Hey folks,
I want to start off by showing my appreciation again for the feedback this list
has been kind enough to supply. Unless there are objections, I'd like to share
a survey now and then for folks to give targeted feedback on specific scenarios.
To be completely transparent, our primary goal up to this point has been on
being accessible... to meet the technical guidelines of compatibility with
ATs... but we want to go another step. Specifically, we want to take individual
scenarios and make them more "usable". As a colleague of mine loves to say, a
wheelchair ramp makes a building accessible, but a wheelchair ramp that wraps
around a building and heads 30m out of the way is far from usable.
I'll try to keep these solicitations very limited because I don't want to waste
folks' time overloading with surveys and the like... and if folks would prefer
me to take another route, I can do so. I'm extremely thankful for the
opportunity to work with folks on a more one-on-one basis and I certainly don't
want to abuse it.
With that context, one of my colleagues, @Allison
Buchholtz-Au<mailto:allisb@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, is a Program Manager on the
IntelliCode experience that we unveiled recently. Folks might remember my
coming to the list asking if we should have some sort of prefix (e.g. "Star")
before items that are provided by IntelliCode. Allison wants to dig a bit
further into that particular scenario. I've included the survey she's written
at the bottom of this message.
If folks would prefer not to spam the list with responses, feel free to reply
back to Allison and myself or just me and I'll see that Allison gets it. And,
naturally, if folks feel that this is unwelcome here onlist, let me know and
I'll set up another avenue. Additionally, Allison or I are MORE than happy to
set up calls with folks if they'd prefer to discuss directly. In fact, that's
generally our preferred way to chat, but a survey is a great way to start the
conversations.
Thanks again for all your feedback!
--Dante
<><>
Survey:
We'd like to get your feedback on a potential change to IntelliSense
recommendations ordering and what descriptions a screen reader will read out
for each recommendation.
IntelliCode saves you time by adding items you're most likely to use at the top
of your completion list with a star in front of them to help you differentiate
classic recommendations from IntelliCode ones. We pick a maximum of 5
recommendations to show at the top of your completion list, then show the
alphabetical-ordered list as before. IntelliCode recommendations are based on
thousands of open source projects on GitHub each with over 100 stars. When
combined with the context of your code, the completion list is tailored to
promote common practices and will change based on the context you provide!
Given we are changing a well-known aspect of IntelliSense - the ordering of
recommendations - we'd like your input on how we can make this change as smooth
as possible for you.
1. If an IntelliCode recommendation is present, what information would you
like the screen reader to read out when you select it? Select the one you think
would be most helpful.
a. Leave behavior as is which is the suggestion and its index.
i. Example: "Length" would be read out as "Length, 1 of 20"
b. A prefix of "star" read out with the suggestion - which denotes an
IntelliCode recommendation.
i. Example: "Length" would be read as "Star Length, 1 of 20"
c. An automatic post-pend read out of "Recommended by IntelliCode" with
the suggestion.
i. Example: "Length" would be read out as "Length, Recommended by
IntelliCode, 1 of 20"
d. A triggered post-pend read out of "Recommended by IntelliCode" - this
would not be automatically read out when you navigate to a suggestion but would
be available in the help text.
i. Example: "Length" would be read as "Length, 1 of 20" automatically. The
help text shortcut key could be used to see more details, including the
"Recommended by IntelliCode" addition.
2. Do you have any thoughts about a completion list that changes depending
on your coding context? For instance you might hear different recommendations
at the top of your IntelliSense list depending on whether you were in an if
statement, a parameter to a function, or a variable initialization. Note that
the original alphabetic list would always be present below the "starred"
recommendations as well.
If you'd like to try out the current IntelliCode experience to better inform
your decision, you can do so by following the steps below:
1. If you're on Visual Studio 2017 Update 8, Update 9, or Visual Studio
2019 Version 16.0: Download the IntelliCode extension from the Visual Studio
Marketplace<https://nam06.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmarketplace.visualstudio.com%2Fitems%3FitemName%3DVisualStudioExptTeam.VSIntelliCode&data=02%7C01%7Cdanteg%40microsoft.com%7C2a96f631cc5a4b42f67108d6eabb3752%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C636954487163962905&sdata=gx4JduSavCAHLBCAJz4BQbOZPEW3TwJjQ0s%2FkPGzt9U%3D&reserved=0>.
2. If you're recently installed Visual Studio 2019 Version 16.1, you'll
get IntelliCode by default.
a. Note: If you upgraded from VS2019 Version 16.0, you'll need to download
the IntelliCode component from the Installer. Look in Individual Components,
under Uncategorized. You can also get it from the Visual Studio
Marketplace<https://nam06.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmarketplace.visualstudio.com%2Fitems%3FitemName%3DVisualStudioExptTeam.VSIntelliCode&data=02%7C01%7Cdanteg%40microsoft.com%7C2a96f631cc5a4b42f67108d6eabb3752%7C72f988bf86f141af91ab2d7cd011db47%7C1%7C0%7C636954487163972895&sdata=1fz13qWvv3M%2FI2dUwD%2Bl7MHKdEamsE5dLVendMeQxWw%3D&reserved=0>.
3. Open any C# or XAML file and activate a recommendation off a .NET type.
Strings, ints, and other base types are great place to start. You should get
IntelliCode recommendations at the top of your IntelliSense list.
We look forward to your feedback and are happy to schedule quick calls if
that's easier for you.
