1862691 - Table view is not available when "Unthreaded". Switching from Unthreaded to Threaded, should not change the accessibility structure of the table.

Status: NEW

(Thunderbird :: Disability Access, defect, P2)

Description

[Ali Savas]

If I go to "View" in the message list and then to the "Sort by" submenu and select "Unthreaded", the new table view is not available.

Steps to reproduce

I can only see whether the table view is available or not with a Braille display or if I query the class with JAWS.

1. Go to the message list.
2. Go to "View" > "Sort by" and make sure that "Unthreaded" is enabled. Otherwise this should be enabled.

Result

JAWS shows me that this is a list entry. From this I conclude that this is not the new table view.

Expected

even if "Unthreaded" is enabled, the table view should be available. JAWS should show me that this is a row. It usually only shows that if it is a table view.

Comment 1

[Elizabeth Mitchell]

Requesting info from myself to triage this bug.

Comment 2

[Elizabeth Mitchell]

Ali,

Thanks for reporting this. Thank you for ccing me on this bug.

I have been triaging bugs marked with the access keyboard, but not bugs with the Disability Access component only. I've now included both of those items in my search for accessibility related bugs to find these sooner. Thank you!

Comment 3

[Elizabeth Mitchell]

Hi Ali,

When switching to Unthreaded, both the table view and cards view are available. However, the markup for roles changes, which can be confusing.

I am confirming that the underlying accessibility tree structure changes when switching from Threaded to Unthreaded. Structurally, this change should not alter the accessibility roles set inside the table. This needs to be fixed so it is not confusing.

Below are my longer notes as I was testing this:

I'm looking at this bug and am testing it in Windows 11 with accessibility dev tools to see the structure.

When switching to Unthreaded, both the table view and cards view are available. However, the markup for roles changes, which could be confusing.

When unthreaded, structurally, the message list is bounded by a table. Inside the table, the tbody has a role of "listbox." I think that role is not the correct role and could be confusing. Maybe that is what is causing the list entry information you are noticing. Inside the listbox are individual options, which are the messages. That's structurally confusing.

The table, listbox, option structure is present in both Cards View and Table View for unthreaded.

When switching back to Threaded, the structure is table > treegrid > row. This is the structure that should be retained when switching from Threaded to Unthreaded.

Comment 4

[Elizabeth Mitchell]

I'm not sure if this should be s2 or s3 for severity. But if it is this confusing to use, this should be fixed.

Summary: When switching from Unthreaded to Threaded, the structure of the accessibility structure of the table should not change. Threaded structure is table > treegrid > row. For Unthreaded, the items in the table should be represented as rows, not options in the accessibility structure.

Comment 5

[Wayne Mery (:wsmwk)]

DOes this still reproduce in 128 or newer?

Comment 6

[Ali Savas]

(In reply to Wayne Mery (:wsmwk) from comment #5)

Does this still reproduce in 128 or newer?

Yes, it does.

Comment 7

[Vlad Lucaci, Thunderbird QA (:vlucaci)]

Hello,

Confirming that this issue is still reproducible with the same steps as in the Description.
Reproduced it on 132.0a1(20240924101405) , 130.0(20240827135927) as well as 128.2.3esr(20240920043836) using Windows 11(JAWS v2024.2409.2 and macOS 14 (VoiceOver Utility).

I attempted to search for a regression range for this issue, but I have managed to reproduce it all the way back to builds from 2021-04-22(90.0a1-20210422100347).