{"id":773741,"date":"2026-06-30T10:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T17:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcnews&p=773741"},"modified":"2026-06-30T17:18:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T00:18:04","slug":"pressing-the-up-arrow-big-step-forward-in-accessibility","status":"publish","type":"arcnews","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/pressing-the-up-arrow-big-step-forward-in-accessibility","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPressing the Up Arrow\u201d: A Big Step Forward in Accessibility"},"author":6921,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":19,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","transcript_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[386932,11042,91],"tags":[287782,493537,17262,493535,493536],"arcnews_issues":[493539],"class_list":["post-773741","arcnews","type-arcnews","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-accessibility","category-esri-startup-partners","category-mapping","tag-accessibility","tag-audiom","tag-startups","tag-wgnhs","tag-xr-navigation","arcnews_issues-summer-2026","arcnews_sections-collaborations"],"acf":{"short_description":"The Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey and XR Navigation are making complex digital maps accessible to everyone.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Accurate geological data is crucial for understanding a region\u2019s landscape, managing mineral resources and water supplies, and facilitating research. For the Midwestern United States, the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey (WGNHS)\u2014part of the University of Wisconsin\u2019s Division of Extension\u2014is one of the organizations that supplies this data. The interdisciplinary research organization provides free public information, such as maps and reports, based on surveys and analyses of Wisconsin\u2019s geology, water, soil, and mineral resources.\r\n\r\nWGNHS faces a problem that has plagued cartographers and government agencies for decades: how to make complex digital maps accessible to everyone, including users who are blind, have low vision, cannot use a mouse, or are illiterate. Working with Esri startup partner XR Navigation<\/strong><\/a>, WGNHS created an accessible digital map that goes beyond alternative text and gives users of varying abilities the chance to truly experience maps of Wisconsin\u2019s rich geology.\r\n

A Global Accessibility Barrier<\/h2>\r\nCurrent estimates suggest that 1.6 billion people worldwide cannot access digital maps due to disabilities, literacy barriers, or technology limitations. Globally, 1 billion people are blind or have low vision, about 300 million people are colorblind, tens of millions of people have mobility impairments affecting mouse usage, and hundreds of millions more have print disabilities or low literacy.\r\n\r\nFor geological surveys, universities, and government agencies, inaccessible maps represent both a legal risk and a missed opportunity to serve the public. Digital accessibility lawsuits increased by more than 20 percent in the United States last year compared to 2024, according to several sources, with legal fees alone averaging $350,000 per complaint. What\u2019s more, beginning in April 2027, the US Department of Justice will require all digital maps from state and local governments to meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which call for blind, keyboard-only, and other disabled users to have equal access to digital content."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":773743,"image_position":"left","orientation":"vertical","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Beyond compliance, accessible maps open new professional and educational opportunities to people with disabilities. Critical fields of study\u2014including geology, climate science, epidemiology, urban planning, and environmental science\u2014all rely on understanding spatial data.\r\n\r\nIn 2025, WGNHS published a statewide map of the Quaternary geology\u2014the current geological period. This map<\/a> will serve as a major reference for K\u201312 schools, researchers, and the public for the coming decades. It shows glacial deposits and other geological features across Wisconsin using 57 color and pattern combinations, along with a variety of point and line symbols.\r\n\r\nWGNHS cartographer Caroline Rose knew traditional digital maps exclude many users. When visually impaired people who use screen readers encounter a map, they hear only a placeholder phrase, such as \u201cgraphic\u201d or \u201cimage.\u201d Low-vision users can\u2019t zoom without breaking the interface. Users with color-vision deficiency can\u2019t distinguish between features shown only by color. Keyboard-only users can\u2019t select map features to learn their names.\r\n\r\n\u201cMost maps are visual only, which is not useful to someone who is totally blind,\u201d Rose said.\r\n\r\nFollowing presentations and advice from accessibility researcher Frank Elavsky of Carnegie Mellon University, Rose was inspired to write a grant application to acquire resources to build more accessible maps.\r\n\r\nWGNHS needed a solution that would make complex geological data truly accessible while maintaining the spatial information that makes a map a map\u2014not just a table or text description. XR Navigation had the answer.\r\n

Making Maps Accessible to All<\/h2>\r\nFounded in 2020 by Brandon Biggs and Chris Toth, XR Navigation\u2019s mission is to make every map usable for everyone. Through the company\u2019s visionary digital map viewer and editor, Audiom, maps are accessible visually, auditorily, and textually.\r\n\r\nRose worked with the team at XR Navigation to integrate Audiom with WGNHS\u2019s existing ArcGIS infrastructure and data. The collaboration transformed 16 ArcGIS feature layers containing vector data\u2014including more than 3,000 unique polygons, lines, and points\u2014into a fully accessible, interactive map. The map includes:\r\n