[theme-reviewers] Accessible theme issues

[Joe Dolson]

Well, that's a problem then. Does anybody know of any way to provide
an interface to reliably locate accessible themes, then, given that
tags can't be relied upon?

I know that there are people willing to participate in this process,
if a process can be identified -- and there's definitely a need, but I
don't have enough information about how the theme repository can be
interacted with to be able to make a practical suggestion.

Best,
Joe

On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 4:03 PM, Jonny Cauvain <wp at stormfire.eu> wrote:
> What you're suggesting isn't possible. The tags that are displayed in extend
> are the tags the the author sets in his/her themes stylesheet, they can only
> be changed when the author updates the theme.
>
> Jay
>
> On Sep 27, 2012 9:21 PM, "Joe Dolson" <design at joedolson.com> wrote:
>>
>> I'm actually not recommending any approve/unapprove consideration due
>> to accessibility; I'm actually recommending a completely separate
>> process from theme review, which would provide access to modify tags
>> within the theme repository according to accessibility issues.
>>
>> Since there is no existing theme review group with an access along
>> those lines, I'm proposing this within the theme review group due to
>> necessity - the make.accessibility group would be appropriate, but
>> does not have any ability to effect anything within the theme
>> directory.
>>
>> Thanks for responding!
>>
>> Best,
>> Joe
>>
>> On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 3:14 PM, Edward Caissie
>> <edward.caissie at gmail.com> wrote:
>> > Although the idea of addressing "accessibility" has its merits, the
>> > Theme
>> > Review Team has no access to add, delete, or modify tags a theme author
>> > chooses to use. The WPTRT reviewers should expect to validate the tags
>> > applied are correct, but on their own it would be a tough call to
>> > not-approve on a theme tag error by itself.
>> >
>> >
>> > Cais.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 4:01 PM, Joe Dolson <design at joedolson.com>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> So, this is my first post to the theme-reviewers list, so I hope I'm
>> >> proposing this in the best possible place.
>> >>
>> >> I've been in a number of discussions with people in the Accessibility
>> >> and the WordPress communities about the need to improve accessibility
>> >> in WordPress themes -- or, more specifically, improve the ability to
>> >> locate accessible WordPress themes which have had vetting beyond an
>> >> authorial claim of accessibility.
>> >>
>> >> I know that the theme review team hardly has the time to review what
>> >> they already do, let alone add an accessibility review -- and as much
>> >> as I'd like it, I don't think that we're ready to impose accessibility
>> >> as a requirement in order to publish a theme -- it wouldn't be
>> >> practical or realistic.
>> >>
>> >> I'd like to propose a way to improve the ability to find quality
>> >> themes by establishing a team, working to a standard set of
>> >> guidelines, which could review themes in the theme repository after
>> >> they have been approved. This team would have the mission of assigning
>> >> or removing accessibility related tags from themes.
>> >>
>> >> This review team, tasked with identifying and labeling accessible
>> >> themes, would create an imposition that the 'accessible' tag and
>> >> related tags would be controlled. Authors could self label as
>> >> accessible, but if it didn't meet review, the tag could be removed.
>> >>
>> >> At least at this early stage, it could be a pretty straightforward
>> >> triage:
>> >>
>> >> 1) If theme tagged with accessible, a11y, wcag, etc. it gets a review
>> >> to
>> >> verify
>> >> 2) Popular themes should be reviewed.
>> >> 3) Other themes could be reviewed as time allowed or by request.
>> >>
>> >> I would be happy to head up the process of establishing guidelines for
>> >> reviewing themes and participate in the review and tagging of themes
>> >> -- or to provide expert assistance to anybody else who wanted to take
>> >> this on.
>> >>
>> >> Obviously, this is largely my own concept, and can and should be
>> >> modified to best fit the WordPress theme review workflow; which I'll
>> >> admit to being more than a little ignorant about.
>> >>
>> >> I don't want to create a substantial burden on either theme developers
>> >> or reviewers, but any incremental progress in improving the ability to
>> >> identify accessible WordPress themes in a consistent manner would be
>> >> wonderful.
>> >>
>> >> Best,
>> >> Joe Dolson
>> >> (Accessibility consultant and WordPress plug-in developer)
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> theme-reviewers mailing list
>> >> theme-reviewers at lists.wordpress.org
>> >> http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers
>> >
>> >
>> >
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>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> ==================
>>
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>>
>> ==================
>>
>> Joseph Dolson
>> Accessibility consultant and WordPress developer
>> http://www.joedolson.com
>> http://profiles.wordpress.org/joedolson
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>
>
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-- 
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Did I help you with one of my plug-ins? Donations keep support
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Joseph Dolson
Accessibility consultant and WordPress developer
http://www.joedolson.com
http://profiles.wordpress.org/joedolson