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<body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'>Hi Tess,<br><br>I have used WordPress Twenty Thirteen (http://wordpress.org/themes/twentythirteen) as a theme for a couple of clients. I like this theme because it is easy for clients to use, accessible (out-of-the-box accessibility), and incorporates Accessicle Rich Internet Applications (ARIA) markup. I think this is a big step for a vendor. The other WordPress-developed themes are probably good, but I have never looked at.<br><br>You can easily use Twenty Thirteen as your parent theme then setup a child theme and begin to modify. Actually, there is one bug in the Twenty Thirteen theme--it uses two H1's per page. This can easily be fixed with one line of code. However, everything else is really good (actually, Awesome) for an off-the-shelf template!<br><br>As a larger organization, you will probably want to develop your own theme. This is good because it gives you a lot of control of the markup. You can create all of your HTML markup with php files. Sounds complicated and it took me a while to put it all together, but it is really easy and gives you, the developer, a lot of control over all code used for your organization's website. With such awesome power, you should be able to ensure every website for your organization is accessible. Also, with that said, I am really impressed with WordPress accessibility.<br><br>oh yeah, stay away from accesskeys. These are not considered beneficial and I do not think most people like or use. Use ARIA and/or HTML5 instead. Also, Paula E. Paire is right, your accessibility is going depend on the theme you decide to use. In my opinion, most third party developed themes are trying to do too much and lack good HTML code structure and usually have accessibility issues that will be hard to correct. Sometimes, it is best to develop your own theme.<br> <br>John Paul Harris<br><br><br><div>> From: paire@temple.edu<br>> To: athen-list@u.washington.edu<br>> Date: Fri, 2 May 2014 00:11:43 +0000<br>> Subject: Re: [Athen] accesskey keyboard accessibility and WordPress sites<br>> <br>> I haven't taken a hard look at the accessibility of WordPress in a while (and they come out with a new version about every six months). However, here's some resources:<br>> <br>> A plugin to help improve accessibility:<br>> https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-accessibility/<br>> Note: a lot depends on the theme that you're using, and plugins can negatively impact accessibility as well. <br>> <br>> This is the blog of the accessibility team for WordPress:<br>> https://make.wordpress.org/accessibility/<br>> <br>> -Paul<br>> <br>> -----Original Message-----<br>> From: athen-list [mailto:athen-list-bounces@mailman13.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Tess McMillan<br>> Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2014 5:51 PM<br>> To: athen-list@u.washington.edu<br>> Subject: [Athen] accesskey keyboard accessibility and WordPress sites<br>> <br>> Hello all, <br>> <br>> I am building a WordPress Web site for the Bellevue College DRC, as our college is transitioning to this model for departmental sites.<br>> <br>> The existing site -- built on active server pages -- used accesskeys. Adding accesskeys to a WordPress site will be new to me and I think we'll need a "plug in" for this functionality.<br>> <br>> Do any of you have tips or info you can share as regards WordPress and accesskeys or accessibility in general? I realize the question sounds general, but WordPress is fairly new (isn't it?) and I thought someone here might have a gem to share.<br>> <br>> Our site (in development -- not for publication, smiley face) is here: http://www.bellevuecollege.edu/drc-dev/<br>> <br>> Thanks for your time!<br>> <br>> Tess<br>> <br>> _______________________________________________<br>> athen-list mailing list<br>> athen-list@mailman13.u.washington.edu<br>> http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list<br>> _______________________________________________<br>> athen-list mailing list<br>> athen-list@mailman13.u.washington.edu<br>> http://mailman13.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/athen-list<br></div> </div></body>
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