A List Apart: Articles: A More Accessible Map:

location based services

"As companies like Google and Yahoo! have simplified the process of placing information on a map by offering web services/APIs, the popularity and abundance of mapping applications on the web has increased dramatically. While these maps have had a positive effect on most users, what does it mean for people with accessibility needs?
Most online mapping applications do not address issues of web accessibility. For a visually impaired web user, these highly visual maps are essentially useless.
Is there a way to display text-based data on a map, keeping it accessible, useful and visually attractive? Yes: using an accessible CSS-based map in which the underlying map data is separated from the visual layout.
A different starting point
So what if, instead of starting from a map graphic and adding data to points located across the image, we start with the data itself and create a map based on the data?
First, let�s pick some data that has a geographic component so it can be placed on a map. For example, let�s use the 10 most populated cities in the world. Displayed as plain text, the list might look like this:
Tokyo, Japan � 28,025,000 people
Mexico City, Mexico � 18,131,000 people
Mumbai, India � 18,042,000 people
Sao Paulo, Brazil � 17,110,000 people
New York City, USA - 16,626,000 people
Shanghai, China � 14,173,000 people
Lagos, Nigeria � 13,488,000 people
Los Angeles, USA - 13,129,000 people
Calcutta, India � 12,900,000 people
Buenos Aires, Argentina � 12,431,000 people
Note: The data above is intended only as an example and may not be entirely accurate.
Not bad, but it would be nice to add some descriptive text to each of the cities to describe a little more abo"