Closing the year that brought us version 1.0 on a high note, we have good news with this new version, especially for those who use the keyboard to navigate.
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What’s new?
Admin Command Palette
One of the major changes brought about by version 1.0 was the refactoring of Tainacan’s Admin navigation and the creation of filters so that plugin developers can add links to their feature settings in Tainacan’s navigation bar itself. This opens up space for more screens inside, but we have to admit that even with card links on the home page, it can be a bit tiring to click through each menu item.
Fortunately, WordPress 6.9 brings us a new feature that can improve this. By pressing CTRL + K (or CMD + K) on any page of the WordPress admin, a new search bar will open: the command palette. Type in the name of the screen you want to go to and with a simple ENTER, you will be taken there. All without taking your hands off the keyboard!
In this version, we are registering shortcuts for all static links on the panel. The idea is that in the future we will also have dynamic links (for example, configuration screens for each collection). We are also considering adding a button to the Tainacan Admin that allows you to search for different areas of the admin from this tool. Keep an eye out for news about future versions 😉
Accessibility Improvements
Unfortunately, when it comes to keyboard navigation, our accessibility still leaves much to be desired. We are discussing this openly because we know it is a complex issue that is often overlooked by developers of rich and complex interfaces. That is why we have made it our mission for the end of this year to deliver a version of Tainacan with substantial improvements in several areas of accessibility, seeking to comply with the most basic WCAG rules.
This does not mean that we have solved all the problems, but that for the first time in years we were able to sit down, run tests, and actually begin to mature our components so that they can be better used by users who primarily navigate using a keyboard or who have low vision. Our main focus was on the Faceted Search component, which displays the list of items in the themes, but there are also notable advances in forms and carousels.
In general, what we hope to have resolved in most components is:
- The “focus-visible” state, which indicates when users are activating interactive components with the TAB key, should be more prominent, making it clear who is currently selected;
- The order in which these interactive elements are triggered when pressing TAB repeatedly should be much more complete, so that various links, buttons, collapses, etc. that were previously simply not selectable will now be focused;
- Dropdown and Autocomplete components should now have their list navigable via the arrow keys, skipped from start to finish with HOME and END, and can be closed via ESC;
- Tab components should now be navigable using the arrow keys, as well as jumped from start to end with HOME and END;
- Interactive elements such as buttons, dropdown items, and collapses should now all be triggered by SPACE and ENTER, in addition to mouse clicks;
- Faceted search now emits invisible notifications to screen readers when items are reloaded and when filters are applied;
- The term selector in hierarchical taxonomies has undergone several improvements to ensure that the focus is directed to the correct checkbox when opening new hierarchy levels;
- Carousels in general now have tags and role attributes that are more appropriate for screen readers.
- The media gallery has undergone some adjustments to clarify which item is currently active for screen readers.
- Pagination components have clearer labels.
- View modes no longer display the word “Thumbnail” as alternative text for images without alternative text, considering that this information is distracting and does not provide useful information to screen readers;
We are very happy to be able to bring these improvements, but we emphasize that this is ongoing work and that new interactions on the subject are certainly expected in future versions!
Improvements
- Behind the scenes, this version finally updates our Buefy component library to version 3.0.x. This technical detail required a major refactoring, as it also required us to migrate to the Bulma 1.0.x CSS framework and, even more internally, to migrate from node-sass to dart-sass. For users, the impact should be minimal, except for a few minor CSS class changes that one or two themes may want to adjust. For us, it means more security and peace of mind to make future updates and continue receiving improvements to these tools.
- We are also updating the library that allows us to export to XLSX to its latest, more secure, and efficient version.
- Removal of unnecessary source files and update of build scripts.
Bug fixes
- Fixed a bug that prevented metadata section editing rules from obeying user permissions;
- Fixed a bug where private relationship metadata facets appeared in public contexts;
- Error fixes for the sticky headers in Safari browser;
Get it now!
Version 1.0.2 of the Tainacan plugin is already available for download in the WordPress plugins repository:
