Using ArcGIS Online to Release an AODA Compliant Application

Presentation for the Esri Canada User Conference (Toronto 2017)

Mitchell Knight – Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate ChangeOctober 18, 2017

The one argument for accessibility that doesn’t get made nearly often enough is how extraordinarily better it makes

some people’s lives. How many opportunities do we have to

dramatically improve people’s lives just by doing our job a little better?

― Steve Krug

“

Overview

• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

• Working with ArcGIS Online to release our first accessible application• Background

• The Project

• Results

• Evaluating the Story Map Journal template

AODA

• AODA is the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act

• Ontario is the first province and one of the first jurisdictions in the world to enact specific legislation establishing a goal and time-frame for accessibility

• Deadlines for Government of Ontario web content:• By January 1, 2012: New internet and intranet websites and web content

• By January 1, 2016: All internet websites and web content

• By January 1, 2020: All internet and intranet websites and web content

• A different set of deadlines exist for private and nonprofit organizations with 50+ employees

Project BackgroundWhy did we do this project?

Background of the Project

• Pollinator health is a key priority for our ministry

• In the Fall of 2016 the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change was working towards the release of 6 pollinator health datasets to the Ontario Open Data Catalogue (public)

• We wanted to release interactive maps to support each dataset

Protect

the

Pollinators

Evaluating Options• In addition to ArcGIS Online, the MOECC evaluated 2 web mapping

technologies• Prior to this project they were our only solution for public map

applications

GoogleMaps

GeocortexEssentials

None of the Above

• Decided against both Geocortex and Google Maps

• Both are great platforms, but the interactive maps were envisioned as a companion for open datasets (quick maps)

• The evaluated options are fairly robust solutions that require more development time each time a new map is created

• We needed 6 and wanted an easy solution for future projects as well

ArcGIS Online

• The Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change uses ArcGIS Online and Portal for ArcGIS to complete various internal projects

• Decided to evaluate the technology for this public project

The ProjectWhat did we do?

Project TeamMinistry of the Environment and Climate Change

• Zita Lo

• Jerry Yuan

• Mitchell Knight

Esri Canada

Templates• There are many great templates available in ArcGIS Online, but our

ministry had never evaluated them from the accessibility standpoint

• 6 templates with potential were selected and a high level accessibility scan was completed

None of the Above… Again

• A high level review of the 6 chosen templates revealed they all had accessibility flaws

• We reached out to Esri Canada and discovered another template developed here in Canada with accessibility in mind

• Esri Canada offered to help make any changes to the template

WCAG ViewerA template available through the Esri Canada GitHub page

WCAG Viewer

• WCAG stands for Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, which is what most accessibility legislations are based on (for web content)

• The WCAG Viewer was created with accessibility in mind from the start

• One accessibility feature in particular that we liked was the “feature list”

• The user can get the information found in map pop-ups without needing to click on the map

Features on the map

Appear in feature listEach feature and attribute can be tabbed through

Testing Begins• Iterative process of configuring application, testing, reporting to

Esri, and fixes

• Testing focused on 4 areas:

1. Accessibility

2. Technical Issues

3. General Improvement Suggestions

4. French Language Support

Accessibility

Testing

Accessibility Testing

• For web content, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) is based on WCAG 2.0 Level AA

• There are several automated accessibility checkers, but they should only be used as a resource

• Accessibility testing requires a human

How to Meet WCAG 2.0This website is a great resource for understanding accessibility requirements

https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG20/quickref/

Our Methodology• Created an accessibility report/testing template based on the guidelines

from the “How to Meet WCAG 2.0” website

• For each guideline a test or series of tests was used to determine if the map template was accessible

• Some tests make use of tools, browser add-ons, etc. where others are completely manual

• The purpose of this presentation is not to walk though each guideline and how to test it, but lets go through two examples

1.1.1 Non-text ContentCriteria: All non-text content that is presented to the user has a text

alternative that serves the equivalent purpose

Test Method: Inspection of code; screen reader; web developer browser add-on

End Result

• Now all buttons and images have alt text

• An option was added to the template in the configuration to create a detailed description of the map which can be read by a screen reader

2.1.1 KeyboardCriteria: All functionality of the content is operable through a keyboard

interface

Test Method: Keyboard

• Created a table of every possible function on the application

• Tested each function with a keyboard

End Result

• Each function on the application can be completed without a mouse

• “Feature list” serves as an alternative to identifies on the map

More Information

• For more information on the testing methodology used by the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MOECC) and how this application meets accessibility guidelines please contact the project team

• There are ~40 Level A and Level AA guidelines that need to be tested for

Accessibility Centre of Excellence (ACOE)• The ACOE is the authoritative source of accessibility information across

the Ontario Public Service (OPS) as it relates to information and information technology

• It provides advice and resources to OPS staff in creating inclusive and accessible content

• Once we were satisfied with the level of accessibility we submitted the application to the ACOE for an assessment

• They do not pass or fail a site, but they create a report outlining any issues

• The template did very well overall

• A couple remaining issues were resolved after the assessment

Testing Complete

• Completed testing and fixes for accessibility, technical issues, general improvements, and French language support

• 3 months were spent in the cycle of configuration, testing, and fixes

• There were over 50 items addressed in total

• All changes have been applied to the template that can be downloaded from GitHub

ResultsHow did it turn out?

Using the Template• Used the template to produce 6 applications in both English and French

• Added link to download the raw data on the Data Catalogue as well as contact information for assistance or an alternative format

Released• The 6 accessible applications were released publicly March 2017

and made available on the Ontario Open Data Catalogue

Next Steps• We are now set up to develop simple interactive maps for our open

data in less than an hour (excluding translation, approvals, etc.)

• Esri continues to make improvements to the template on GitHub that we will evaluate in the future

• We would like to see the template added to ArcGIS Online as a standard offering instead of an external download

• The next ArcGIS Online accessibility focus area for the ministry is Story Maps

Story Map JournalWhat are we working on now?

Story Map Journal Example

Connected with Esri• Attended an event hosted by Esri Canada early June 2017

• Esri Inc. (Redlands) provided updates on the direction the technology is going

• After that session we had a discussion on the importance of accessibility in our government

• Esri Inc. urged us to vocalize the issues and they would make sure the right people got the message

Started the Conversation

• We reached out to the Ontario Ministry of Energy who is also looking at accessibility in story maps

• Together we identified barriers for public release

• Thoroughly tested the Story Map Journal template for WCAG 2.0 AA

Presented the Issues• Through Esri Inc. and Esri Canada we put together a meeting with several

members of the AGOL Development Team from Redlands (July 20th)

• The meeting included Esri Inc., Esri Canada, Ministry of Energy, Land and Resources Cluster, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, City of Toronto, and Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change

• Overall Esri was extremely receptive

• Please get in touch if you are interested in learning about the accessibility issues we identified

Response• Esri followed up with responses to each issue and possible timelines

for them to be resolved

• Several of the changes were released in the September 2017 ArcGIS Online update

• We tested and provided feedback on the first round of improvements

• There are more expected for ~December 2017 and it may be possible to release an accessible Story Map Journal after that

AcknowledgementsWCAG Viewer Project

• Esri Canada

• Accessibility Centre of Excellence (ACOE)

• MOECC Project Team

Story Map Journal Improvements

• Ontario Ministry of Energy

• Esri Inc.

• Esri Canada

Accessibility Testing Resources (small sample)

• WCAG 2.0 Guidelines

• How to Make Websites Accessible (Ontario.ca)

• Screen Readers: JAWS and NVDA

• Colour: Color Oracle and Colour Contrast Analyser

• Compliance Sheriff

• Chrome Web Developer Extension

• Markup Validation Service

• WAVE by WebAIM

Thanks!Any questions?

Contact the Project Team:

Zita Lo (zita.lo@ontario.ca)Jerry Yuan (jerry.yuan@ontario.ca)Mitchell Knight (mitchell.knight@ontario.ca)