Visualizations

In this Twitter thread (unrolled, archived), Frank Elavsky directs attention to a neglected aspect of common data viz accessibility discussions:

Data visualization cares disproportionately far too much about designing for colorblindness relative to other disabilities that are more common (visual impairments included).

While the debate about accessible data visualization hovers a lot around colour palettes (a disability disproportionally affecting white males, as the author highlights), he stresses how other functional disabilities do not get nearly enough attention: low vision, functional/motor impairments, cognitive disabilities, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorders... (see the original thread for an extensive list).

This imbalance, he points out, has an equity component built right into it:

Black, disabled people in the south are ESPECIALLY (disproportionately) excluded from the design of equitable data systems! Include them!

If data is really so important, why is it only accessible for a select few?

Frank Elavsky further elaborates on this topic in a joint talk at the Outlier 2021 conference.

My interest in the accessibility of information visualisations occasionally leads me into the rather niche topic of accessible comics. Comics and graphic novels share a lot of the accessibility challenges information visualisations have (content that is by definition first and foremost visual), hence the approaches to solving the challenge could cross-pollinate.

This resource by Nick Sousanis, comics artist and educator, as well as professor of Humanities & Liberal Studies at San Francisco State University, is a comprehensive list of resources on accessible comics – specifically for blind and low vision readers.

This is brilliant:

ComicA11y is an experiment that aims to achieve an all-inclusive online comic reading experience. Because comics should be universal.

The demo at comica11y.humaan.com by Paul Spencer is a showcase of various techniques to make a digital comic accessible for all.

Playing around with the toggles underneath the comic strip reveals a range of enhancements that allow to consume the visual storytelling in different ways. The "comic" context aside, this is a powerful demonstration of how visual content can be made more universally accessible by some (progressive) enhancements.

There’s a vibrant community of people talking about accessibility in comics.

Chartability is a methodology for ensuring that data visualizations, systems, and interfaces are accessible. Chartability is organized into principles with testable criteria and focused on creating an outcome that is an inclusive data experience for people with disabilities.

Charts.css is a modern CSS framework. It uses CSS utility classes to style HTML elements as charts.

A brilliant idea: Charts.css turns semantically marked-up data tables into visualizations using various types of graphs, and all with pure CSS. This makes for lighter code, easier implementation and above all should be very accessible as well?

Can't wait to put this to the test…