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Map Accessibility Guidelines

• Make accessibility a developer-side concern.

• Accessible first! Consider accessibility and usability as part of the same conversation, and start this conversation from the very beginning of a project—don’t hack it on at the end.

• Consider diverse users (including visually impaired users, users with cognitive disabilities, users with physical or motor limitations, users with different spatial perceptions, etc.). For more information and resources for serving diverse users, visit the separate links along the side of this page.

• Offer both "route" and "map" options. Remember that people have different ways of orienting themselves and absorbing geographic information.

• Don’t have the map be your only format for data display. Supplement with a table or list.

• Use simple, high-contrast color schemes. Don’t use color alone to convey information—consider patterns, line widths, etc. Remember: Red + Green = BAD!

• Use small words and big text. Choose highly legible typefaces.

• Err on the side of too few layers (3-4 per map, usually). When in doubt, leave it out!

• Display layer data in a way that's appropriate for the zoom level. Hide and display geographic details as appropriate.

• Link your legend to your data to make associations more apparent to users (for example, via interactive mouseover, clickable popup, etc). Then, use good symbology to make your legend as unnecessary as possible.

• Make legend clearly visible & expanded by default.

• Make map elements large and keyboard-accessible.