Accessible markers similar to Google Maps api

Question

Hi. I noticed that Google has added some nice accessibility features to their api for developers. Point marker icons are now accessible via keyboard. One can tab through icons, activate the popup, etc. - https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/maps-platform/improved-accessibility-maps-javascript-api. It's a pretty nice, intuitive implementation too.

This seems like a big jump ahead in terms of accessibility, as previously users who are unable to use a mouse were unable to do much with a map besides pan and zoom.

So, wondering the following:

1) Is esri looking into doing something similar in the esri jsapi?

2) Is esri considering building in this type of capability to their apps like WAB and Exp Builder, etc.?

Thanks

@Anonymous User

ZorbaConlen1 · Answer

Thanks for the reply Jessica. My hope is that esri would approach this as a platform wide enhancement, so that it works out of the box accross webmaps, apps (maybe just 4x jsapi based apps), runtime, etc. If it's implemented as something that requires a lot of effort to configure manually on the analyst/developer end it probably won't gain much traction. That said, I appreciate that it's probably much more complicated for esri to do this compared with Google, given the wide range of products and the array of layer types and geometries and such.

It seems that Google took the approach of ensuring that features on the map are semantic html elements, which allows them to be accessed via keyboard navigation. And also makes them work for screen readers I assume.

I'll look at posting to product teams or arcgis ideas, too.

Jessica Mccall · Answer

Hi and thanks for the interesting question! We always appreciate hearing about accessible technology.

In reading the article, this sounds like a great idea and something that might be adaptable to a variety of Esri products. For product specific enhancements, I would encourage you to reach out to the product team by logging this on their board in the Community. The one for ArcGIS Experience Builder is: https://community.esri.com/t5/arcgis-experience-builder-ideas/idb-p/arcgis-experience-builder-ideas.

In regards to accessibility features in general, this option for map markers within a published app could have several different implications. It could be pre-determined in the published map to call out specific points of interest, such as in a map within a StoryMap. I could also see this feature being offered within the published app – a user could see a list of searched results and mark them in the search results to be marked locations on the map that creates keyboard navigation to them.

I appreciate this information and I will work to pass it on. Please feel free to reach out to EsriAccessibility@esri.com if you have any additional questions.