Using OpenKeyNav to Enhance the Keyboard-Accessibility of Web-based Data Visualization Tools

Many data visualization tools require a mouse. While such tools widen access to data communication and expression, their implementations are difficult or impossible to use by people with certain disabilities who experience difficulties using a mouse. What if people could use them as easily with a keyboard? We present OpenKeyNav, a zero-dependency JavaScript code library that exposes a developer-friendly API for initiating keyboard accessibility enhancements. We demonstrate a usage scenario of OpenKeyNav for improving the keyboard-accessibility of Voyager 2, an open-source web-based data visualization tool based on the shelf configuration similar to industry-leading Tableau. Since mouse-driven interactions such as drag-and-drop are found in software in a broad range of industries, the interaction methods we describe have potential implications for the education, employment, and autonomy of people with motor disabilities in various fields. A demonstration is at https://voyager-keyboard-demo.github.io/. Its instructions are at https://github.com/voyager- keyboard- demo/voyager- keyboard- demo.github.io/