On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, the WordPress UW Theme was updated to version 1.32.0 in the WiscWeb service. A full list of changes in this version of the UW Theme can be reviewed in the changelog.
Here’s a few of the more noteworthy changes:
Accessible styles for Orbital theme in Gravity Forms
Preface: While Gravity Forms uses the word “theme,” what they’re really referring to is the collection of styles applied to their forms. This is different from a true WordPress theme (like the UW Theme!), where styles are applied to the entire website.
Gravity Forms has shipped a new theme called “Orbital.” Over time, this theme will replace their legacy theme, known as “Gravity Forms 2.5.”
Within the UW Theme, we had added CSS to make Gravity Forms forms looks more integrated with the theme styles. However, those styles were targeted only at Gravity Forms 2.5 theme. This update included new styling targeted at the Orbital theme. Now, both form options will appear branded within the UW Theme.
Accessibility fixes for heading levels
A more recent UW Theme update accidentally undid some settings we had in place related to accessible heading levels. This update puts these back in place:
- If using a content row heading, it will always receive an H2.
- If using lists like the post listing page element or an events list, those headings will change depending on whether or not the content layout H2 exists:
- If the content layout H2 is present, these headings will appear as H3s.
- If the content layout H2 is not present, these headings will appear as H2s.
Accessible screen reader information for replacement logos
Some groups within the WiscWeb service opt for changing out the UW Crest for their own branded logo. In these cases, we make an edit on the backend of the site. We noticed that screen readers were showing a different experience for the UW Crest versus these other logos.
This update added an ARIA label for customized logos to denote that they are decorative. This aligned custom logo sites with the way the UW Crest works in the standard theme.
Featured content block background fixes
We found an issue where featured content styles were overriding drop shadow styles when background colors are set in the content layout settings. This was especially apparent when using drop shadow on featured content blocks with a light gray background.
This update fixes the issue by displaying the featured content blocks in white in most background combinations (light gray, dark gray, campus red, etc.). If the background color is white, the featured content blocks will appear in light gray. This allows for contrast of background/foreground and enhances readability.
If you notice any breaking issues on your site after this update, please submit a request via our Customer Support Form (Note: please choose the “Emergency Issue” option when submitting). Please provide as much detail as possible when documenting the issue you are experiencing.
