Should NVAccess Join the Public Review of the New GitHub Issues Experience?

[christopherpross]

Hey NVDA Community,

I wanted to bring up something that could be interesting for us: GitHub has a new public beta for their Issues experience, and I think it might be worth exploring if NVAccess (as an organization) should join in. Given our role as a leader in open-source accessibility, it feels like a great opportunity to provide feedback and help shape this feature. Here’s why I think it’s worth considering:

What’s New?

1. Issues are now shown in a list format, and the cool part is that you can navigate through them with NVDA using the up and down arrow keys. A simple press of Enter opens the issue you’re on. It’s a bit like having a more intuitive interface for us screen reader users.

2. There are some minor bugs with this view, which is exactly why I think our input would be valuable. We could work directly with the developers at GitHub and be part of the conversation to make these features as accessible as possible. I’ve already submitted a bug report here: GitHub Discussion.

3. One of the new features is the ability to create sub-issues. This could be a game-changer, making it easier to break down complex issues into more manageable pieces—kind of like user stories. It might even help us improve the way we organize our backlog.

4. They’re also introducing new issue types, giving us more ways to categorize and handle issues. This could make our work even more efficient.

How Can We Get Involved?

From what I’ve read, an admin from the NVAccess organization just needs to sign up for the waitlist, and the new experience will be enabled once it’s approved.

A Little Demo

For anyone interested, here’s a repository where I first saw this new issue view, and I was really excited about it. Maybe you can get a better impression of the new issue layout here.

So, what do you all think? Is this something we should try out as a community? It could be a great chance for NVDA to not only benefit from these new features but also to contribute our expertise and ensure they’re accessible for everyone.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

Best,
Christopher

[kaveinthran]

Yes, I really second this initiative and we should join in as the feature is being shaped. Regards, Kavein Kaveinthran (He/Him) Curious, Native Blind Disabled independent Human Rights Advocate email: ***@***.*** ***@***.***> twitter <https://twitter.com/kaveinthran> My LinkedIn <https://my.linkedin.com/in/kaveinthran>

…

On Mon, Oct 7, 2024 at 11:24 AM Christopher Proß ***@***.***> wrote: Hey NVDA Community, I wanted to bring up something that could be interesting for us: GitHub has a new public beta for their Issues experience, and I think it might be worth exploring if NVAccess (as an organization) should join in. Given our role as a leader in open-source accessibility, it feels like a great opportunity to provide feedback and help shape this feature. Here’s why I think it’s worth considering: What’s New? 1. Issues are now shown in a list format, and the cool part is that you can navigate through them with NVDA using the up and down arrow keys. A simple press of Enter opens the issue you’re on. It’s a bit like having a more intuitive interface for us screen reader users. 2. There are some minor bugs with this view, which is exactly why I think our input would be valuable. We could work directly with the developers at GitHub and be part of the conversation to make these features as accessible as possible. I’ve already submitted a bug report here: GitHub Discussion <community/community#139935?sort=top#discussioncomment-10826666> . 3. One of the new features is the ability to create sub-issues. This could be a game-changer, making it easier to break down complex issues into more manageable pieces—kind of like user stories. It might even help us improve the way we organize our backlog. 4. They’re also introducing new issue types, giving us more ways to categorize and handle issues. This could make our work even more efficient. How Can We Get Involved? From what I’ve read, an admin from the NVAccess organization just needs to sign up for the waitlist, and the new experience will be enabled once it’s approved. A Little Demo For anyone interested, here’s a repository where I first saw this new issue view, and I was really excited about it. Maybe you can get a better impression of the new issue layout here <https://github.com/Bootstrap-Academy/Bootstrap-Academy/issues>. So, what do you all think? Is this something we should try out as a community? It could be a great chance for NVDA to not only benefit from these new features but also to contribute our expertise and ensure they’re accessible for everyone. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Best, Christopher — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#17255>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AFPTEYZQXI3MHPCHR33CF7LZ2H5HZAVCNFSM6AAAAABPO7HJS6VHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43ERDJONRXK43TNFXW4OZXGI4DGNZWGA> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[seanbudd]

I'd be extremely cautious with accessibility issues with this given #15320 stalling for over a year

[christopherpross]

@seanbudd
I completely understand your concerns. I wasn't aware of this issue before. A GitHub employee, who stated they are part of the accessibility team, responded to me in the discussion regarding the accessibility issues. Therefore, I’d like to bring this up for further discussion. If we've already had negative experiences, we should, of course, be cautious when it comes to improving accessibility with GitHub. Personally, I find it extremely frustrating to navigate through the issues on GitHub so far, and I was quite impressed with the new view. Even though these are only minor accessibility issues, I am still looking forward to the view becoming generally available at some point, even if the issues mentioned aren’t resolved by then.

[christopherpross]

I am not aware of any major obstacles. I have tested the feature in another repository and have not noticed any blockages or significant issues in Firefox.

[CyrilleB79]

Just tested quickly this new feature.

It's really easier to be able to navigate from issue to issue with the H (heading) shortcut in browse mode!

[christopherpross]

@CyrilleB79
Yeah, and when you are in the focus mode, you can use the arrow keys like in a list to jump from issue to issue. You can use the tab key to get the labels of an issue.

[seanbudd]

@christopherpross - have you used this to triage / manage issues as a maintainer?
Has this been tested in Chrome too?

[christopherpross]

Hey @seanbudd ,
I have also tested the whole thing under Google Chrome, but did not have the opportunity to test the triage process as a maintainer.

[SaschaCowley]

@christopherpross somewhat off topic, but there is an AxSGrease script for GitHub which helps to alleviate several problems with GitHub's accessibility.

[christopherpross]

@SaschaCowley
Many thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, the script doesn't give me any headings for the issues, for example, which is actually one of the only things that annoys me about GitHub in collaboration with NVDA. I will leave the script installed anyway.

[gerald-hartig]

@christopherpross @CyrilleB79 These new features look very good and I expect we will use them. However this is still a preview, potentially with both bugs and accessibility issues. If the new Issues Experience doesn't work for us, there is no indication that we can revert to the old UI. This change is therefore risky.

Our past experience with how GitHub has responded to accessibility issues does not fill us with confidence that accessibility issues will be prioritised in a way that matches our needs. We will reconsider this view if someone from the accessibility team at github reaches out and shares their plans on addressing accessibility issues in this feature during the beta period.

That being said, if the new UI is so superior to the old one that it's worth the risk of joining the public-ish beta (they call it a public beta but the wait-list makes it feel more like a private beta), then we can do some further exploration.

[christopherpross]

Hey @kaveinthran,
That's understandable. I've already been in contact with a user who, according to him, is a member of the GitHub accessibility team and will take care of the improvements regarding the new issue view. Can I provide more information or be of any other help? Should the discussion remain open for now or should it be closed with this decision?

[gerald-hartig]

I'd be happy for the discussion to be closed until we can get some more information on the new system. With the rollout requiring the entire organisation and all its projects to be converted, no indication that we can revert, and a waitlist meaning we can't just set up a dummy project to see how easy it is to do all of the required tasks, we're flying blind.

[gerald-hartig]

We can reopen it if the current situation changes or people feel particularly strongly about having the new features.

[gerald-hartig]

@christopherpross if you're able to let your contact know, we'd love to see github fix issue https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/61696 as this would greatly improve accessibility for issue creation.