Accessibility Team Meeting Notes: February 12, 2026

On Thursday, February 12, 2026, 15:00 UTC, a team meeting started in #accessibility kicked of by Nasim Miah and later continued by Krupa Nanda. You can read the full transcript or see the meeting agenda.

  • WordPress 7.0 Release Party Schedule
    • WordPress 7.0 is scheduled for release on April 9, 2026. The proposed release party schedule has been published.
    • BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. 1 is scheduled in this week.
    • Enhancements need to be committed or moved to a new milestone before then.
    • Release parties will mostly take place on Thursdays (note: in the past they were typically on Tuesdays).
  • Table Leads for WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Asia 2026

Working Group Updates

Documentation

@rianrietveld shared an updates for docs part.

  • A new menu and navigation structure has been implemented on wpaccessibility.org to improve scannability and navigation.
  • The reading guide is nearly complete and helps visitors find relevant documentation more easily.
  • Work is in progress on documentation for accessible focus management (to be added under web forms and frontend code).
  • The team discussed updating the Accessibility Handbook to reference the new documentation (best practices section).
  • Since redirects for popular pages are not possible, stub pages will be left in place to guide users to the updated content.
  • Team members generally agreed that referencing the updated documentation is the right move.
  • Feedback on the new docs is welcome.

General Updates

  • Beta 1 for WordPress 7.0 is in this week only.
  • The team believes work is on track.
  • Bug scrub this week will focus on items needing decisions before Thursday.
  • If you’d like to follow accessibility-related progress in 7.0, refer to the Current Release Progress page.

Gutenberg

  • The new Tabs blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. was reviewed and several issues were identified and the editor team is handling the reported issues promptly.
  • No major new accessibility concerns are currently known for the upcoming release, though continued testing is encouraged.
  • The list of open issue for tabs block.

Themes

Open Floor

A question was raised about accessibility standards for color schemes in the admin area (specifically under the “User Profile” section).

Clarification:

NOTE: If you’d like to have a topic added to the agenda for our next meeting, please mention it in the comments on an upcoming agenda.

#accessibility, #meeting-notes

Accessibility Team Meeting Agenda: Feb 12, 2026

This is the proposed agenda for the bi-weekly AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) Team meeting on Thursday, February 12, 2026, 15:00 UTC

  • WP A11y Docs update
  • WordPress 7.0 Release Party Schedule (To be published)
  • WordCampAsia 2026 : Looking for table lead

Updates from the working group

Open floor

If you want to have a topic added to the agenda, please mention it in the comments of this post.

The Accessibility Team bug scrub is every Tuesday at 16:00 UTC, held in the #accessibility channel on the Make WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. (registration required).

#accessibility, #agenda

WP A11y Docs update December 2025 and January 2026

This update informs you about:

New documentation

Amber Hinds and Joe Dolson wrote and published documentation for the new accessibility-ready tag guidelines for WordPress themes:

The documentation about web forms is almost ready, new is Provide help,
with:

User testing

From user testing by Dutch frontent developers, we got ideas for a better organisation of the content structure. We are working on less items in the main menu and better in-page navigation to related content. That way content is better findable and can be found in multiple ways, not only by the search option or the main menu.

WCAG-EM audit

The website wpaccessibility.org got an official WCAG-EM audit, the site passes the audit for WCAG 2.2 AA compliance. We created an accessibility statement for the website.

Work for February ’26

  • Finish the reorganisation content
  • Add a reading guide
  • Finish all documentation about forms, next is “Focus management in forms”.
  • Start with the documentation for the section Content and images
  • Rian will give a presentation about the WP A11yAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) Docs project at WPLDN in London on February 26.

All feedback on the documentation is very much welcome.

#accessibility-ready, #wp-a11y-docs

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Accessibility Team Meeting Notes: January 29, 2026

On Thursday, January 29, 2026, 15:00 UTC, a team meeting started in #accessibility facilitated by Nasim Miah. You can read the full transcript or see the meeting agenda.

  • Exciting News: The WordPress 7.0 Release Squad is assembled!
  • The WordPress 6.9 release retrospective is closed. Thank you everyone who took time to share their feedback! Because community input plays an important role in improving future release cycles!
  • A detailed post outlining the upcoming PHPPHP PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. https://www.php.net/manual/en/preface.php. support changes has been published. WordPress 7.0 will drop support for PHP 7.2 and 7.3, in line with long-term maintenance and security goals. Contributors are encouraged to review the post for full details and timelines.

Working Group Updates

Documentation

Work continues on expanding and improving the AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) documentation on wpaccessibility.org. @joedolson and @alh0319 did a great job. Recent highlights include:

General Updates

@joedolson shared updates related to the upcoming WordPress betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. period. The deadline is approaching, and enhancements need to be committed ahead of the beta. Additional help is welcome.

Design

@joedolson shared that design updates to WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. are in progress and will require accessibility review. While the basics are expected to be fine, there may be many details to check due to major CSSCSS CSS is an acronym for cascading style sheets. This is what controls the design or look and feel of a site. changes and the size of the admin interface.

Themes

@joedolson shared that he and @alh0319 presented updated accessibility-ready guidelines to the Themes team on Tuesday. The Themes team will review the updates and provide feedback within the next two weeks.

NOTE: If you’d like to have a topic added to the agenda for our next meeting, please mention it in the comments on an upcoming agenda.

Thank you, @joedolson for the pre-publish review.

#accessibility, #meeting-notes

Accessibility Team Meeting Agenda: Jan 29, 2026

This is the proposed agenda for the bi-weekly AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) Team meeting on Thursday, January 29, 2026, 15:00 UTC

Updates from the working group

Open floor

If you want to have a topic added to the agenda, please mention it in the comments of this post.

The Accessibility Team bug scrub is every Tuesday at 16:00 UTC, held in the #accessibility channel on the Make WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. (registration required).

#accessibility, #meeting-notes

Accessibility Team Meeting Notes: January 15, 2026

On Thursday, January 15, 2026, 15:00 UTC, a team meeting started in #accessibility facilitated by Krupa Nanda. You can read the full transcript or see the meeting agenda.

  • WordPress 7.0: Call for Volunteers is closed now.
  • The WordPress 6.9 release retrospective is closed. Thank you everyone who took time to share their feedback! Because community input plays an important role in improving future release cycles!
  • A detailed post outlining the upcoming PHPPHP PHP (recursive acronym for PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor) is a widely-used open source general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML. https://www.php.net/manual/en/preface.php. support changes has been published. WordPress 7.0 will drop support for PHP 7.2 and 7.3, in line with long-term maintenance and security goals. Contributors are encouraged to review the post for full details and timelines.

WordPress AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) MeetupMeetup All local/regional gatherings that are officially a part of the WordPress world but are not WordCamps are organized through https://www.meetup.com/. A meetup is typically a chance for local WordPress users to get together and share new ideas and seek help from one another. Searching for ‘WordPress’ on meetup.com will help you find options in your area.: Call for Speakers

The WordPress Accessibility Meetup team is still looking for speakers for upcoming sessions this year. Some key high lights:

  • Meetups are held twice a month
  • Sessions take place on Zoom and are live-captioned

If you’re interested in speaking, please review the meetup details and apply using this link.

Working Group Updates

Documentation

Work continues on expanding and improving the Accessibility documentation on wpaccessibility.org. @joedolson and @alh0319 did a great job. Recent highlights include:

@rianrietveld is working on documentation related to web forms, as well as a new reading guide to help users find relevant information more easily.

General Updates

@joedolson shared that with a release date now set for WordPress 7.0, timelines are moving quickly. While there are currently 41 tickets milestoned for 7.0, it’s expected that not all will land within the release timeframe.

Upcoming bug scrubs will focus on:

  • Moving milestone tickets forward
  • Evaluating readiness for inclusion in 7.0

The ticket #63895 was shared and for that the initial testing has not revealed issues across providers so far. While additional test cases (including Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Getty, and iStock) would be beneficial, the ticket is likely to move forward unless new issues are identified.

Gutenberg

@joedolson mentioned that the current focus areas include reviewing new blocks intended for release, such as:

  • Tabs blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience.
  • Icons block
  • Lightbox support in Galleries

The Tabs block, while already merged, has changed significantly since its initial review and will require another accessibility review before shipping in coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress..

Themes

@joedolson shared an update that the theme accessibility-ready requirements have been largely completed and are now publicly available on wpaccessibility.org, though they are not yet official. He mentioned that –

  • The updated guidelines are more closely aligned with WCAGWCAG WCAG is an acronym for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. These guidelines are helping make sure the internet is accessible to all people no matter how they would need to access the internet (screen-reader, keyboard only, etc) https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG21/. requirements
  • Testing instructions are more detailed to support consistent reviews
  • A meeting with the Themes team is scheduled later this month to discuss next steps

Existing themes will not lose their accessibility-ready status due to these changes. However, themes that are updated in the future will be expected to meet the new requirements.

Once finalized, a public post will be published to communicate these changes, followed by broader outreach and amplification. Training around the updated testing process is also planned to improve consistency across reviews.

NOTE: If you’d like to have a topic added to the agenda for our next meeting, please mention it in the comments on an upcoming agenda.

#accessibility, #meeting-notes

Accessibility Team Meeting Agenda: Jan 15, 2026

This is the proposed agenda for the bi-weekly AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) Team meeting on Thursday, January 15, 2026 at 08:30 PM GMT+5:30

Updates from the working group

Open floor

If you want to have a topic added to the agenda, please mention it in the comments of this post.

The Accessibility Team bug scrub is every Tuesday at 16:00 UTC, held in the #accessibility channel on the Make WordPress SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. (registration required).

#accessibility

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