They prevent the user from multi-tasking (e.g. if I have a modal open to edit a person's details, I can't then go and copy a phone number from a different person without closing the modal and losing all my context).
They're often bad for accessibility. They don't necessarily have to be, but it's easy to do badly
Because of the intricacies of stacking contexts, modals in the browser usually have to be implemented in weird ways. Especially when using a library like react that abstracts away DOM manipulation. This makes modals very edge-case-y in lots of annoying ways (especially automated testing).
Therefore they should only be used where really necessary, such as when we really need to block the user from everything they're doing until the modal thing is finished somehow. I don't think any of our current modals fit that category.
In some places we might be able to replace them with inline editable fields, and in others maybe with expandable views. Needs design work.
Modals are problematic for a few reasons:
Therefore they should only be used where really necessary, such as when we really need to block the user from everything they're doing until the modal thing is finished somehow. I don't think any of our current modals fit that category.
In some places we might be able to replace them with inline editable fields, and in others maybe with expandable views. Needs design work.