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Joe Lopreste

Owner/Accessibility Specialist at ClearPath Web Accessibility

@foucciano USA joined Apr 2018

508accessible.com Slack: @Joe

    Bio

    I am a WordPress accessibility specialist with more than a decade of hands-on WP experience. My wife & I own ClearPath Web Accessibility, a web accessibility company with a strong focus on WordPress, manual audits, remediation, and team training. I work directly with WordPress teams to fix real accessibility issues without relying on overlays or quick-fix automation.

    Interests

    Outside of work, I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, boating, flying, RVing, and giving back whenever I can. I also love creating, building, and finding unique ways to solve problems and make a positive impact.

    WordPress Origin Story

    I started building WordPress websites because I believed WordPress was, and still is, one of the best CMS platforms available. Its flexibility, community, and long-term potential made it the platform I wanted to build on.

    As I worked with clients, I realized I also loved creating custom tools and software that could help both developers and everyday users complete important tasks more easily.

    During that process, I was introduced to web accessibility and began learning about the barriers blind users and people with disabilities face when trying to use websites and digital tools.

    That changed everything for me. I realized my true passion was helping make WordPress websites, plugins, and software more accessible so people with disabilities can use and enjoy the same powerful tools as everyone else.

    Badges

    CODE
    2 badges
    Plugin Developer Theme Developer
    COMMUNITY
    1 badge
    WordCamp Speaker '19

    Current Job

    Owner/Accessibility Specialist
    Jan 2015 – Present
    ClearPath Web Accessibility
    Co-Owner / WordPress Accessibility Specialist
    At ClearPath Web Accessibility, I help organizations make their WordPress websites, plugins, and digital content more accessible and WCAG/Section 508 compliant. My work focuses on manual accessibility audits, hands-on WordPress remediation, developer guidance, accessibility documentation, and team training. I work directly with clients, designers, developers, and content teams to identify real accessibility barriers and fix them properly without relying on overlays or automated quick-fix solutions.

    I also help manage accessibility projects from start to finish, including scoping, testing, reporting, remediation support, re-testing, and VPAT/ACR documentation when needed. ClearPath is owned by my wife and me, and our goal is to help teams build and maintain accessible digital experiences that work better for everyone.

    Key Accomplishments

    Created and continue to improve a free WordPress accessibility plugin that has been downloaded more than 40,000 times through the official WordPress Plugin Repository. Released when very few WordPress tools focused directly on accessibility, the plugin helps site owners and developers take practical steps toward making WordPress websites more accessible.
    Supported a large university athletics department after it received a legal accessibility complaint involving its WordPress website. I reviewed the complaint, verified the reported accessibility issues, completed a full manual WordPress accessibility audit, and helped guide remediation until the reported barriers were resolved. This work helped support a successful legal resolution and made the website more accessible for the people who needed to use it.
    Presented multiple WordPress accessibility talks through WordCamp/WordPress.tv, helping educate WordPress developers, site owners, and content teams on practical ways to improve accessibility and build more inclusive websites.

    Recent impact

    Score weights high-impact work (commits, releases, approved translations, props) at 3x routine activity.

    Last 30 days
    0contributions
    high0
    medium0
    score0
    Last 90 days
    10contributions
    high10
    medium0
    score30
    Last 12 months
    16contributions
    high16
    medium0
    score48

    Contributions

    Type
    May 2026
    May 29 Fri · 07:11
    Plugins high
    Committed [3553061] to Plugins SVN:
    Removed External Services and Source Code sections, updated assets
    May 25 Mon · 21:08
    Plugins high
    Committed [3548264] to Plugins SVN:
    Updated readme formatting and minimum <a class="wiki" href="http://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/wiki/WordPress">WordPress</a> version to 6.0
    May 25 Mon · 20:49
    Plugins high
    Committed [3548251] to Plugins SVN:
    Updated readme formatting, bold text, videos and restored sections
    May 25 Mon · 20:44
    Plugins high
    Committed [3548250] to Plugins SVN:
    Updated minimum <a class="wiki" href="http://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/wiki/WordPress">WordPress</a> version requirement to 6.0
    May 25 Mon · 20:42
    Plugins high
    Committed [3548245] to Plugins SVN:
    Updated readme formatting and screenshot images
    May 25 Mon · 14:48
    Plugins high
    Committed [3547787] to Plugins SVN:
    Fixed links and video embeds
    May 25 Mon · 14:40
    Plugins high
    Committed [3547781] to Plugins SVN:
    Fixed video URLs to embed correctly
    May 25 Mon · 14:23
    Plugins high
    Committed [3547751] to Plugins SVN:
    Updated readme in tags/3.0 to match trunk
    May 25 Mon · 13:36
    Plugins high
    Committed [3547670] to Plugins SVN:
    Added new banner and icon assets
    May 25 Mon · 13:33
    Plugins high
    Committed [3547667] to Plugins SVN:
    Updated description, installation, FAQ and screenshot captions

    Developer

    2 plugins

    Contributor

    1 plugin

    Themes

    1 theme

    Plugins

    2 favorites