Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is on May 21 this year and the event aims to promote understanding and dialogue about digital accessibility and inclusion for people with disabilities. Its purpose is to encourage organizations and individuals to consider the needs of all users by raising awareness, sharing best practices, and highlighting the importance of accessible technology. By focusing on these topics, the day inspires action toward creating a more inclusive digital world.
Esri has made significant strides in supporting accessibility across its products and services. Accessibility continues to be a focus across teams as they work to ensure that digital tools are usable for everyone. The Esri Accessibility site provides guidance on designing inclusive solutions, while Esri Academy offers training materials focused on accessibility best practices. Additionally, Esri Professional Services assist organizations in implementing accessible workflows, and Esri Technical Support helps users address accessibility challenges in real time.
On GAAD 2026, we want to share with you some updates across Esri that we are working on to support accessibility in ArcGIS.
What’s new in Accessibility
A couple of times a year, we will post here in Esri Community some of the latest developments in accessibility across Esri products. Check out the latest information from the product teams.
What's new in Accessibility - Fall 2025
What’s new in Accessibility – Spring 2026 coming in June! 😊
Accessibility product documentation
Coming soon! The Esri Accessibility team has developed documentation to provide guidance to ArcGIS users about accessibility across products. This documentation will be available soon and links will be added to the Esri.com Accessibility site and this post.
New blogs and videos
Did you miss any of these blogs? Check out these new resources to uncover more information about accessibility in ArcGIS.
Are Instant Apps Accessible? – ArcGIS Instant Apps
Building Accessible Custom Widgets in ArcGIS Experience Builder
How a local partner enhanced accessibility and language inclusivity
An accessibility checklist for your stories – ArcGIS StoryMaps
Automated accessibility scanning and the Shadow DOM - Esri Community
Esri Conference sessions
The Esri Accessibility team is sharing information and education in several of our Esri conferences this year including FedGIS, Esri Developer and Technology Summit, and at the upcoming Esri User Conference this summer. Here’s some of the highlights!
Developer and Technology Summit
Visit the custom agenda for Accessibility at DevTech Summit for details on past sessions.
Esri User Conference 2026
Visit the custom agenda for Accessibility at UC 2026 for details on upcoming sessions from July 14 – 16, 2026.
Innovations
Esri’s goal is to advance the field of accessible mapping, and we believe there should be no barriers to what our users can achieve with our software. Esri continues to expand accessibility support across the ArcGIS system by increasing standards-based evaluations, publishing updated Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs), and delivering product-specific guidance to help customers build accessible content in mapping applications.
Key areas of advancement include:
- Expanded and updated ACR coverage for ArcGIS products to give customers more current, product-level visibility into accessibility support.
- Ongoing improvements in core ArcGIS Maps SDKs and component frameworks, used by product teams and customers to build increasingly accessible public-facing GIS content.
- Increased customer resources and support for accessibility projects through Customer Support teams and Esri Professional Services.
- Conducting research and development efforts related to keyboard accessible mapping and data visualization.
- Engaging with customers, partners, and ArcGIS users to define requirements and drive future accessibility innovations.
Summary
We are celebrating all the great work in accessibility on GAAD 2026 this year and we are excited to share future innovations with users. We will continue to focus on updating Accessibility Conformance Reports (ACRs), improving core SDKs and frameworks, providing increased customer resources, conducting research in accessible mapping and data visualization, and engaging with users to inform future accessibility innovations. These efforts aim to eliminate barriers and help users create inclusive, accessible GIS content.
