Menus need to work without javascript for accessibility

[ptahdunbar]

Working ticket for all things accessibility for the menu management administrative page. See #11817.

[edward mindreantre]

I have a question: has anyone with a screen reader actually tried to admin Wordpress?

I've attached three files that show pretty much what a screen reader sees. There's the document outline with missing headings, an enormous amount of text when posting, an enormous amount of text when doing anything at all, etc...

If blind people are satisfied with how the admin part works then that's great and I ain't gonna say nothing more. But if nobody has actually heard a blind person say "wordpress admin is really easy using a screen reader", then maybe we should stop and think a little about what the screens actually look like for them.

I work with accessible websites and I test my sites using the following: Install Firefox, Firevox, Orca (Linux). Switch off styles and javascript. I then close my eyes and let Orca do the reading.

I don't even have to start Orca to know that the admin pages are gonna be hell to understand for a blind person.

Do we perhaps need a separate blind-interface that doesn't have all the unnecessary fluff of the visual interface?

[voyagerfan5761]

Replying to edward mindreantre:

Do we perhaps need a separate blind-interface that doesn't have all the unnecessary fluff of the visual interface?

It certainly couldn't hurt. Google Reader has a separate ​ARIA-enhanced version.

[jane]

We need to make every screen accessible when there is no JS not just for the blind, but for people with JS turned off. Last weekend at WordCamp Ireland I had to help someone with her widgets, and she and the two guys she was with all had no JS. It was painful, but it worked. Menus need the same ability, not a separate UI altogether. (That said, a super-accessible admin theme optimized for people with disabilities is in the works, but it doesn't affect the need for a no-JS version of everything to be built in.

[edward mindreantre]

Jane... Who is developing that non-JS admin menu?

I figure if there's something I'm good at it's accessibility, so I can help probably help there.

[ptahdunbar]

Replying to edward mindreantre:

Jane... Who is developing that non-JS admin menu?

I figure if there's something I'm good at it's accessibility, so I can help probably help there.

We could definitely use another developer who knows accessibility. What's the best way to contact you so we can collaborate on this? You can catch me in #wordpress-dev as pthdnbr.

[markmcwilliams]

Related with #12713 patch?

[ptahdunbar]

Fixed in r14248