WordPress Cambridge: Web Accessibility

Access all areas!

Accessibility - it seems like a technically difficult but worthy thing to do... but it's not so hard once you learn a few basics! There are important pay-offs for you in terms of increased access to customers and better search engine rankings. Come along and let Zuzana and Elisabeth show you that many quick tweaks can be made to your website, and demonstrate how increasing accessibility can have multiple benefits for you and your site users.

By the end of the session you'll know why accessibility is important - and how to do it easily, whether you're a beginner, skilled user or a developer.

You'll gain knowledge of:

* Simple but indispensible plug-ins that help you make changes to your site
* An inside view into how assistive technology (ie, the various tools used by disabled people when accessing the web such as voice activated software, keyboard for navigation rather than a mouse, etc) works when accessing a website
* How your site can easily be changed to ensure it's easy for everyone to read and use
* How to run tools on your website that will let you know about any accessibilty issues and how to amend them. If you're the kind of WordPress user who likes to get under the bonnet and fiddle with code we have something for you too... We'll delve into the code and see how being aware of best practice can ensure you work in a way that is helpful to disabled users of your site. Accessibility is important when choosing colours, writing code, considering layout and navigation - it's something that can improve your work across all aspects of design and coding.

We'll finish up sharing a large selection of resources we've collected over the years we've been interested in the issue, so that you have the tools you need to implement what you've learnt.

We have prepared a list of useful resources for the WordPress Cambridge blog:
https://wpcbg.uk/resources-building-accessible-websites-using-wp/

Zuzana Kunckova (http://www.zuzana-k.com) and https://medium.com/@zuzanak, has a background in Psychology and is a scholarship winner on the Google/Udacity (https://www.udacity.com/course/mobile-web-specialist-nanodegree--nd024) Mobile Web Specialist nanodegree. She's passionate about accessibility and interested in all aspects of it from choice of colour through to code.

Elisabeth Klaar is a disabled WordPress user with a background in marketing and fundraising. Whilst learning WordPress development, thanks to a HeroPress (http://www.heropress.com) and WPShout (http://www.wpshout.com/) scholarship, she's also getting into tinkering with code and more techie aspects of accessibility and website design.

This meeting is sponsored by Twin Dots (http://www.twindots.com/) the leading branding, design and development agency in Newmarket. Twin Dots has clients like Cambridge Marketing College, 450 GSM, Racing Welfare, and Devam the jewellers.

The usual format:

18:45: Roll up for a couple of beers in the foyer, & chat, mingle etc.

19:15 start: Everyone introduces themselves: 20 seconds max, mainly describing their involvement with WordPress.

2. Up to 4 * 3 minute pitches. Share discoveries, useful tips, requests for help with charitable projects. 3: WordPress News with our star reporter Ben Attenborough.

4. Main presentation: Accessibility Elizabeth Klaar & Zuzana

5. Clinic: Bring along a problem, and the audience will offer advice. If we can't, maybe we'll have a solution by next meeting. Kinda aiming to finish the formal part by about 21:00, depending on everyone's enthusiasm to chat & discuss.

6. Beer & networking: We should leave by about 21:45 at the latest.