Create and add an Accessibility Statement

[Malvoz]

Copy & paste from the issue I raised in Leaflet/Leaflet#7537:

Inaccessibility may be a legal liability under certain international laws and policies. End-users of Leaflet maps have the right to an accessible experience, and implementers (e.g. organizations, individual developers) need to know if they meet those requirements. Documentation should be provided, describing if - and to what extent - Leaflet is accessible.

The W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) provides a tool to generate an accessibility statement that could be published to the Leaflet website (reachable through the Leaflet site link in the attribution).

We should probably have an accessibility statement. I have generated a draft accessibility statement to give you an idea:

Draft Accessibility Statement

Accessibility Statement for Web Map Custom Element

This is an accessibility statement from Maps for HTML Community Group.

Measures to support accessibility

Maps for HTML Community Group takes the following measures to ensure accessibility of Web Map Custom Element:

• Include accessibility as part of our mission statement.
• Appoint an accessibility officer and/or ombudsperson.
• Provide continual accessibility training for our staff.
• Assign clear accessibility goals and responsibilities.
• Employ formal accessibility quality assurance methods.

Conformance status

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. Web Map Custom Element is partially conformant with WCAG 2.1 level AA. Partially conformant means that some parts of the content do not fully conform to the accessibility standard.

Feedback

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of Web Map Custom Element. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on Web Map Custom Element:

• E-mail: [email protected]
• Github repository: https://github.com/Maps4HTML/Web-Map-Custom-Element/issues | Twitter: @Maps4HTML

Compatibility with browsers and assistive technology

Web Map Custom Element is designed to be compatible with the following assistive technologies:

• Screen readers (partial compatibility)

Web Map Custom Element is not compatible with:

• Internet Explorer, and other browsers that do not support Autonomous Custom Elements: https://caniuse.com/custom-elementsv1

Technical specifications

Accessibility of Web Map Custom Element relies on the following technologies to work with the particular combination of web browser and any assistive technologies or plugins installed on your computer:

• HTML
• WAI-ARIA
• CSS
• JavaScript
• MapML

These technologies are relied upon for conformance with the accessibility standards used.

Limitations and alternatives

Despite our best efforts to ensure accessibility of Web Map Custom Element , there may be some limitations. Below is a description of known limitations, and potential solutions. Please contact us if you observe an issue not listed below.

Known limitations for Web Map Custom Element:

1. Panning and zooming of the map presentation: No feedback is provided to assistive technologies on pan and zoom because of reliance on underlying technologies that has done little or no prior work on this area. Issue discussion: https://github.com/Meaningful Pan & Zoom (and Feature navigation) MapML.js#396. .

Assessment approach

Maps for HTML Community Group assessed the accessibility of Web Map Custom Element by the following approaches:

• Self-evaluation

Other evidence

Other related evidence for Web Map Custom Element is available at:

• https://github.com/Maps4HTML/Web-Map-Custom-Element/issues?q=is%3Aissue+label%3Aaccessibility

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Date

This statement was created on 22 July 2021 using the W3C Accessibility Statement Generator Tool.

There are certainly additions and general improvements to be made, but what are your thoughts on adding such an accessibility statement. I suppose there are legalities involved with publishing such a statement, so it'd have to be thoroughly reviewed once a final version has been made.

The idea is to create a web page on the site to hold the accessibility statement, linked from the site's footer section.

[Malvoz]

The draft a11y statement in the comment above closely resembles the complete example, should tone it down closer to the minimal example.