GeoSnaps Round-Up: All Access Pass to Accessibility
As technology evolves and expands capabilities across the ArcGIS ecosystem, it’s imperative that accessibility options and the way users interact with maps and applications innovate at the same pace. This article explores a series of GeoSnaps highlighting areas of accessibility to improve the visibility of map symbology, increase usability with keyboard shortcuts and assistance with selecting the most accessible basemap, from ArcGIS Pro to ArcGIS Online and back again.
ArcGIS Pro Colour Vision Simulator
An estimated 2.6 million Canadians experience colour blindness, meaning one in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women (0.5%) may interpret your maps differently. Which is why the Colour Vision Simulator was introduced at ArGIS Pro 3.2, providing a quick and easy toggle to test map symbology against red, blue and green blindness. In ArcGIS Pro, from the View tab in the Accessibility group, the filter applies to all map layers including basemaps, as demonstrated in this GeoSnap by Maggie Samson.
Community Maps of Canada Vector Basemap in ArcGIS Online
Selecting the right basemap is just as important as determining data symbology, as they should work together to tell the story. Want colourful data to pop off the page? Consider the Light Grey basemap. Looking to share analysis about nighttime trucking routes? The Dark Grey or Streets (night) basemaps are great options. Want to maximize contrast to boost visibility? Try out the latest Community Map of Canada: Grey Accessible basemap available from the Living Atlas. Not only is this basemap designed to meet many accessibility requirements, but it’s also supported by the Community Map of Canada program, providing updates to the underlying authoritative data every 72 hours.
This latest basemap, as well as all the other Community Map of Canada supported basemaps are available and in this GeoSnap Jordan Tishler walks you through how to setup a custom basemap group in ArcGIS Online.
For ArcGIS Experience Builder applications, this GeoSnap by Hillary Elliot provides step-by-step instructions on how to set up a custom basemap gallery for the Basemap Gallery widget in ArcGIS Experience Builder.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard shortcuts have long been a method to increase efficiency and help users adapt to specific workflows, but they also provide significant assistance to those with mobility and dexterity disabilities. They can help to remove a physical barrier, while making accessibility better for everyone. In this GeoSnap Justin Brassard explores the keyboard shortcut capabilities introduced in ArcGIS Pro 3.2, including customizing shortcuts from the Help tab, in the Customize group.
Keyboard Shortcuts also extend into ArcGIS Online, and in this GeoSnap Sumaiya Siddiqi highlights twelve shortcuts to assist in the configuration of ArcGIS StoryMaps.
Contrast Checker
Contrast Checker is just one of many the ways ArcGIS StoryMaps is an accessibility focused application. Custom Themes provide full control over the colours used for background, accents, typography, buttons and more, each accompanied by a built-in contrast checker. This contrast checker will rate the selected colour against various StoryMap elements and generate a score or ratio. A contrast ratio of 3:1 or greater is considered legible – though WCAG 2.0 AA guidelines specify a ratio of at least 4.5:1 for paragraph text.
Map Magnifier
ArcGIS Pro 3.1 introduced Magnifier, a quick and easy tool to get a closer view of the map without losing sight of the whole picture. With flexibility to resize the window and edit the map scale, this tool can assist those who may have difficulty focusing or who are visually impaired.
Conclusion
Maps help to explore and discover our world but only if they can be understood by all who read them. This GeoSnaps Round-Up highlights how important accessibility is across the ArcGIS ecosystem and how better accessibility means a better user experience for all.