topic Re: 508 Compliant Tables in ArcGIS StoryMaps Questions

508 Compliant Tables

Anonymous User — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 18:39:46 GMT

We would like to build HTML tables in builder and I know the subject of HTML/CSS editing has been brought up ad nauseam by me but a co-worker had a question. Will there be a way to build 508 compliant tables that can be read with screen readers? Simply embedding an image of a table does not carry the table data along with it, and alt text solution describing the table seems arduous.

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

OwenGeo — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 19:17:25 GMT

Hi Bryan -- We don't have adding tables on our short term roadmap, but we have discussed it. Can you provide a little more information about the tables your colleague wants to add? Does the table have numeric information or text? How many rows/columns would the table typically have? What formatting options would be desired for the table (row shading/color, text size, etc)?

Currently, you can embed a web-based spreadsheet or even just a simple HTML page with just a table hosted on a web server or web hosting service.

Owen

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

Anonymous User — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 20:12:13 GMT

Table specs,

Numeric and text information (first row more than likely text heading and first column being either text or numeric).
At the most 24x24 rows/columns. Anymore than that it gets to be too much.
Formatting would be,
- row shading
- ability to change text (or numbers) such as font size, applying bold, italic, or underline
- maybe change color of information but right out of the gate it isn't necessary
- ability to adjust width and height of cells or an auto-adjust feature

We do not have the ability to host so embedding with an iFrame isn't doable. Thanks for the response Owen!

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

OwenGeo — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 20:54:22 GMT

Thanks for the requirements, Bryan. Can you also please provide a few examples of what the table would be used for? What specific info might appear in the table, and what role would it play in the story? If you have any links to classic stories or other articles that have this type of info, that would be helpful. This info will help us understand how this feature would be used.

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

Anonymous User — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:23:06 GMT

We are moving towards going digital with our reports on forests in various states (examples Minnesota Forests 2013 and Forests of Minnesota, 2017). Within these reports there are standard tables like these,

or,

These tables also need to be in the new reports. I was able to build a sample table in Journal by editing the source code but like you've said before, that isn't possible. I can paste the code here if that will help but the Journal I use to test ideas and concepts isn't public.

I can't off the top of my head of any classic story maps that utilized that technology. The conversation came up because my colleague was having a meeting with our publication shop about the ability to use HTML tables due to a recent push to increase the accessibility of our apps. As you can see it can prove quite cumbersome to try and describe these tables with alt-text.

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

OwenGeo — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:32:50 GMT

This is helpful and exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for taking the time to provide this additional info. I will document this supporting info along with this feature request.

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

Anonymous User — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 21:39:22 GMT

For giggles did you want the table code I used to make an HTML table in Journal?

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

OwenGeo — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 23:06:31 GMT

Couldn't hurt. 🙂

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

Anonymous User — Wed, 04 Mar 2020 11:31:00 GMT

Here is the table,

Common name	Number (million trees)^a	Net Volume (million ft³)^b	Aboveground biomass (thousand tons)^a	Average annual net growth (thousand ft³)^b	Average annual mortality (thousand ft³)^b	Average annual harvest removals (thousand ft³)^b
White oak (Quercus alba)	49.5	1,021.7	28,418.8	12,498.7	7,615.2	3,941.3
Silver maple (Acer saccharinum)	64.6	886.2	18,570.5	19,965.3	15,536.4	527.2
Black oak (Quercus velutina)	36.3	636.2	17,726.3	6,994.0	12,107.8	4,403.2
Northern red oak (Quercus rubra)	20.9	436.3	12,372.0	1,793.6	12,126.4	2,095.0
Eastern cottonwood (Populus deltoides)	12.6	408.0	7,503.8	11,856.6	4,670.7	930.5
Black walnut (Juglans nigra)	48.5	348.7	8,728.5	13,840.4	3,075.5	652.5
Shagbark hickory (Carya ovata)	73.5	345.2	11,503.6	6,260.7	2,841.3	2,443.3
Green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica)	93.9	342.4	9,348.5	5,652.8	7,323.9	2,161.7
Sugar maple (Acer saccharum)	127.6	339.2	10,441.9	8,765.5	1,324.0	2,995.9
American sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)	11.5	329.3	6,805.5	7,119.7	2,390.2	--
Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)	145.0	317.9	8,705.1	12,730.9	2,980.1	569.4
Pignut hickory (Carya glabra)	35.9	310.8	10,080.6	5,369.7	2,340.5	1,084.3

Table 2.—Number, volume, biomass, growth, mortality, and removals of live trees on forest land by species for the top 12 tree species by net volume, Illinois, 2017

Here is the code. When I put this in Journal I get row shading and bolded headers but here it doesn't look like it is applied. But nevertheless here it is,

Table 2.—Number, volume, biomass, growth, mortality, and removals of live trees on forest land by species for the top 12 tree species by net volume, Illinois, 2017

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

MattiasEkström — Fri, 26 Nov 2021 13:22:33 GMT

Hi @OwenGeo

This thread is about 1,5 yeras old and there's is still no way to add a simple table with just a few columns. Is there any plans on adding support for tables soon?

We really need this, to embed a separat page for just a simple table with 2-3 columns and 5-10 rows isn't really a good option specially when the small-screen-mode doesn't embed content but just links to it.

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

OwenGeo — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 14:29:07 GMT

Hi @MattiasEkström -- Adding support for tables depended on some deep updates we needed to do to our text editor, and that has been a significant project that we've been focusing on for the last several months. We're almost done with that, so that clears the way for us to work on tables in the near future.

Tables are a high priority for us, and it's on our list to get to in the first half of 2022.

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

MattiasEkström — Tue, 30 Nov 2021 08:27:49 GMT

Thanks Owen, glad to hear it's coming soon!

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

MattiasEkström — Fri, 13 May 2022 07:16:19 GMT

Hi @OwenGeo

Any news on tables? Is it still planned for the first half of 2022?

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

OwenGeo — Fri, 13 May 2022 11:55:51 GMT

@MattiasEkström -- Our new text editor is in place and we started looking into tables. To do them right is a complex task and they are also related to other content layout enhancements we'd like to do, so this requires more preparation and thinking. Tables are still a priority, but they are now in our plans for the second half of this year.

Dates related to future features that we share here are using our best available information at the time and are subject to change.

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

MattiasEkström — Fri, 13 May 2022 12:20:20 GMT

Thanks for the update! I understand the dates here are estimations and not any guarantees or promises.

I keep my fingers crossed that it will come during the year.

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

MattiasEkström — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 12:29:21 GMT

@OwenGeo-- Do you have any more information on tables? Every update I hope to see this feature but still no luck.

Re: 508 Compliant Tables

OwenGeo — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 13:18:55 GMT

@MattiasEkström -- We have recently begun work on the design for adding simple tables to a story and hope to have this out in the first half of 2023.