RocketChat / RocketChat/fuselage

refactor: Message Components for Accessibility and Responsiveness

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#1,819 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

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Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
162
Forks
258
Avg merge
2d 23h
Merged PRs (30d)
24

Description

  1. Description
    Several UI components in packages/fuselage/src/components/Message/ lack accessibility features such as appropriate ARIA attributes, roles, keyboard navigation support, or focus management. Additionally, some components are not fully responsive and may not adapt gracefully to different device sizes or themes. This impacts both usability and inclusiveness of Rocket.Chat's UI.

  2. Proposed Solution

  • Audit all Message components for accessibility and responsiveness gaps.
  • Add ARIA roles and attributes (e.g., role="region", aria-label, etc.) to support screen readers.
  • Ensure all interactive elements are reachable and usable via keyboard navigation, implementing logical focus order and focus trapping where necessary.
  • Refactor layouts using modern CSS techniques (Flexbox, Grid, clamp()) for responsive design across mobile, tablet, and desktop screens.
  • Replace hardcoded styles with theme variables or CSS custom properties to support dynamic theming and maintain strong color contrast.
  • Update color, font size, padding, etc. to meet WCAG 2.1 guidelines.
  • Add or enhance tests: unit tests, a11y checks with jest-axe, and potentially E2E for critical flows.
  1. Why this matters
  • Ensures Rocket.Chat is inclusive and usable for all users, including those relying on assistive technologies.
  • Makes the product more robust and ready for enterprise or public sector adoption, where accessibility is a requirement.
  • Enhances the experience for all users across varied devices and display settings.
  • Aligns Rocket.Chat's UI framework with industry standards and best practices, supporting GSoC-level contributions.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by auditing the components in packages/fuselage/src/components/Message/ for the accessibility and responsiveness gaps described in the issue. Define the affected components and checks first; done means the agreed ARIA, keyboard, focus, responsive, theming, WCAG, and jest-axe coverage is implemented, with E2E coverage where critical flows require it.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
react, typescript
Domain
accessibility, design, frontend
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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