My absolute favorite is toasts that stay on screen just long enough for me to realize there was an "Undo" button in the toast. What action did I just accidentally perform and why can't I undo it after the 0.3 second toast disappears?
Thank god, toasts are so annoying. Every little action in Google Calendar has an associated toast/snackbar to go with it that tells you exactly what you just did and asks if you want to undo it. Like wtf? I can’t use my calendar app without these stupid toasts flying in and out and trying to draw my attention to read some irrelevant text. They go away too quickly for anyone not technically literate to click on them, and they are too slow to keep up when you’re creating a ton of events (they just fly in and out). I hope these go away, they add nothing to the application.
> User and system-initiated actions that require more complicated interaction may need additional feedback mechanisms to help inform the user that their request was successfully enacted. An example of this is the bulk creation of Issues.
^ this is a great idea and please add it to github actions where it takes like 10 seconds for the new thing to show up on the list after you trigger one
GitHub primer is an interesting resource to read through, thanks. You don't have to agree with everything that is said to gain something from it and certainly beats winging it based on vibes.
For comparison, Apple and Android have their own documentation:
They say to replace them with Banners, which are just a different style of a "Toaster", just usually stay longer, or are permanent until the user takes an action.
Lecturing about accessibility with latency so high that you have no idea if any clicks are actually meaningful. I click "banners" and there's no indication anything is happening until 3 seconds later, when it takes me to a page that doesn't directly talk about banners until later. Then there is a link there that says "banners", and takes me to a different page, 3 seconds later. No indication that anything is happening or waiting during that time.
I wonder if it is time to look into some more native support for toasts in browsers.
Some implementation that allows for browser level customization(timing, etc), as well as a notification center in the browser, and that integrates well with screen readers.
I like toasts from a visual perspective. They can look good(not always, of course), and they can convey small bits of information that could otherwise be displeasing to view in some designs. However, god have I missed a ton of notifications because of them disappearing too quick, and no way to view previous ones, or anything like that. I'm not visually impaired or anything, so I can't really comprehend the extent and issues people who do may have with toasts, and see what would be needed to make them accessible for them(if it's even possible), but would love to hear about it.
Toasts are like a tourniquet, for me. You slap them on a problem to stop the bleeding, and they're often preferable to the alternative, but nobody actually likes them and you really shouldn't keep them long-term or apply them frivolously.
E.g. you join a project with little to no error handling or success feedback. Slap some default toasts on everything! And then remove them page by page as you fix the horrible UI you inherited.
GitHub is large enough that they don't benefit from or want such a crutch, but not everyone is GitHub.
25 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 39.5 ms ] thread- once set up, very easy to build, no “design” required
Toast cons:
- easy to miss
- at risk of layout issues (overlaying other information)
The tradeoff is real, but if the resources allow, I’d drop all toasts.
Why GitHub’s War On Toasts Is Bad News For Accessibility
https://medium.com/offmessageorg/why-githubs-war-on-toasts-i...
https://archive.ph/QMMye
^ this is a great idea and please add it to github actions where it takes like 10 seconds for the new thing to show up on the list after you trigger one
For comparison, Apple and Android have their own documentation:
https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guideline...
https://developer.android.com/design
[1] https://github.com/refined-github/refined-github
Is it possible that your browser or internet connection are slow?
Sonner does it quite well (https://sonner.emilkowal.ski/)
Some implementation that allows for browser level customization(timing, etc), as well as a notification center in the browser, and that integrates well with screen readers.
I like toasts from a visual perspective. They can look good(not always, of course), and they can convey small bits of information that could otherwise be displeasing to view in some designs. However, god have I missed a ton of notifications because of them disappearing too quick, and no way to view previous ones, or anything like that. I'm not visually impaired or anything, so I can't really comprehend the extent and issues people who do may have with toasts, and see what would be needed to make them accessible for them(if it's even possible), but would love to hear about it.
E.g. you join a project with little to no error handling or success feedback. Slap some default toasts on everything! And then remove them page by page as you fix the horrible UI you inherited.
GitHub is large enough that they don't benefit from or want such a crutch, but not everyone is GitHub.