Add accessibility option to disable relative-time-element for events, such as commit timestamps.

[mdax-b]

Select Topic Area

Product Feedback

GitHub Feature Area

UI/UX

Body

Dear GitHub team,
working with the Web-UI, I frequently run into time-consuming issues when trying to understand when a particular event has happened or scheduled for within our projects: be it a commit time-stamp, the time of merging a PR, or when an issue was opened.

Why: the relative-time-element disturbs my flow

I always get confused by information such as "A submitted B yesterday", "Z updated 3 hours ago", etc.

Proposal: Enable Users to Disable relative-time-element in Accessibility Preferences

While I understand that relative timestamps are useful in certain situation, I would love to have the option of turning of this way of displaying timestamps.
Having an option to always show real timestamps (optionally in UTC) would be great, since it would reduce ambiguity and improve many of my workflows where I need to have precise information.

Example: Putting two commits into perspective

I want to know, which one of two commits from last week was published first. I can open both commits and both show a "X committed last week" instead of proper date-times. I have no idea, which day of the week and when exactly was the commit authored -> I thus need to hover over each time-stamp to read the actual date-time in a tool-tip.

This is not user-friendly to me, since the "human friendly" way of rendering the timestamps provides no useful information to me and makes it very difficult for me to put two commits from the same week into perspective.

Hovering the mouse to read the actual date is also not a good solution to me, since it slows me down and breaks my flow during work. I also find it difficult to read tool-tips, in contrast to information that is always there.

[github-actions[bot]]

💬 Your Product Feedback Has Been Submitted 🎉

Thank you for taking the time to share your insights with us! Your feedback is invaluable as we build a better GitHub experience for all our users.

Here's what you can expect moving forward ⏩

• Your input will be carefully reviewed and cataloged by members of our product teams. 
  • Due to the high volume of submissions, we may not always be able to provide individual responses.
  • Rest assured, your feedback will help chart our course for product improvements.
• Other users may engage with your post, sharing their own perspectives or experiences. 
• GitHub staff may reach out for further clarification or insight. 
  • We may 'Answer' your discussion if there is a current solution, workaround, or roadmap/changelog post related to the feedback.

Where to look to see what's shipping 👀

• Read the Changelog for real-time updates on the latest GitHub features, enhancements, and calls for feedback.
• Explore our Product Roadmap, which details upcoming major releases and initiatives.

What you can do in the meantime 💻

• Upvote and comment on other user feedback Discussions that resonate with you.
• Add more information at any point! Useful details include: use cases, relevant labels, desired outcomes, and any accompanying screenshots.

As a member of the GitHub community, your participation is essential. While we can't promise that every suggestion will be implemented, we want to emphasize that your feedback is instrumental in guiding our decisions and priorities.

Thank you once again for your contribution to making GitHub even better! We're grateful for your ongoing support and collaboration in shaping the future of our platform. ⭐

[rbri]

While I understand that relative timestamps are useful in certain situation, I would love to have the option of turning of this way of displaying timestamps.
Having an option to always show real timestamps (optionally in UTC) would be great, since it would reduce ambiguity and improve many of my workflows where I need to have precise information.

Same for me - please, please implement this....