WordPress powers over 43% of sites on the internet today, making it a powerhouse web technology. Its simplicity attracted bloggers and do-it-yourselfers who navigate the platform by Googling code snippets. That knowledge gap comes with a whole host of accessibility issues.
Amber Hinds, Founder and CEO at Equalize Digital, quit her part-time gig as a freelance developer when she found WordPress was an easier way to manage content. She’s been doing accessibility work on the platform since 2016 and has seen a boom in the past two years of companies searching for accessibility experts. Amber built the Accessibility Checker plugin as a guardrail to help DIYers avoid common mistakes by auditing a site and flagging accessibility issues. The plugin is also an education tool for content managers, and developers to learn about accessibility.
In this episode, Amber talks to Chuck and Robbie about web accessibility on WordPress, making accessibility a priority in colleges and boot camps, and RVing around the country with her family.

Key Takeaways

[00:35] - An intro to Amber Hinds.

[00:54] - A whiskey review - Weller Special Reserve.

[07:49] - What it’s like working with WordPress in 2022 compared to earlier years.

[10:47] - Amber gives an overview of WordPress.

[13:36] - Amber explains unique accessibility problems in WordPress.

[15:47] - How Equalize Digital’s plug-in audits WordPress sites.

[21:55] - Amber’s thoughts on how to make accessibility a priority.

[35:33] - Chuck and Amber talk about RV life and being on the show, “Going RV”.


Quotes
[08:43] - “I think the recent number that I saw was that 43% of websites are built in WordPress.” ~ Amber Hinds
[23:53] - “I feel like having more general visibility about the broad range of disabilities and also putting people's faces to things is super helpful.” ~ Amber Hinds
[28:33] - “Companies need to realize that accessibility is everyone's responsibility.” ~ Amber Hinds

Links

Amber Hinds LinkedIn

Amber Hinds Twitter

Amber Hinds

Equalize Digital

WordPress

Accessibility Checker

Weller Special Reserve

Pappy Van Winkle

Maker’s Mark

Buffalo Trace Distillery

React

Absolut Vodka

Shopify

Square Space

Drupal

Matt Mullenweg

Automattic

Magic Mouse

Logitech Lift

Mac

Darci USB

Colorado State University

Java Script

Dream Weaver

Next Js

Tumblr

WAVE

WordPress Accessibility Day

Shutterstock 

Gutenburg

Nicolas Steenhout

A11y Rules Podcast

Colorado State

Google

GitHub

Roomba

Going RV

House Hunters

HGTV

America's Got Talent

Property Brothers

Matthew McConaughey

HBO

Netflix

Hulu

PBS Kids

NewsHour

NFL

ESPN

New England Patriots

Astro

Nuxt 3

Google PageSpeed

Google Tag Manager

Google Fonts

Lighthouse

WordPress accessibility Meetup


Connect with our hosts

Robbie Wagner

Chuck Carpenter

Ship Shape


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