[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #32170: List table: sortable column headers accessibility

[WordPress Trac]

#32170: List table: sortable column headers accessibility
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 Reporter:  afercia            |      Owner:
     Type:  defect (bug)       |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal             |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Administration     |    Version:  4.2
 Severity:  normal             |   Keywords:  needs-patch
  Focuses:  ui, accessibility  |
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 List tables can be sorted activating the links in the sortable table
 headers (if any), in ascending and descending order. See screenshot:

 [[Image(https://cldup.com/2h3fIgOJH1.png)]]

 For screen reader users, there's no indication at all the columns can be
 sorted. A far as I see, this feature is not even mentioned in the Help
 tab. There are just some links and users don't have a clue what they're
 meant for. Screen readers will read out, for example:
 {{{
 column 2
 Title link
 column 6
 Comments link
 column 7
 Date link
 }}}

 It would be very beneficial to add a clear, concise, information about the
 header links purpose.
 - which columns are sortable
 - which order users will get when activating the links (descending or
 ascending?)
 - the current sorting and order

 Also sighted users would probably benefit from a clear indication of the
 initial sorting. In fact, the arrow is displayed only when you change the
 default sorting so you already have to know the columns are sortable.
 Displaying the arrow in the initial view could help, as it's done in all
 similar applications I can think of.

 I would also suggest to review the ordering associated with the "first
 click" on a header link. For example, in the Posts table clicking the
 Comments header the first time gives an ascending order by Comments count,
 showing the Posts with 0 comments first, while probably would be more
 useful to have the Posts with the higher number of Comments displayed
 first.

 Any thoughts and patches more than welcome.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/32170>
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