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• Visit the DoIT Shared Tools KnowledgeBase for more information about using GitLab. For further assistance, email the DoIT Help Desk at help@doit.wisc.edu.

Accessibility and usability barriers 

The following barriers were identified through accessibility testing a select number of pages and tasks in GitLab. Please note this is not an exhaustive list of the barriers a user may encounter in GitLab.

Keyboard navigation barriers

• There are some instances where the focus order does not match a page’s visual layout, or the focus order does not adjust as expected upon opening a sidebar. 

• Some elements in custom dropdowns or flyouts are not accessible by keyboard, such as links in a tooltip container.

• The Project information bar’s color segments (which, on mouse hover, show the percent of the project that is HTML, CSS, JavaScript, etc.) are not navigable by keyboard.

• On the “New merge request” page, the Assignees and Reviewers custom select boxes do not trap keyboard focus, so if a user tabs out of the box, it will get stuck in its open state and cannot be closed unless the user reloads the page. 

• In any Issue board, both individual issue cards and the overarching list columns can only be moved using a mouse. While users can still move the issue cards in a roundabout way by opening the issue details and changing the label/assignee, etc., this is much more tedious and not an equitable experience.

Screen reader barriers

• When applying search filters within a search field, the filter submenus are not accessible by screen reader. 

• Link behavior is inconsistent. Some links open in the same tab, while other links open in a new tab and lack a prior warning.

• Some tooltips open links unexpectedly.

• Many tasks lack status announcements to confirm the success or results of user actions. 

• Many pages have poor or limited heading structure.

• Some icons and graphics lack an accessible label or are not announced at all. 

• Changes in state are not announced for some buttons, such as “expanded” or “collapsed.”

• There are some instances where the focus order does not match a page’s visual layout, or the focus order does not adjust as expected upon opening a sidebar. 

• On the “New merge request” page, the Assignees and Reviewers custom select boxes may be difficult to use when navigating via keyboard or screen reader.

• When editing a CI/CD pipeline, any errors in syntax are displayed visually above the editing field as they occur, but these errors are not announced dynamically by a screen reader.

• When setting up access tokens in User settings, token characters may be revealed visually, but they remain hidden to screen reader users because they are still announced as “bullet.”

Magnification and reflow barriers

• When viewing a CI/CD table that lists all pipelines or all jobs, the table content reflows into a stacked layout at higher levels of screen magnification. However, between 200% and 300% magnification, the large gaps of horizontal spacing between the column headers and the data makes it difficult to read.

• In any Issue board viewed at 400% magnification, the fixed position of several elements at the top of the page fill most of the viewport space, which makes it very difficult to read or scroll through the individual issues in each column.

Color contrast barriers

• In any admin message banner, the focus outline is blue for any interactive elements such as links. The blue focus outline has a very low contrast ratio with the purple background.

• When creating or viewing issues, several label presets have low color contrast:

  • Light blue background with white text

  • Green background with white text

  • Gray background with white text

  • Light orange background with white text

  • Orange background with white text