Braillewright
A free, accessibility-first WordPress theme — built and actively maintained by Top Tech Tidbits.
Braillewright is a maintained WordPress Theme for site owners who care about real accessibility. It began because a widely used theme stopped getting the accessibility fixes its users needed, so we forked the open-source code, remediated it, and now run it on this very site. We are also giving it away for free to anyone in the access community who could benefit from it. Read the Full Story →
- 100% Free, Forever
- Open Source (GPLv2-or-later)
- No Account Required
- No Third-Party Tracking
- Ongoing Remediation
- Automatic Updates
- Tested Nightly Using NVDA and VoiceOver
- Tested Monthly Using JAWS and TalkBack
- Submit Your Own Issues For Free Remediation
- Running Live On This Site Right Now
What Braillewright Is
An always free, accessibility-first WordPress theme, maintained by Top Tech Tidbits — with all of its customization features built directly into the theme.
Braillewright is a fork of a long-standing, GPL-licensed “accessibility-ready” WordPress theme. We took the open-source code in-house, removed the vendor licensing and cross-promotion, remediated accessibility defects, and committed to maintaining it for the people who depend on it. The full design toolset — layouts, colors, fonts, header image, and display controls — is built directly into the theme, so there is no companion “Pro” plugin to buy or install.
The Braillewright theme is installed and running on the Top Tech Tidbits website right now, serving up the very page that you are currently reading, so what you download is the very same theme that we rely on to serve thousands of blind and low-vision readers every week, all over the world.
Why We Made It Free
Accessibility shouldn’t be paywalled or abandoned. People who use screen readers and other assistive technology deserve a theme that gets fixed when something breaks. Braillewright is our way of giving that back to the community — no cost, no catch.
Our Accessibility Commitment
Accessibility isn’t a feature we shipped once — it’s an ongoing practice.
Accessible Foundation
Built on an “accessibility-ready” base: a skip-to-content link, keyboard-operable menus with proper ARIA state, visible focus indicators, and screen-reader text where it’s needed.
Documented Remediation
We’ve developed and remediated the theme against WCAG 2.2 AA — landmark labels, focus visibility, accessible search and navigation, link affordance — and we keep a public record of what we fix.
Real Screen-Reader Testing
Every change is checked with automated accessibility tooling, and the live site is monitored nightly with real screen readers (NVDA and VoiceOver) — not just a checklist.
Human Verification
Automated tools catch only part of the picture, so Braillewright is also reviewed by people who use assistive technology every single day.
Being Honest About What That Means
We believe accessibility claims should be precise, so here’s the straight version:
What We Can Say
- Built and developed to WCAG 2.2 AA standards.
- Automated AA checks run on every code change.
- Continuously monitored with real screen readers.
- Actively remediated, with fixes documented.
What We Don’t Claim
- That any page is “fully accessible” or “certified.”
- That automated passing equals full conformance.
- Conformance you can’t see — we publish our method and known issues instead.
Read our accessibility statement for our testing method and any known exceptions.
Everything That’s Built In
All of the design power, none of the add-ons. Braillewright is a single theme — the former premium feature set is included, with no separate plugin to install.
Flexible Layouts
- Left, right, two-column, and full-width sidebar layouts
- Narrow and wide content options
- Per-page layout control
Colors & Backgrounds
- Custom color controls
- Background images and textures
- Live preview in the Customizer
Typography
- Custom font selection
- Adjustable font sizes
- Editor font sizes for the block editor
Header & Featured Media
- Custom header image and custom logo
- Featured images with size control
- Featured sliders
Responsive Video
- Featured video support
- Fluid, responsive embeds that scale to any screen
Menus & Widgets
- Primary and secondary navigation menus
- Mobile menu with accessible toggle
- Multiple widget areas
Commerce & Community
- WooCommerce support (product gallery zoom, lightbox, slider)
- bbPress forum support
Modern WordPress
- HTML5 markup and wide-aligned blocks
- Editor styles, title tag, threaded comments
- Automatic feed links and display controls
International
- Right-to-left (RTL) language support
- Translation-ready
Privacy & Upkeep
- No vendor licensing or phone-home callbacks
- Self-hosted automatic updates
- Lightweight single-theme install
Mobile-Friendly By Design
Braillewright is fully responsive. Layouts reflow cleanly from wide desktop monitors down to small phones, the navigation collapses into an accessible mobile menu, and video embeds scale fluidly to fit the screen.
It’s also built to stay usable when people change how they read: content reflows without a horizontal scrollbar, and text stays legible when zoomed.
Works The Way Your Readers Do
- Responsive layouts at every screen size
- Accessible mobile navigation toggle
- Fluid, responsive video
- Reflows without horizontal scrolling
- Holds up under text zoom
Maintained, Monitored, And Self-Updating
A theme is only as good as its upkeep. Braillewright is actively maintained — and it keeps itself current.
Automatic Updates
The theme keeps itself updated for your security and ongoing accessibility, from a self-hosted update channel — no third-party phone-home, no license key.
Tested Before It Ships
Every release is vetted on a staging site — automated checks, real screen-reader runs, and a human accessibility pass — before it reaches your site.
Continuous Monitoring
Nightly screen-reader checks (NVDA + VoiceOver) and a weekly drift check watch the live theme so regressions get caught early.
Community-maintained, in good faith. Braillewright is offered free and maintained actively, but it comes without a formal support guarantee or warranty (as is standard for open-source software). Found an accessibility problem? Tell us — accessibility reports go to the front of the line.
Who’s Behind Braillewright
Braillewright was created and is maintained by Aaron Di Blasi of Mind Vault Solutions, Ltd. on behalf of Top Tech Tidbits — with engineering support from Claude Code. Top Tech Tidbits is the world’s #1 online resource for current news and trends in access technology.
The theme is open source under the GNU General Public License v2 or later. You’re free to use it, study it, modify it or redistribute it. It’s a fork of a GPL-licensed theme; the original author’s code copyright is preserved, and their product and brand names are not used in Braillewright.
Open And Verifiable
Accessibility Statement
Our commitment, our testing method, and an honest account of what’s verified — for the Braillewright theme.
Scope
This statement covers the Braillewright theme as it renders on representative page types (a home/blog page and a single post or newsletter-issue page). A live site’s accessibility also depends on the content its authors add, which is outside the theme’s control.
Where We Stand
Braillewright is developed and remediated toWCAG 2.2 Level AA. We do not claim full, blanket WCAG AA conformance — true conformance is judged page by page and requires a complete manual evaluation, which is ongoing. We would rather tell you exactly what we test, and what we still know to be imperfect, than overstate it.
How We Test
- Automated accessibility checks (axe-core and HTML_CodeSniffer, WCAG 2.2 AA ruleset) run on every code change.
- The live theme is monitored nightly with real screen readers — NVDA and VoiceOver.
- Specific WCAG 2.2 AA fixes (landmark labelling, visible focus, accessible search and navigation, link affordance) are documented in the public repository.
- Review by people who use assistive technology day to day is part of our process.
Known Limitations
- “Featured slider” content comes from a third-party plugin; its accessibility is that plugin’s responsibility, not the theme’s.
- Some host- or platform-supplied page furniture (for example, a host’s own footer) sits outside the theme.
- Because conformance is judged per page, a published page can still fall short because of the content placed into it.
Tell Us
Found a barrier? Email braillewright@toptechtidbits.com. Reports are prioritized, and fixes reach every site through the automatic-update channel.
For the Top Tech Tidbits website as a whole, see the Top Tech Tidbits accessibility statement.
Last reviewed: June 2026.
Questions, Answered
Is Braillewright really free?
Yes — completely. No purchase, no account, no “Pro” upsell. It’s released under the GPL (v2 or later), which keeps it free for everyone, including you and anyone you share it with.
Do I need to buy or install a separate “Pro” plugin?
No. The full feature set — layouts, colors, fonts, header image, sliders, display controls — is built directly into the theme. One install, nothing else to buy.
How do I install it?
Download the ZIP below, then in your WordPress dashboard go to Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme, choose the ZIP, install, and activate. Full steps are in the download section.
Will it update itself?
Yes. Braillewright includes a self-hosted automatic-update channel, so it keeps itself current for security and accessibility — without any third-party phone-home or license key.
Does it meet WCAG 2.2 AA?
We build and remediate Braillewright to WCAG 2.2 AA, run automated AA checks on every change, and monitor it with real screen readers. We don’t, however, claim blanket “WCAG AA conformance,” because true conformance is judged per page and requires a full manual evaluation. Our accessibility statement spells out exactly what’s been tested, how, and any known issues.
What data does the theme collect?
The theme itself adds no third-party tracking and no licensing callbacks. Its update checker contacts Top Tech Tidbits to look for new versions — that’s it.
Can I use it on client sites, or even sell services around it?
Yes. The GPL lets you use, modify, and redistribute the theme — including commercially. If you redistribute a modified version, it stays under the GPL and the existing copyright notices must be preserved.
What are the requirements?
WordPress 5.2 or newer (tested up to WordPress 6.7). It’s developed and continuously tested on PHP 8.3. It works on standard WordPress hosting, including WordPress.com Business and Commerce sites.
How do I report an accessibility problem?
Please let us know. Accessibility reports are prioritized, and fixes flow out to every site through the automatic-update channel.
Download Braillewright
Free, open-source, accessibility-first. Download the theme ZIP and install it in minutes.
Want to verify your download? Each release lists its files and SHA-256 on GitHub.
Installing In Three Steps
- In WordPress, go to Appearance → Themes → Add New → Upload Theme.
- Choose the Braillewright ZIP you downloaded, then select Install Now.
- Click Activate. That’s it — automatic updates take over from here.
Prefer to inspect the code first? Browse or download it from the public repository.