🔍 Accessibility Bug: Screen Reader and Keyboard Navigation Issues in GitHub Actions UI

[Noahhawkes]

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Hi GitHub Team,

I'm reporting an accessibility issue within the GitHub Actions interface, specifically affecting screen reader compatibility and keyboard-only navigation.

🧭 Problems Identified:
Screen Reader Limitations

Visual icons (✅✔️❌) for workflow statuses lack accessible text (aria-label, alt, or title) and are not announced properly.

Screen readers like NVDA and VoiceOver miss key status changes, leading to confusion.

Keyboard Focus Issues

Tab order inside workflow logs becomes inconsistent after selecting a job.

Users often get "focus-trapped" within expandable sections.

No clear way to jump between logs, jobs, or return to the main workflow list.

Missing Keyboard Shortcuts

No available hotkeys for:

Restarting a failed workflow

Expanding/collapsing all job steps

Navigating between workflow views (Summary / Annotations / Artifacts)

📋 Environment:
OS: Windows 11

Browsers Tested: Chrome 124, Firefox 125

Screen Readers: NVDA, VoiceOver

Input Method: Keyboard only

💡 Suggested Fixes:
Add aria-label and semantic tags to status indicators and icons.

Normalize tab order through workflow logs and nested steps.

Introduce basic keyboard shortcuts or allow user-defined bindings.

Provide dynamic screen reader announcements on job completion or error detection.

🔒 Why It Matters:
Accessibility isn’t an enhancement — it’s a requirement. These issues prevent full participation for disabled developers managing CI/CD workflows. GitHub Actions is core to many projects, and these gaps create meaningful barriers.

Thanks in advance for reviewing this. Happy to provide further testing notes or collaborate on follow-up reproduction steps.

— Noah Hawkes

[github-actions[bot]]

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