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Considerations for making a tree view component accessible

Blog post from GitHub

Post Details
Company
Date Published
Author
Eric Bailey
Word Count
2,069
Language
English
Hacker News Points
-
Summary

GitHub's tree view component has been carefully designed to enhance accessibility while navigating repositories, drawing inspiration from established models like Windows File Explorer to ensure familiarity for users, especially those relying on screen readers. The implementation utilizes semantic HTML and ARIA attributes to create a structured, interoperable experience that supports a wide range of assistive technologies, including less common devices. Key features include a composite widget for efficient navigation, a roving tabindex for keyboard traversal, and live region announcements for dynamic content loading. The component also addresses compatibility issues through precise ARIA usage and offers robust error handling to maintain functionality even during system interruptions. GitHub is exploring future enhancements, such as supporting multiple actions per node, to further evolve the tree view experience, emphasizing the importance of continuous feedback and testing to improve accessibility for all users.