Joomla! Accessibility Programme Moves Into Active Delivery Phase

The Joomla! Project is pleased to announce significant progress in its 20-month accessibility programme commissioned by the Sovereign Tech Fund.

Following the announcement of the programme earlier this year, the project has now moved from preparation into active delivery. Cynthia Shelly and Robert Deutz have taken up their roles as Project Managers, a six-member Selection Committee has been appointed, the second milestone has already been awarded, and the first milestone is close to completion.

“It is great to see the Joomla Accessibility Programme moving from planning into active delivery. With Cynthia and Robert now leading the programme, the Selection Committee established, and the first milestones already progressing, we have created a strong foundation for the work ahead.

I have already had an early look at some of the first accessibility results, and I am genuinely excited about the difference these improvements will make. Accessibility is essential for the people who rely on it, and at the same time better accessibility means a clearer and more usable Joomla for everyone. It is not a feature for one group of users, it is part of building software that truly works for all.

I am looking forward to seeing this programme benefit Joomla and its users around the world.”

Elisa Foltyn, President of Open Source Matters

Cynthia Shelly and Robert Deutz have now taken up their roles as Project Managers for the Joomla Accessibility Programme.

Cynthia Shelly brings extensive experience in digital accessibility and has worked on accessibility programmes and standards across major technology and international organisations. Her responsibilities include project management, accessibility oversight, reporting, and coordinating accessibility requirements with the contractors working on the programme.

Robert Deutz is a long-time Joomla contributor with extensive experience in Joomla development, community leadership, and project management. He has previously served as President of Open Source Matters and has held several leadership roles within the Joomla project. His responsibilities include project coordination, community communication, preparing project calls, and supporting contractors throughout the programme.

Together, the Project Managers combine extensive accessibility expertise, Joomla experience, and project management capabilities to coordinate the programme and ensure that its individual milestones contribute to the overall goals of the initiative.

A six-member Selection Committee, made up of members from the Joomla community, has been established to evaluate proposals and decide on the awarding of milestones throughout the programme. The Committee assesses each proposal against a defined scoring scheme, ensuring that the selection process is fair, transparent, and consistent.

The committee consists of:

Laura Gordon Tom van der Laan Yannick Gaultier Stefan Wendhausen Nicola Galgano Emmanuel Lemor, Vice President of Open Source Matters

The Selection Committee provides an independent evaluation of proposals submitted for the individual milestones. Its role is to assess the proposals against the requirements and objectives defined for each milestone and to recommend the most suitable proposals for funding.

The committee has already completed its first selection process and has awarded Milestone 1b, marking another important step in the transition from programme planning to active implementation.

The first milestone, Milestone 1a, is now close to completion.

Milestone 1a establishes an important foundation for the accessibility programme by creating a baseline against which future improvements can be measured. It includes accessibility audits, testing protocols, and the identification of key areas that will inform the work of subsequent milestones.

The results of this milestone will provide an important evidence base for the programme and help ensure that the improvements delivered through the later milestones can be evaluated against clearly defined and measurable criteria.

The final results of Milestone 1a will be published once the milestone has been completed and the associated deliverables have been finalised.

With the Project Managers in place, the Selection Committee established, the first milestone approaching completion, and Milestone 1b already awarded, the Joomla Accessibility Programme has now entered its active delivery phase.

Over the coming months, additional milestones will be launched and work will begin across a range of areas relevant to Joomla's accessibility. The programme is intended not only to address individual accessibility issues, but also to strengthen the processes, tools, documentation, testing, and development practices that support accessibility throughout the Joomla project.

The Joomla Project will continue to provide updates on the programme as milestones progress and will make relevant results and deliverables available to the community where appropriate.

The programme represents a significant investment in the future of Joomla and its commitment to providing an accessible content management system for users, site builders, developers, and administrators around the world.

The Joomla Accessibility Programme is a 20-month initiative and investment by the Sovereign Tech Agency. The programme is designed to strengthen Joomla's accessibility and establish sustainable improvements across the project, including its software, templates, documentation, development processes, testing, and community practices.

The programme consists of a series of individually defined milestones that are awarded through an open selection process. An independent Selection Committee evaluates proposals, while the Project Managers coordinate the overall programme and its delivery.

Joomla is a free and open-source content management system used around the world to create websites, intranets, web applications, and digital experiences. Built by a global community, Joomla provides a flexible and powerful platform with a strong commitment to openness, accessibility, security, multilingual capabilities, and digital freedom.

Open Source Matters (OSM) is a not-for-profit organisation that supports and promotes the Joomla project and its global community. OSM provides the organisational, financial, and legal framework that enables the Joomla project and its worldwide community of contributors to continue developing and maintaining Joomla.

The Sovereign Tech Agency is the first government organisation in Europe tasked with strengthening critical digital infrastructure. It identifies and invests in foundational open source software components and supports open technologies with broad societal importance. One of its programs is the Sovereign Tech Fund. The Sovereign Tech Agency is financed by the German Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation and is a subsidiary of SPRIND, the Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation.

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