[theme-reviewers] Accessible theme issues

[Joe Dolson]

===
To make the process even more strict we'll start hurting creativity,
because let's face it, style/graphic/feature heavy themes (the themes
that most people are after), by their very definition are not very
accessible.
===

Just as a comment, this statement is in no way true -- style, graphic
and feature heavy themes are not 'by their very definition' not very
accessible -- in practice this is very common, but it is absolutely
not, in any way, inherent to the concept of style, graphic, or feature
heavy.

I do fully understand what you're saying; and I would not in any way
want to introduce an accessibility requirement into the theme review
process (at least, not yet) -- but I am concerned with the ability to
find quality accessible themes, and would like to find an official way
of identifying these. Clearly, that's not practical within the current
system.

Best,
Joe

On Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 5:10 PM, Bryan Hadaway <bhadaway at gmail.com> wrote:
> Looking at http://www.joedolson.com/ I can see that accessible web design is
> very important to you as it is to most web designers. Obviously, we want our
> work to be as user-friendly, cross-browser-friendly, SEO-friendly,
> translation-ready, everything-friendly etc etc as much as possible to
> maximize accessibility and usability and overall quality.
>
> However, a lot of that is subjective and/or not necessarily required. That
> level of standard and the depth of the review process (that it would take
> for quality assurance) is simply too impractical for volunteer-based work.
>
> Since you're so passionate about it I recommend starting a website dedicated
> to this (that's what I would do):
>
> accessiblewp.org for example is available
> http://whois.domaintools.com/accessiblewp.org
>
> Set your guidelines for a good "accessible" theme and then do your own
> independent reviews of themes from the official repo and showcase the best
> accessible themes. Do it long enough and well enough and accessiblewp.org
> will gain the kind of trust and authority in ensuring the level of
> accessible standards you seek.
>
> The problem with official use like I touched on is that it would simply be
> too strict. Theme authors are struggling as it is to get their themes
> approved (the review process already is pretty rigorous really). There are
> only 1,606 officially approved WP themes in the world. That is an insanely
> small number. To make the process even more strict we'll start hurting
> creativity, because let's face it, style/graphic/feature heavy themes (the
> themes that most people are after), by their very definition are not very
> accessible.
>
> I encourage you to continue seeking this level of standard, but the golden
> rule always remain unchanged until the end of mankind; you want something
> done right, you have to do it yourself.
>
> Good luck.
>
> Thanks, Bryan
>
>
> Bryan Phillip Hadaway
>
>
> Web & Graphic Designer
> calmestghost.com
> bhadaway at gmail.com
>
>
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>
>
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Joseph Dolson
Accessibility consultant and WordPress developer
http://www.joedolson.com
http://profiles.wordpress.org/joedolson