WordPress.com is the most popular website creation service globally, with more than 54 million websites built on its platform to date. It’s also home to various content management systems that everyone from mom-and-pop shops uses up to Fortune 500 companies. However, if you have an impairment or disability that limits your ability to use a computer keyboard and mouse, there are currently limited options for creating accessible WordPress sites. This article aims at exploring what accessibility features (like accessiBe WordPress) are available in WordPress today and how they could be improved so that people with disabilities can enjoy all of the benefits of this powerful blogging platform too.
WordPress is a simple and flexible blogging tool. If you like to write, reflect and share your own experiences, thoughts, and ideas on current issues, WordPress can help you get started with building your blog right away. There’s an ever-growing community of users who enjoy using it for personal and business purposes. So it doesn’t matter whether you’re planning to build a business blog, a portfolio showcase, a personal diary, or want to share your ideas with friends and family. WordPress can help you set up an easy-to-read, beautiful-looking website in minutes. On top of that, it’s free.
Accessibility Issues in WordPress
However, if you have an impairment or disability that limits your ability to use a computer keyboard and mouse, WordPress may not be the best blogging platform to choose. Keyboard shortcuts are unavailable across the board, and formatting options are also somewhat limited. Things get even more complicated when you realize that most of these limitations aren’t only confined to the actual blogging platform. Instead, they’re related to how you access WordPress as a whole, including using your web browser and managing the blog post contents.
The good news is that just because people with disabilities have been left out of using this all-inclusive blogging platform doesn’t mean that they don’t have many options at all. Many accessibility tools can help people with all sorts of disabilities enjoy the same benefits as everyone else. The bad news is that they’re scattered across different parts of the website, and you need to know where exactly to find them before you can turn them on for your blog posts.
WordPress Accessibility Features
Fortunately, WordPress is built with user experience in mind. That means that everything you need to optimize the site for people with disabilities is readily available. You just have to know where to find it and make sure these features work for your specific setup. The good news is that most of the tools are already included by default, so all you need to do is set them up for maximum accessibility. Here’s a brief overview of the most important features you should be looking at right now:
Keyboard Shortcuts – if you have issues with using any kind of pointing device, you’re going to need keyboard shortcuts instead. That way, you won’t need to rely on a mouse to navigate the web page.
Reverse Visual Order – if you have poor eyesight or issues with distinguishing text color, then this feature will make it easier for you to scan through your blog posts’ contents.
Text-to-Speech – if you have issues with reading, this tool will let your voice assistant read through your blog posts’ contents to you. You can also use it to listen to comments posted by other people on your site.
