboration between organizations that may traditionally be seen as competitors. This collaborative community, working together to promote accessibility on the web, has a greater impact than any one of us could have alone. For this reason, we continually seek opportunities to support organizations whose missions align with ours.