ArcGIS

Planning to attend the 2023 Esri User Conference?

The Esri User Conference in San Diego, California is back this July 10 – 14 and there are more than 500 sessions, demos, and stories for you to learn about all the excellent work that our users are creating. To ensure that your work reaches all audiences, it is important to consider the various aspects of digital accessibility. This year, there are 6 sessions discussing the topic of digital accessibility for ArcGIS featuring our products and our customers’ amazing work.

In these sessions, attendees will learn about the latest features to support accessibility in Esri products such as ArcGIS Online, ArcGIS Pro, and a variety of ArcGIS apps. The sessions will include information about digital accessibility, information on implementing accessibility features, and recommendations to improving accessibility in your published content.

2023 Sessions

Accessibility Essentials for GIS

Tuesday, July 11, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM PDT

In this session, attendees will learn the essentials of digital accessibility to improve their GIS solutions and ensure compliance with accessibility criteria. Attend this session for an introduction to accessibility terminology, a review of domestic and international standards and guidelines, and an exploration of accessibility testing basics across web, desktop, and mobile ArcGIS software and applications. Additionally, we will conduct a review of assistive technologies available to evaluate and remediate according to accessibility best practices.

ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise: Best Practices for Web App Accessibility

Wednesday, July 12, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PDT

Web Applications provide a user experience for your audience to interact with your data and maps. Designing Apps with accessibility best practices ensures all audiences can easily interact with and understand your information. Come to this session to learn how to optimize support for screen readers, keyboard navigation, and other assistive technologies across ArcGIS Online. In this session, you will learn about testing accessibility in web apps. You will also be introduced to tools and techniques that ensure you are developing an inclusive app experience.

ArcGIS Pro: Accessibility

Wednesday, July 12, 1:00 PM – 1:45 PM PDT

ArcGIS Pro offers many useful accessibility features and provides functionality within the software to allow users to generate accessible content for all audiences. This demonstration will highlight new and existing accessibility features found in ArcGIS Pro and related extensions.

Towards Inclusiveness: Tailoring Topography for the Blind and Visually Challenged

Thursday, July 13, 8:30 AM – 9:30 AM PDT

Topographic maps have a long history in providing the spatial awareness for orientation on and reflection about the world. These maps shape the way we look at and understand the world we live in. People who are blind or visually impaired lack access to topographic maps and the spatial awareness they provide. In this session we will talk about initiatives to increase spatial awareness for people with visual challenges by making topographical information accessible and the role spatial data and GIS technology play to meet users’ need.

ArcGIS Online: Accessibility Best Practices

Thursday, July 13, 10:00 AM – 10:45 AM PDT

ArcGIS Online offers many useful accessibility features and provides functionality within the application to allow users to generate accessible content for all audiences. This demonstration will highlight new and existing accessibility features found in ArcGIS Online.

How to Incorporate Equity Across Your Organization

Thursday, July 13, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM PDT

Many organizations are prioritizing equity, but many lack an enterprise-wide strategic plan for achieving equity. In this session, you will hear from two leading organizations on how they are operationalizing equity across their communities and building it into their efforts, workflows, and departments.

Operationalizing Equity at City of Tacoma

Cities are increasingly making institutional commitments to equity, but what does it look like to operationalize this commitment, and how does it influence the distribution of resources and infrastructure? City of Tacoma has been a leader in equity mapping for several years and has made deliberate efforts to use the Equity Index to prioritize work, make considerations to policy and evaluate the city’s service deliver. This talk will discuss how staff use the Equity Index every day to make decisions and ensure the organization is striving to be an anti racist organization.

GIS & People with Disabilities: Changing the Conversation in Philadelphia

According to data collected from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, 16.7% of Philadelphians live with a physical, emotional or cognitive disability, the highest rate among the nation’s largest cities. Additionally, Philadelphia is considered to be the poorest large city in America. Utilizing ArcGIS, Philadelphia has transformed how disability representation can impact outcomes for city departments, community partners, and residents living with disabilities. This project is actively changing conversations around disability representation in the City of Philadelphia and beyond.

Esri Showcase

Visit the Accessibility team at our booth with the Globalization group, near ArcGIS Enterprise and ArcGIS Apps in the Showcase area. Meet our experts, demo accessibility features of ArcGIS products, and learn more about digital accessibility.

Showcase Hours:

Tuesday, July 11 – 9:00 am – 6:00 pm PDT

Wednesday, July 12 – 9:00 am – 6:00 pm PDT

Thursday, July 13 – 9:00 am – 4:00 pm PDT

Additional Resources

At Esri, we are committed to creating accessible products and services compatible with the latest assistive technology. Our culture promotes a responsibility to uphold our values toward inclusivity, diversity, and equality in access for all our products and we believe there should be no barriers to what users can achieve with our software. We encourage our users, customers, partners, and distributors to register for the Esri User Conference and learn more about how Esri is working to make accessible technology.

About the authors

Jessica McCall

Jessica McCall is the Senior Accessibility Project Manager for the Esri Accessibility team and manages strategic planning and project management activities for the accessibility team. She also works to gather and support customer requirements for accessibility alongside product team members. Previously, Jessica worked for a consulting firm as a project and operations manager supporting utility data migration and data integration projects between GIS and CAD-based software.

Connect:

Karl Frantz

Karl Frantz is the Accessibility Lead in Software Products Release, and has been with Esri since 2016. He focuses on enhancing accessibility standards across ArcGIS software and products, and establishing accessibility best practices and resources for customers and stakeholders. In his free time Karl enjoys playing strategy tabletop and board games, reading science fiction and fantasy, and vegetarian/vegan cooking.