WordCamp Canada 2024: WordPress is for everyone

When I entered the Infinity Convention Centre in Ottawa for the first WordCamp Canada, I felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness.

This was my first WordCamp, both as an attendee and presenter, and I was eager to connect with other WordPress enthusiasts and learn from their experiences. Little did I know that the next three days would be a transformative experience.

The event, which took place July 11-13, brought together WordPress experts and users from across Canada and around the world. As I looked at the schedule, I noticed that a significant number of presentations focused on the impact of WordPress on diverse communities, the barriers to access that still exist in those communities, and the importance of inclusivity and cultural considerations in WordPress development and use.

WordPress for everyone

Keynote speaker Meggan Van Harten underscored this theme in her presentation, “Accessibility in Action: Indigenous Communities.” She discussed how accessibility for Indigenous communities deviates from general principles of conformity and the importance of incorporating Indigenous community perspectives to promote inclusive solutions.

Aida Correa-Jackson’s session “Pivot: Making Space at the Table: Empowering Marginalized Communities with WordPress” explored the transformative potential of WordPress and immersive technologies in empowering marginalized individuals and communities.

Other sessions on this topic included Karim Jetha and Sara Ferguson's “Growing in Accessibility,” which focused on web accessibility, and the panel discussion “Empowering Indigenous Communities with WordPress” with panelists Stacy L. Carlson, Prakash Koirala, Battouly Cisse, Raquel Manriquez, and Nicolette Gomez. Michelle Frechette's “Underrepresented in Tech: the Journey to Amplify Others” discussed creating a database to amplify underrepresented voices in the WordPress space.

Additionally, Lucas Rodriguez presented WordPress: Empowering the Underserved in Rural Ontario and shared his experiences using WordPress to support small towns in rural Ontario. The panel discussion on Impacting Underrepresented Communities included Kiera Howe, Nyasha Green, Michelle Frechette and Shanta Nathwani.

Amber Hinds' talk, “How to Make Sure Your Website Complies with Canadian Accessibility Laws,” gave an overview of accessibility laws across Canada and how to make sure your WordPress sites are accessible to as many people as possible. Finally, Lois Chan-Pedley's talk, “Overcoming Language Barriers with Multilingual Sites,” discussed the process of creating multilingual sites using WordPress plugins.

Technical sessions and business perspectives

WordCamp Canada featured plenty of business and technical sessions covering a wide range of topics. Nick Diego's session, “Your WordPress, Your Way: Designing the Editor Experience,” focused on customizing the WordPress editor and site editor to create a more controlled and user-friendly block editing experience. Aurooba Ahmed's session, “Working Across Time Zones as a Productive Developer,” shared tips and tricks for working remotely and collaborating across multiple time zones.

Other sessions included “Taming the Hurricane – Growing Your Business While You’re Busy” by Nathan Ingram, which addressed the challenges of finding time to grow a business while managing client work.

Corinne Boudreau's talk, “How to Create Meaningful Privacy Policies for Your Clients' Websites,” emphasized the importance of transparent privacy policies in building trust with users. Marc Benzakein's talk, “The Problems with WordPress (Not a Rant),” examined the challenges WordPress faces and sought solutions through shared criticism and suggestions.

Additionally, there were sessions on creating custom blocks with create-block, harmonizing creativity and code in design systems, creating accessible eLearning experiences, and mitigating security threats to WordPress sites.

Other topics included using ChatGPT for business insights, mastering web performance, and creating effective About Us pages. The sessions aimed to provide practical advice and actionable strategies to developers, designers, and business owners in the WordPress community.

Packing

When I gave my own talk, “Code Reviews from an Editor’s Perspective or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Curly Braces,” I was impressed by the spirit of camaraderie that permeated the event.

Even among direct competitors, there was a palpable sense that we are all one big WordPress family. We may not always agree on everything, but we all want WordPress to continue to thrive, grow, and expand.

Overall, we want more people from underserved and underrepresented communities to succeed with WordPress – because we need everyone’s talents, skills, and perspectives to make WordPress the best it can be.

During the three-day event, it became clear that each of us has something to contribute to moving the WordPress project forward. Individually, we are powerful, but together we can help fulfill the promise of open source: that WordPress is for everyone.

As I left the Infinity Convention Centre on the final day, I felt a great sense of belonging and renewed purpose. WordCamp Canada was more than just an event – ​​it was a reminder that we are all in this together and can achieve great things together.