November & December 2023
New Features:
Skip Links Improvements
The skip links provided on maps are an important feature that allow screen reader and keyboard only users to navigate to content more quickly. We made some improvements to these links, and ensured they were usable at 200% zoom as is required by WCAG 2.1 AA standards.
Some of the changes we made include:
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Add a toolbar link to the skip links menu. This link will take you to the home button. On the desktop view, this in the map controls on the right of the screen. On mobile it will take you to the bottom bar.
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Ensure when the sidebar is closed, clicking on either Search or Locations/Tours options in the skip links menu should still have focus go to the correct element
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Add Transit option to skip links modal
Updated Skip Links Menu with New and Updated Options
Make Location Balloons more Usable for Screen Readers
Clients will often ask us, "Which location option is more accessible?"
Some people are surprised to find out it is Location Balloons instead of the sidebar, as we do prefer the visual display of the location sidebar to the location ballon.
We recently went over Location Balloons with a fine tooth comb to ensure they not only meet accessibility guidelines, but are actually usable for screen reader users. Many thanks to our friends at The University of Washington for helping us identify the needed changes.
Some of these changes include:
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Mark location balloons as dialog boxes so it is clear the “pop up” on the screen (Add role="dialog" to section#bln-holder)
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Add a unique id to h2.location-title
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When a balloon pops up, place focus on the first focusable element (the close button).
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Allow locations to be closed by the Escape key.
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After the dialog closes, return focus to the button that triggered it.
Customizable Accessible Wayfinding Toggle
Any language around accessibility can require client control to ensure it meets their standards and compliance regulations. Therefore we made the toggle to enable and disable wheelchair accessible wayfinding routes on the front end map customizable by clients.
There is a new field in the CMS Options tab to edit this text. The field has a 40 character limit.. By default, the text will read, “Show only accessible routes”
October 31, 2023
New Features:
Bulk Upload Improvements
The Bulk Upload tab will look a little different next time you open it!
No more Commit checkbox: BOTH Category & Location bulk uploads will not require the commit step any more
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Previously, the system would require you to do a “test” run of the upload prior to actually uploading the content. However, if commit was selected with a spreadsheet with an error - it resulted in some successful uploads, and ultimately led to duplicate locations and categories.
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Now, the system will check for errors on every upload! If there is an error, the upload will fail and tell the user what the error is.
Category bulk upload improvements: The Category upload got a bit of a face lift to check for more validation
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Empty title field will cause an error and reject upload
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Title is the only required field
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Allow for more empty setting fields and apply “default” values if left empty
Increased Blue Dot Size
The size of the “blue dot”, the symbol that identifies a user's location on mobile, on all interactive maps has been increased, making it easier to identify locations. The size now better matches other map applications.