#WPLDN - February 2026: Accessibility & AI Survival
Details
Join us for another evening at #WPLDN, where we're tackling two vital topics for every WordPress professional! This month, we're exploring the future of WordPress accessibility documentation and hearing a candid story of business survival when AI disrupted traditional traffic sources. Whether you're building inclusive websites or rethinking your business model in the age of AI, these sessions offer practical insights you can act on immediately.
📅 Date: Thursday, 26 February 2026
⏰ Time: 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM ⬅ EARLIER TIME
🎟️ Cost: Free (Registration Required)
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Session 1: WordPress' accessibility documentation is getting a major overhaul. What's new?
🤝 Speaker: Rian Rietveld (rianrietveld.com)
Rian is an experienced web accessibility specialist from the Netherlands who has consulted for WordPress agencies and written guidelines for the Dutch government on accessible web forms and applying WCAG. Currently, she focuses on teaching and writing documentation, including a major update to WordPress' accessibility resources.
During 25 years of working as a web accessibility specialist, Rian noticed the biggest hurdle to creating an accessible web is the lack of knowledge. People struggle to find reliable information, code patterns, rules and testing methods.
Together with Joe Dolson, she started working on the WP Accessibility Knowledge Base: up-to-date, well-maintained information about delivering accessible work and proper testing. With clear do's and don'ts, practical examples, and easy-to-follow documentation.
Find out about their progress, how you can contribute, and how the documentation on make.wordpress.org will benefit from this project.
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Session 2: When AI Killed My Traffic, Humans Saved My Business
🤝 Speaker: Rodolfo Melogli (Business Bloomer)
Rodolfo is an author, WooCommerce expert and WordCamp speaker who has worked as an independent WooCommerce freelancer since 2011. His goal is to help entrepreneurs and developers overcome their WooCommerce nightmares. He loves travelling, chasing tennis and soccer balls and, of course, wood-fired oven pizza.
For years, traffic was the engine of Rodolfo's business until it wasn't. AI changed discovery faster than he expected, and the impact was immediate. This talk tells the story of having to pivot fast: moving away from dependence on search and toward owned relationships.
He'll share how building and nurturing communities, both online and offline, became the new foundation. What worked, what failed, and what he'd do differently today. If your WordPress business relies on visibility you don't control, this talk offers a realistic look at what happens when that visibility disappears and how to recover.
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Schedule:
🔹 6:00 PM – Doors Open & Networking
🔹 6:30 PM – Welcome & Session 1: Rian Rietveld
🔹 7:30 PM – Short Break & Networking
🔹 7:45 PM – Session 2: Rodolfo Melogli
🔹 8:30 PM – Social & Wrap-Up
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📢 Help Us Grow the Community!
Know someone who'd benefit from these sessions? Share this event with your colleagues, clients and WordPress friends! #WPLDN thrives because of word-of-mouth from people like you. Tag us on LinkedIn with #WPLDN or simply forward this page to someone who should be here. The more, the merrier!
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📢 RSVP Now!
Don't miss this chance to level up your accessibility knowledge, learn survival strategies for the AI era, and connect with London's WordPress community. Secure your free spot today and join us for post-event socials at a local bar afterwards. We'll see you there! 🎉
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Venue Information
The Bridge is a charity supporting women to make positive choices and encouraging improvements to fitness, health, and wellbeing. The venue features a plant-based café (supplied by Girls Who Grind Coffee) and is just a 5-minute walk from London Bridge Station.
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Massive thanks to our sponsors who make these free events possible:
DreamHost, PodcasterPlus, Mollie, hosting.com, 20i, and Kinsta
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If you're interested in being a featured speaker at an upcoming event, we'd love to hear from you at https://wpldn.uk/speak.
🎥 - Media Release Terms
By attending, you understand and accept that portions of the event may have audio/photo/video-recorded and/or live-streamed and may be used by the organisers. You agree that the organisers have the right and permission to use and publish such media for any purpose in any format, including online and offline, now and ever after, without further compensation, permission, or notification. You understand that all official recordings from the event are the exclusive property of the organisers, available under the Creative Commons AttributionShareAlike license for general use, and you do not ask for nor expect compensation or notification of the use of official recordings or photographs in which you appear or speak. Please inform an organisational team member at the event's start if you do not wish to appear in photos or videos.
