WP Builds

Nathan Wrigley talks with Danielle Zarcaro about accessibility in web development, particularly within WordPress. Danielle shares the journey from English studies to web development and specialisation in accessibility, discussing the challenges, misconceptions, and incremental ways to improve website accessibility. They emphasize the importance of starting small, focusing on templates, and making accessibility changes part of the workflow. Danielle introduces their email-based course, designed to help individuals and agencies build accessible practices step by step, making accessibility less intimidating and more actionable for everyone.

The conversation focused on the rebranding of the WP Community Collective to the WP Open Community Collective (WPOCC) to avoid trademark conflicts and better reflect its broader open source focus. We chat about the current holding pattern in the WordPress community amid ongoing legal and industry uncertainty. We also explore the results of the recent State of the Community survey, highlighting both demographic insights and persistent community concerns. Sé raised points, including the need for unity, support for global contributors, and maintaining WordPress as a meaningful, empowering platform in a rapidly changing tech landscape.

The conversation focused on Livid, a newly launched video hosting platform positioned as a strong alternative to Vimeo, especially for users facing steep price increases following Vimeo’s acquisition by Bending Spoons. A key theme that emerged was Livid’s streamlined migration tools, including a free exporter and a robust WordPress plugin, making it easy to transfer and replace Vimeo content. The discussion explored customisable player options, flexible privacy controls, showcases for grouping content, and competitive bandwidth and storage pricing. Assurance of stable backing and infrastructure rounded out the deep dive into Livid’s value for the WordPress and wider web community.

The conversation focused on WordPress's recent market share decline, with data showing a dip from a 36% peak in 2022 to 33% in 2026. Casey and I discussed the rise of alternative platforms like Shopify and Webflow, the impact of AI-driven site building, and WordPress' marketing challenges compared to competitors. We got into how plugin developers and agencies must reassess products and business models to stay relevant, and explored WordPress’ open source advantage and questioned whether renewed emphasis on data ownership could help counter trends threatening community engagement and growth.

Join Nathan Wrigley, Rhys Wynne, Marc Benzakein, Bud Kraus. The conversation focused on recent WordPress news, including a surge in security vulnerability reports, new AI-related regulations in the EU, and the latest WordPress 7.0.3 and 7.1 releases. A key theme that emerged was plugin and site security, especially in response to AI and evolving threats. The discussion explored community initiatives like the WordPress Credit Program and improvements in accessibility documentation. Several points were raised, including new Playground UI features, the WordPress event calendar, and transparent handling of recent plugin security issues. Some lighthearted banter and personal reflections rounded out the episode.