Track: Track 1
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Accessibility in themes: easier than you think
Many theme developers assume accessibility-ready requirements are hard to meet — but that’s rarely true. This session shares practical insights from real theme reviews and shows how both block and classic themes can reach accessibility-ready status with manageable effort.
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The fight for the open web is a lie
For decades, open source advocates and Internet purists have rallied behind a righteous call: “we must fight to preserve the open web.” That rallying cry is all wrong. The web itself remains as open as the day Tim Berners-Lee created it – built on patent-free standards, decentralized architecture, and universal access. Yet today, billions of…
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Human in the loop means something
Human in the loop is supposed to mean something. Instead, it’s become a comfort phrase. A checkbox instead of a choice about who does what. Humans bring knowledge, judgment, and context. AI brings scale, pattern recognition, and capacity beyond any individual. The real work is building products where both do what they’re good at. When…
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Fireside chat
WordCamp Europe 2026 in Kraków closed with a fireside chat between Mary Hubbard, Executive Director of WordPress, Matías Ventura, lead of the Gutenberg project, and Rich Tabor, a WordPress designer and developer. After a celebration of WordPress in education, including a new WordPress course launching this October at Kraków University of Technology, the three discuss…
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What’s new in WordPress Playground?
Discover the latest evolution of WordPress Playground in a talk designed for every skill level. We will start with the new, easy-to-use web tools, including the Blueprints Editor, File Editor, and the new Admin Database Manager. Then, we will look under the hood at the architectural changes, like modular PHP versions and OpCache support, that…
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Why writing still matters in a video-first internet
In 2026, video accounts for 82.5% of global internet traffic. So where does that leave written content? This talk discusses the rapid rise of video, how user search behaviour is evolving, and why written content continues to stay relevant. It also offers practical guidance on how modern marketers, writers, and businesses can adapt to stay…
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Open source is democratic infrastructure – support it!
Open source is democratic infrastructure: built in public, improved by many, and trusted because it is transparent. But infrastructure does not maintain itself. In this talk, Marcel Bootsman shares a practical playbook for how companies and individuals can support open source without taking control, reduce burnout risk, and turn good intentions into sustainable contribution.
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How we made WP contribution part of our agency culture
Many people in the WordPress community want to contribute, but don’t know where to start, don’t feel confident enough, or simply don’t have the time. As an agency, we faced the same challenges. Client work was always prioritised, and contribution often felt like something you do *after hours* — or not at all. At the…
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The clarity dividend: accessibility as an SEO strategy
Is your website “invisible” to 23% of your potential customers and the world’s leading AI bots? Search engines no longer just look for keywords; they measure User Experience. In this talk, we’ll dive into the data proving that accessible WordPress sites rank higher and reach further. We’ll explore how designing for the disability community, including…
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AI search: why your whole company should care
AI Search isn’t just SEO’s problem anymore – it’s everyone’s. From content teams to developers, PPC to partnerships, the shift to AI-native discovery affects your entire business. This session is your wake-up call: why you’re probably already behind, what’s changed, and the quick wins you can implement now to catch up.