Speaker Spotlight: Joseph Karr O’Connor

Joseph Karr O'Connor

Watch out for Joseph Karr O’Connor. He’s currently reading “How to Get People to Do Stuff” by Susan Weinschenk.

But while he might be able to get you to do stuff, you probably won’t mind. This man is on a great mission: improve the accessibility of WordPress. He voluntarily contributes to Make WordPress Accessible and leads Cities, a world-wide effort to build free accessible WordPress themes.

During his session “Making Accessible WordPress Themes,” O’Connor will show you how to increase user experience, usability, and search engine optimization by making accessible WordPress themes and will change the thought process of content creators to be as inclusive as possible.

Joseph Karr O’Connor
Websites: http://accessiblejoe.com, http://blacktelephone.com
Twitter: @AccessibleJoe

WCLV: What do you love most about WordPress?

JKO: I still find it magical that I can change the theme any time I want and the content is untouched.

WCLV: What are some of your favorite WordPress-built websites?

JKO: The WordPress Accessibility Team provided some input in the process of creating Twenty Thirteen. I’m currently using a variation of it, Twenty Thirteen Green by Joen Asmussen, on my own site with a few font tweaks and some accessibility plugins the site is fairly accessible.

WCLV: Who is YOUR WordPress hero and why?

JKO: The WordPress Accessibility Team: Graham Armfield, Sharon Austin, Joe Dolson, Karl Groves, Amy Hendrix, David A. Kennedy, Cyndy Otty, Mel Pedley, Rian Rietveld, Amanda Rush and myself. We are making a difference in core, documentation, and the theme check process.

WCLV: What are your favorite WordPress plugins?

JKO: The WP Accessibility plug-in by Joe Dolson and the WP-Accessible Twitter Feed widget by Rian Rietveld.

WCLV: What do you love about Las Vegas?

JKO: My daughter, a person with severe disabilities, loves Las Vegas. We took her to the Grand Canyon, Bryce, Zion. Nothing doing. We took her to Las Vegas, opened the drapes in our room, she took one look and she was in heaven. She’s coming with me.