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Many of these guidelines have been updated since expanding to a team. See our handbook: https://github.com/equalifyEverything/handbook

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Equalify code is first and foremost inclusive. We invite everyone, no matter their experience, to contribute to Equalify.

This document outlines how we maintain an inclusive code-base, open to all contributors.

Keep Code Easy-to-Understand

Any coding language can become complicated quickly. We want to keep our code easy to understand so that even beginners can know where to jump in. Clarity is achieved by keeping two rules:

Rule 1: Work Procedurally

Procedural programming works with the basic Accessibility premise of well-ordered content (for more, check out Mozilla’s discussion on “Proper Semantics”). We know that’s different than many software projects that value Object-oriented programming, but we have enjoyed the fact that many new-to-PHP users understand our code easily.

Rule 2: Name Clearly

Lots of code comments often mean that functions and variables are not named. We value explicit naming of functions and variables instead of adding lots of comments about what the functions or variables do.

Write in PHP

PHP became our programming language of choice after building early prototypes in Python and JavaScript. We didn’t choose Python because it wasn’t familiar to many website developers we started working with. We didn’t choose JavaScript because promoted working in a way that worked against screen reader users. We always remain open to change if that means making our platform’s code more accessible to users.

Avoid Frameworks

New frameworks must save us time without adding new barriers for contributors. Under that creed, we find ourselves going back to coding solutions in basic PHP instead of adopting frameworks.

Be Efficient, But Not At Expense of Clarity

Remember: we are an accessibility platform. We want to be fast and agile. That said, we’ll gladly trade a small efficiency to be more clear to our contributors. We think the smartest solutions are both super efficient and super understandable.

Act Without Dogma

Of course, all of our ideas are up for debate! Please create a pull request to let us know of any new ideas. We’re excited to evolve into the most inclusive platform to have ever shaped the internet.

Cheers!