topic LayerList Tab Order and WCAG in ArcGIS JavaScript Maps SDK Questions

LayerList Tab Order and WCAG

D_Atkins — Wed, 13 May 2026 12:01:37 GMT

Working on WCAG guidelines for some public applications, and was surprised when I struggled to expand a Group Layer in the Layer List. The behavior is consistent across browsers:

When tabbing through the Layer List, the tab order skips the group layer 'carat'. Even if there is another keyboard shortcut here, it seems the intuitive "tab to carat, then enter-key to toggle group visibility" is missing.

Everything else is accessible (even the dragEnabled buttons, and custom ActionButtons); see in a CodePen: LayerList Tab Order

Re: LayerList Tab Order and WCAG

Sage_Wall — Wed, 13 May 2026 14:30:40 GMT

Hi @D_Atkins

The layer list is based on the calcite list which uses the Treegrid pattern for keyboard navigation which is also described here in the calcite documentation: https://developers.arcgis.com/calcite-design-system/components/list/#keyboard-navigation

The chevron icons are there to provide a visual indication that the group is expanded or closed but cannot be focused on using the keyboard and are not used to expand or collapse the groups when using keyboard navigation.