The WordPress Accessibility Team is organizing a new online event called WP Accessibility Day that will take place on October 2, 2020. The event will feature 24 hours of educational sessions that focus on the intersection between WordPress and web accessibility.
Inspired by the Polyglots’ Global Translation Day, which greatly expanded the team’s base of contributors and fueled a record number of translations, the Accessibility Team aims to raise awareness about its work. Organizers will be featuring a variety of topics, including theme and plugin accessibility, writing accessible content, accessibility testing, current standards, and more from a diverse group of global speakers.
Accessibility consultant and WordPress contributor Joe Dolson proposed the event use a model similar to the ID24 (Inclusive Design 24) conference, with one 30-40 minute talk per hour. This format merges aspects of virtual WordCamps and WordSesh, running a single-track of sessions over the span of 24 hours with live emcees to manage interviews and Q&A segments.
Even though many events are going virtual due to the pandemic, accessibility contributors have been evaluating the possibility of hosting an online-only event since mid-2019 and have been planning this one since December. The small size of the team and the travel expenses associated with larger WordCamps made it nearly impossible to scale the in-person collaboration happening at events.
WP Accessibility Day has its own website where those who are interested can sign up to be notified about the call for speakers, sponsors, and other news. Organizers and volunteers are meeting in the #accessibility-events channel on WordPress’Slack. They will be discussing the event, along with other accessibility topics, during an online panel on Thursday, May 21st, 2020, for Global Accessibility Awareness Day.
