Add an Accessibility tag for Showcase sites that meet criteria

[ndiego]

Following the recent Showcase launch, there has been some feedback asking which sites are accessible and if this should be part of the acceptance criteria for a site being in the Showcase. In questions following the 2024 State of the Word, Matt addressed this:

Question:

The websites in Showcase are all beautiful. However, that's often at the cost of usability and accessibility. Can we have a11y as a requirement for Showcase?

Reply:

No, but we can definitely have an Accessibility tag that highlights sites that break the negative perception that being accessible means trading off beauty and design.

This resulted in a discussion on Slack about how to best proceed. There are levels of accessibility, and thoroughly auditing sites can take a significant amount of time from accessibility experts.

Several contributors have offered to help, so I have started a Google spreadsheet to help track this work. Anyone can add comments, but if you would like Editor permissions, just DM me (ndiego) your email address in WordPress Slack, and I'll get you added.

Once we have a list of sites that meet an agreed upon criteria for accessibility, we will add the tag on each Showcase site.

[joedolson]

I've noted 22 sites in the showcase that are worth a further look. There are at least 3 that I think are very good possibilities; most of the others will depend on what standard we choose to set.

[eidolonnight]

I'm creating a handbook for managing and contributing to the Showcase (based on Process Proposal: Moderating the New Showcase. @joedolson are the criteria, and how to evaluate sites, documented anywhere? Is there an ongoing conversation about accessibility standards anywhere beyond this ticket?