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Docs article

The 'Building an accessible dialog' guide went from a stock Docusaurus page with 105-character lines and five admonitions to a 70ch reading page whose dialog example actually runs, tracing focus and logging every close reason as you use it.

Persona
Leo Marchetti, Frontend lead implementing a delete confirmation
Their goal
Read the dialog guide once, copy the right snippet and understand the focus and closing rules without hunting.
Lenses applied
typeset, colorize, quieter, adapt, harden, delight, clarify
/pristine polish src/pages/docs/dialog.mdx

Full pages. Scroll either one; they move together.

Before5.5/10

Docs article before Pristine

After9.5/10

Docs article after Pristine
Open before liveOpen after live

5.5/10 Level 6

Readable, but it is every Docusaurus site: stock green, stock Prism, and five admonitions where one belongs. Lines run past 100 characters on a laptop, the one real warning about backdrop close sits between filler notes and a 'Danger' that contradicts the props table, and the focus rules can only be read about, not tried.

9.5/10 Level 10

A docs page built for reading and for trying. The snippet runs right under the code: open it, Tab, press Esc or click outside, and a four-step trace shows where focus went while a log names the close reason. The props table becomes cards on a phone, and the checklist links back to the section that covers each rule.

Scores

Every Dimension, before and after.

DimensionBeforeAfter
Persona fit510
Hierarchy & clarity610
Layout & spacing59
Typography510
Color & theming59
Consistency79
Responsiveness610
Motion & interaction59
Accessibility610
Copy610
Robustness & performance69

The critique

What the red pen found.

Vibe-code tells

  • Default Docusaurus green instead of the product's own brand
  • No max-width measure on prose (~105ch lines)
  • Five admonition types on one page
  • Filler admonitions that restate the prose
  • Emoji in headings
  • Checklist faked with ✅ emoji and <br>
  • Copy button hidden until hover
  • Props table squeezed on mobile

  1. P1 Lens: typeset

    Lines too long to read

    The doc column is Docusaurus's `max-width: 75%` of a 1320px container, so body lines run to ~105 characters at 1440px. Readers lose their place at every line break on a Read page.

  2. P1 Lens: quieter

    Admonition overload

    Note, tip, info, warning and danger all appear in one guide, each with an icon and a 5px coloured border-left. Two are filler ('Focus is trapped automatically'), the danger box contradicts the closeOnEsc row in the props table, and the one real warning about backdrop close gets lost.

  3. P1 Lens: colorize

    Could be any Docusaurus site

    Default #2e8555 green, the stock navbar, stock Prism github theme and stock footer. Nothing says Grain UI; Leo can't tell this guide from the last five library docs he read.

  4. P1 Lens: delight

    Focus rules you can only imagine

    Initial focus, focus return and close reasons are explained in static snippets. The guide is about behaviour, but there is nothing to open, Tab through or press Esc on.

  5. P2 Lens: adapt

    Props table crushed on phones

    The four-column table is `display: block; overflow: auto`, so at 390px the Description column wraps to one or two words per line and Default sits in a narrow strip.

  6. P2 Lens: clarify

    Emoji headings and a fake checklist

    The h1 ends in 🚀, the last h2 in ✅, and the checklist is six ✅ lines joined with <br>, so screen readers announce 'check mark button' six times and there is no list to navigate. The copy button stays at opacity 0 until hover, so touch users never see it.

The changes

Before, after, and why.

The report Pristine hands back after a run, with the real values from the two pages above.

LensBeforeAfterWhy
typeset.doc { flex: 0 0 75%; max-width: 75% } inside a 1320px container (~105ch lines at 1440px)article { max-width: var(--measure) } with --measure: 70chLines stay at a comfortable 65–72 characters at every viewport width.
typesetDocusaurus defaults: h1 3rem, h2 2rem, h3 1.5rem, all weight 700 in the system font stackh1 clamp(2.25rem, 1.7rem + 1.6vw, 3rem) at weight 680, -0.032em; h2 1.625rem; h3 1.25rem; Inter with font-optical-sizing: autoA clear scale makes the guide skimmable, and optical sizing keeps the big title tight and the body open.
colorizeStock Prism github theme: pre { background: #f6f8fa; font-size: 90% }, copy button opacity: 0 until hoverpre code { font-size: 0.875rem; line-height: 1.7; color: #26242f on #f5f4f9 } (dark: #e4e2ee on #1a1922)Code is the most-copied part of the page, so it gets a readable size, tuned token colours for each theme and a copy button you can see.
quieter5 admonition kinds (note, tip, info, warning, danger), each with an icon and border-left: 5px solid in its own colourTwo styles: neutral note on --surface-2, semantic warning only for real risk, icon plus title, no stripeWhen warnings are rare, the one about backdrop close actually gets read.
adaptDocusaurus defaults: sidebar behind a hamburger drawer, TOC as a collapsed 'On this page' boxRails are position: sticky; top: var(--topbar). ≤1240px: TOC becomes <details>. ≤900px: nav becomes a <details> 'Docs menu'The article stays first on every screen size, and navigation and the TOC are one tap away without leaving the page.
hardenIcon-only search pill on mobile; props table as display: block; overflow: auto with no label:focus-visible rings, sr-only search label with ⌘K, props table in a labelled scroll regionThe page works by keyboard, and the props table scrolls on small screens instead of crushing its columns.
delightStatic code block; the reader has to imagine what focus doesLive example under the snippet: 'Delete atlas-web…' opens a real <dialog>, a 4-node trace (Trigger → Cancel → Delete project → Back to trigger) lights up as focus moves, and a log reads onOpenChange(false) · reason: "escape"The rules the article explains (initial focus, trap, return focus, close reasons) can be checked by hand in five seconds.
hardenBackdrop-close advice in prose onlyIn the example, a backdrop click is ignored with a 2px nudge and the log 'backdrop click ignored · closeOnBackdrop={false}'; deleting strikes the row and focus lands on 'Undo delete' (returnFocus={listRef})The warning callout and the returnFocus section are shown working, not just described.
adaptProps table scrolls sideways on phones≤600px: each prop becomes a card with labelled Type and Default (data-label); no horizontal scroll at 320pxLeo can read the API on his phone without panning a table.
clarifyChecklist as six ✅ emoji lines joined with <br>Numbered checklist cards that each link to their section, plus a 'Was this guide helpful?' Yes/No with a live thank-youEach rule points to where it's explained, so the list doubles as a review tool.