DAT: Github Footer

[emmatseng-ux]

Hi everyone! We are currently revisiting the words used in the footer and taking into consideration the Flesch Kincaid reading level, use of plain language and inclusive language, and contextual use of the items in the footer (note: the target audience for source code is mainly used by developers but anyone can access these items). Attaching a photo of the github footer for reference:

(Description: A black footer with the github cat logo titled Contribute on Github.com, with 3 links to the right, see the source code on github.com, report an issue on github.com, and join the discussions on github.com.)

We would love to get feedback on the following items:

"See source codes on github.com"

• Would "see" be considered non-inclusive and inconsiderate to visually-impaired people who visit the site?
• If yes, are there any suggestions for possible alternatives? Some ideas we had:

1. Check
2. Learn more about
3. Access

"Report an issue on github.com"

• Simplifying the sentence to a 6th grade reading level by changing to: "Tell us about an issue" - is there any feedback for this change?

"Join the discussions on github.com"

• Currently a college reading level - are there any ideas for simpler language?

"on github.com"
For screen reader users, they would hear "on github.com" 4 times. Is that considered redundant or do the links provide more clarity to where they will be taken to after selecting the link?

Appreciate any feedback and thank you for taking the time to help!

[martynka]

From someone who needs clear and concise language I'd like to propose a change.
From:
Contribute on Github.com
"See the Source Code on Github.com" "Report an Issue on Github.com" "Join the discussions on Github.com"
To:
"Contribute to the project on Github"
"Repositories (Code)" "Issues" "Discussions"

Notes:

1. The proposed new link texts would match the tabs on the landing pages
2. Users would greatly benefit if the the landing pages for all 3 links have headings
3. The "Report an Issue" link [See the source code], takes me to this page: https://github.com/gc-da11yn/gc-da11yn.github.io/issues/new/choose, where the "Issues" tab is emphasized with the underlined. However, the "Issues" tab link itself takes me to another page. This confuses me. The "Report an Issue" link should point to the "Issues" landing page: https://github.com/gc-da11yn/gc-da11yn.github.io/issues
4. The current link "Report an Issue" landing page is confusing. I don't know how to start, where is the new issue button? This is also the reason why the link should point to the ".../issues" page and not the ".../issues/new/choose" page.

[shawnthompson]

@martynka I don't think the "Report an issue" link should take you to a place where you see the issues already created. If you want to report an issue, it should take you to a page that allows you to report a new issue, which is where it takes you. Unfortunately we can't add anymore text to that page because Github takes care of the page and just lists the templates we've created.

There might be a way to customize that chooser page using the Github API but I would need someone to do the research on how to do that.

We want people to report issues they are finding on the site and not just view the list of all the issues I haven't fixed yet. 😢

If you still think that link should list all the open issues page, then we should be labeling it View Issues. But if a user wants to create a new issue they will still land up in the original page that we are linking to and finding themselves in the same situation you stated before.

This might be something we want to open up an issue with Github for there "Chooser" pages. Explaining that some people might be confused.

[shawnthompson]

Here is the new contribute section layout proposed:

Alt: White text on black background with Contribute to this project on Github.com (with Github icon) as a heading and the following links, Source code (open and closed square bracket icon), Issues (round circle with dot in the middle icon) and Discussions (chat bubbles icon).

This does look nice but (I hate to say but) I do have a few concerns.

1. As stated ins my comments previous to this one, the issues link, I think, should point to report an issue and not list the issues currently, therefore I would say it should say "Report an issue or create an issue", something more descriptive to the action, some might fail this under WCAG 2.1 - 2.4.4: Link Purpose (In Context) because the link does not describe exactly where it's going.
   • If you really mean it to go to list the "issues", than we can leave the text as is, but then I would think it would be more difficult for someone to figure out how to report a problem they find who doesn't already know Github.
2. We should be using the font awesome icons for the icons before the text.
   These are the ones I would suggest (they aren't the exact same as the ones on Github):
   • Source code
   • Issues
   • Discussions

Attn: @emmatseng-ux

[shawnthompson]

@emmatseng-ux What would issues be in French?

[shawnthompson]

This is what we get in mobile:

Keeping in mind "Enjeu" is a direct translation to "Issues"

[emmatseng-ux]

Thanks for sharing the staging link @shawnthompson! We consulted Melissa and Laurent on our team for help with French translations. As GitHub is a uni-lingual site, per Official Languages, we will have to indicate that in the link. Posting the team's suggestions below:

1. Problèmes (en anglais seulement)
2. Problèmes (Issues) (en anglais seulement)
3. Issues (problèmes) (en anglais seulement)

I personally am leaning towards Option #2 because the English equivalent is also noted there which will further help with navigation. Wondering for stylistic purposes, can we format the space between the title and anglais seulement with a vertical bar and remove the brackets?

• Ex: Problèmes (Issues) | en anglais seulement

Side note: the English version for Issues is missing an 's' plural, in staging.

[shawnthompson]

@emmatseng-ux, I've added the "s" to the links text for "Issues".

I like the 2 option also although I'd like to keep it formatted the same as elsewhere on our site with the (en anglais seulement) text. In some cases we are even using the (Disponible en anglais seulement). I'd like to stay consistent throughout the site with the format now and open an issue / discussion to talk about it in more detail. All through the Government of Canada websites they are using brackets "()" around the extra information to links so I believe we should be consistent to the rest of the sites for now. Eventually pushing for change to the over all GC web.

I did a code search results for "en anglais seulement".

The Canada.ca Style guide has the following guidance. The accessibility community is not a fan of their version because it places the (French only) text outside of the actual link text and we feel it should be inside the link text as it's important information needed to understand the link text. So I really don't want to follow their guidance but wanted to acknowledge that we know about it.

See section 7.4 Linking to non-government content for more details.

I will start a Best Practices Open Discussions about why we should change the format and come to an agreement to change it.

[shawnthompson]

Discussion about links available in other language started at #311

[shawnthompson]

Here is a staged version of the changes:

Development version: Digital Accessibility Toolkit - Digital Accessibility Toolkit / Sharing space

Keep in mind that the Netlify text only shows up on the staging environment. It's a condition to use Netlify's Open source plan, which we are not using on the live site.

[oyinR]

@shawnthompson will all dev changes including the homepage designs show up in this staging environment? Also when would be a good time to review designs in staging?

[shawnthompson]

The whole site is a "staging" environment so we will be updating as much as needed and not waiting on multiple changes. The aim is to "launch" in December with mass promotions about the site. We are keeping this as agile as possible. We don't have the resources to setup a staging site for every change and group them together for one big release.

[oyinR]

You shared a development version of the site which has a different URL to the DAT site. Which one should we refer to for updates? Also wondering when will the homepage designs be updated? Is there timeline/roadmap we can refer to or would you be informing us when the designs have been updated?

[shawnthompson]

Those development versions are setup to review every change we make, also know as pull requests. The one above if for the change in the footer.

As for the homepage change, I'm looking to have that done in the following week or two. With holidays and being the only person making changes I have a backlog of changes to make.

The homepage isn't a priority for me at the moment.

On a good note, @acev0010 has joined my team of one to help me with the backlog of changes so it should move faster once I get her up to speed.

[oyinR]

Great, thanks Shawn! I'm so happy you have more support now! And @acev0010, welcome to the team!
Julie shared a list of changes you will be making in the next few weeks. I'll set up a touchpoint for us, if the time/day doesn't work please propose a new date!