Issue 988427 in chromium: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings

[smcgruer via monorail]

Status: Untriaged
Owner: ----
CC: chromium-ac...@chromium.org
Labels: Hotlist-Accessibility
Components: Internals>Accessibility
Pri: 3
Type: Feature

New issue 988427 by smcg...@chromium.org: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=988427

See https://crbug.com/929310#c5 for the original request.

Currently the CSS 'prefers-reduced-motion' feature is enabled via appropriate system accessibility APIs on Windows and Mac. However it has no support on Linux or ChromeOS. There exists a command-line flag, --force-prefers-reduced-motion, to force the feature on (but not off!), however a command line flag is a complex concept for many users.

Given that it seems unlikely that we will get a setting for this on Linux or ChromeOS in the near future, and also given that users may want to override their system-level setting even on supported platforms (e.g. on a managed Windows environment where someone doesn't have access to the necessary system setting, or perhaps for web developers when testing their accessibility support), it would be good to support this in chrome://settings.

cc the chrome accessibility team

--
You received this message because:
1. You were specifically CC'd on the issue

You may adjust your notification preferences at:
https://bugs.chromium.org/hosting/settings

Reply to this email to add a comment or make updates.

[bokan via monorail]

Updates:
Cc: bo...@chromium.org
Mergedinto: 817814
Status: Duplicate

Comment #2 on issue 988427 by bo...@chromium.org: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=988427#c2

This looks like a dup of 817814 to me - feel free to unduplicate if that's not the case.

[smcgruer via monorail]

Updates:
Status: Available

Comment #3 on issue 988427 by smcg...@chromium.org: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=988427#c3

Sorry, I do not follow how this is a dupe of 817814. This is about the prefers-reduced-motion setting, which affects media queries in the web platform, as well as some changes to Chrome's Browser UI. Issue 817814 appears to be about smooth scrolling, which doesn't sound like the same feature...

Can you give a clearer justification of why you think these are duplicates please?

[groby via monorail]

Comment #4 on issue 988427 by gr...@google.com: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=988427#c4

I'm not sure "doesn't exist on Linux/CrOS" is sufficient reason to add it to chrome://settings.

At the very least I'd like to see a coherent treatment for the numerous a11y settings requests filed, instead of individual bugs for each setting.

[bokan via monorail]

Comment #5 on issue 988427 by bo...@chromium.org: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=988427#c5

Re #3: I'd assume the setting would be phrased as "reduce motion" or "disable animations" which would, in addition to media queries, subsume the request in 817814 to also disable smooth scrolling (so maybe the dup should go the other way).

Re #4: Being able to disable animations seems like a pretty strong and common use case for accessibility. Windows and Mac have an OS setting which we respect but Linux and CrOS don't (not sure about Android). Some users are currently relying on the chrome://flag to disable smooth scrolling (bug 817814) but that doesn't seem like a good long term solution.

[bokan via monorail]

Comment #6 on issue 988427 by bo...@chromium.org: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=988427#c6

Note, there's also issue 443229. I think all three of these are actually the same request that animation/movement/smooth scrolling should be an accessibility toggle

[smcgruer via monorail]

Updates:
Status: Duplicate

Comment #7 on issue 988427 by smcg...@chromium.org: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=988427#c7

Re #5, #6: Phrased that way, I think I agree that this and smooth scrolling could be tackled under a single accessibility setting (for 'reducing motion'). I am wary of any setting that disables all animations; people who require or prefer reduced motion may still want animations that do not involve motion (e.g. a fade effect).

[groby via monorail]

Comment #8 on issue 988427 by gr...@google.com: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=988427#c8

All this is pointing towards "maybe we should ask an a11y/settings PM to shepherd this"

Settings is a complex UI surface, and changes there aren't cheap. We're also in general trying to keep the set of settings as small as possible.

[pat via monorail]

Comment #9 on issue 988427 by p...@catchyour.com: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=988427#c9

I concur with the core thesis of this issue (i.e. allow user to override the specific media query preference of "prefers-reduced-motion") but the implementation detail on how to implement it can vary. Subjectively for me, the direct application of "prefers-reduced-motion" being forced at the OS level is a bit too tight of a binding, since (at least as a developer) I really need the ability to *enable* it, yet Chrome doesn't allow this (not even in DevTools). It can get a little confusing to reason about and discuss, too, given the name of the config.

For example, my use case as a developer is that while I very strongly prefer my OS and my apps to not have animations, I do need the ability to build/code them while also paying attention to user preferences on animations. It's actually really great that Chromium/Blink chose the sane default of "reduce" when the user chose this (or at least a similar) setting at the OS level. However, there's no way to refer this at all, not even under the hood in DevTools (see attached, "No emulation" has the same effect as "reduce").

This hit me several times now in a few meetings, where I ended excluded and unable to participate when discussing how to handle animations. We were going to the Apple TV+ website (which leverages the prefers-reduced-motion media query) and using that as a demonstration for something we might like to emulate. However, due to my accessibility settings configured as they are, I was unable to provide guidance. I would have been forced to dig into my Windows configuration, find the correct checkbox, restart chrome and then try to catch up with the discussion, which of course isn't feasible; I was unable to participate fully in that discussion.

p.s. This might be related to (or overlap with) this issue, where I wrote a similar response. Please see: https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=1197680

Attachments:
2023-06-22_20-42-40.png 25.0 KB

[pat via monorail]

Comment #10 on issue 988427 by p...@catchyour.com: Allow users to override system prefers-reduced-motion setting via chrome://settings
https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail?id=988427#c10

Correction:

> However, there's no way to refer this at all, not even under the hood

I meant there's no way to re-enable* this at all