Version 3.20.0 introduces accessibility support

We have just released a new version – 3.20.0 of our charts and maps products. Probably the most notable change is the addition of accessibility features.

The descriptive WAI-ARIA labels are now automatically added to key elements like chart columns or map areas. This allows vision-impaired users using screen readers get a feel of the chart or map contents.

For example, hovering on a column in a chart will read out the graph’s title and a value. Hovering over a country in a heat map, will read out country name and it’s value.

The screen reader content is also fully customizable. See full list of changes below for details.

• Property accessible added to AmChart class, with default value true. When enabled, chart adds aria-label attributes to columns, bullets or map objects. You can control values of these labels using properties listed below. Note, not all screen readers support these tags. We tested this mostly with NVDA Screen reader. WAI-ARIA is now official W3 standard, so in future more readers will handle this well. We will be improving accessibility on our charts, so we would be glad to hear your feedback.
• Property, accessibleTitle added to AmChart class. This title will be read by screen reader.
• Property accessibleLabel added to AmGraph class, with default value [[title]] [[value]].
• Property accessibleLabel added to AmSlicedChart class, with default value [[title]]: [[percents]]% [[value]] [[description]]
• Bug fix: in some particular cases angular gauge was changing it’s position incorrectly while changing size of chart container.
• Bug fix: YTD button of PeriodSelector was not hidden even if no this year’s dates were available in the data.
• Bug fix: touchDuration property was affecting also clicks, not only touch events.

To download this latest and greatest, head over to our free Downloads section or Support area for commercial downloads.