WordPress recently announced that version 6.0, which will be released on May 24, 2022, will feature a number of accessibility improvements that will make it easier for users to use WordPress and bring it closer to WCAG 2.0 AA compliance.
WordPress accessibility
WordPress has inclusivity and accessibility as core goals”the more the better” for all WordPress versions.
To achieve this, WordPress has an internal team focused on accessibility.
WordPress Accessibility Statement:
“The WordPress community and the open source WordPress project are committed to being as inclusive and accessible as possible.
We want users, regardless of device or ability, to be able to publish content and maintain websites or applications built with WordPress. “
Accessibility Improvements in WordPress 6.0
WordPress offers a preview of the many improvements to WordPress 6.0, currently scheduled for release on May 24, 2022.
alt text
one Alt text improvements Used on a featured image is the use of the post title as alt text when the featured image is linked to the post.
Tab improvements
WordPress notices an allow enter block placeholder.
The GitHub pull request describes the fix:
“When the focus is on a block with a placeholder (such as an image or column block) and we are in edit mode, we should be able to use the Tab key to enter the placeholder control.
This makes placeholder controls keyboard accessible when the “Include text cursor inside blocks” preference is enabled (arrow keys to navigate in and out of blocks does not apply to this preference).
It can also insert tabs into blocks that only contain block inserters, such as empty group blocks. “
Screen reader related improvements
Many of the improvements are related to making it easier for publishers using screen readers to navigate blocks and get work done.
A particularly interesting fix is this: No error message is provided when input is incomplete in the tag management screen. It was discovered during an accessibility review that when a user leaves the required name field blank in the “Label” edit section, a false visual color notification appears, but no actual error message is generated. This is fixed in WordPress version 6.0.
Another useful fix involves a bug in the toolbar functionality in iOS and the lack of text labels.
according to GitHub pull request:
“When you use VoiceOver on iOS, the link in the toolbar that opens the “New” drop-down menu is read as “post new.php”.
Aria related accessibility fixes for WordPress 6.0
RichText: Reverse disableLineBreaks to determine aria-multiline state.
Removed character attribute for “decoration” on SVG.
This is an improvement that one WordPress contributor called a small change that resulted in a major improvement. This is about adding a role=”img” tag, but not adding an aria-label to the SVG. So what they did was remove the character attribute and that solved the problem.
Improvements to the navigation block
Improvements to the navigation block will be welcomed by many.
E.g, several fixes make it easier For those using a screen reader to understand that there are multiple blocks of navigation menus, such as the advanced site navigation menu and secondary menus for categories, and Improve UI feedback A screen reader to use when creating new menus.
There are other improvements to various other blocks, including adding an aria tag to the search button.
Improvements to the WordPress list view
this list display Is the user interface for browsing content sections.
The list view interface is available via the icon at the top of the page in the WordPress toolbar.
screenshot of list view toggle button
Activating the icon via the toggle button displays a drop-down menu that remains open while in use.
WordPress announces eight improvements to the list view user interface, including improvements Ability to select specific blocks, Improve aria tags, Improved keyboard controls and announcements Also browse the list view and other improvements.
Improvements in handling media
WordPress has also introduced improvements to how media is handled.
According to WordPress:
- “The attachment attribute is preserved when cropping a custom logo. This means that the image’s alt text, title, description, and title will migrate to the cropped copy of the image after cropping.
- If the URL is focused, stop the arrow keys to switch media.
- Added “Copy URL to Clipboard” feature to list table view.
- Set up hyphenation on sample permalinks so that full permalinks will be visible in posts, media, and comments on mobile.
- Remove target blank attribute from media uploader edit link.
- Remove target=”_blank” from the link to change the permalink structure and change the link text to clarify the purpose of the link. “
Other accessibility improvements
WordPress 6.0 also improves screen reader and keyboard functionality in quick/bulk edits, fixes an issue where the login and register buttons add autocomplete values, but since the values are stored in the browser, it doesn’t represent a security issue (more here).
Finally, various accessibility improvements have been made to the official WordPress theme:
- “Twenty-nine: Override flex order in comment form.
- Twenty Twenty: Converted search to dialogue character and fixed handling of aria-expanded to sync mobile and desktop buttons.
- 2221: Reverse logic for prefers-reduced-motion media queries.
- Use the pointer cursor when hovering over the topic details button to align with topic cards. “
WordPress 6.0 accessibility
WordPress accessibility team according to their set objectives Make WordPress WCAG 2.0 AA as compatible as possible.
