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# What is the Problem we are Trying to Solve?
Charts, graphs, and other data visualizations are usually inaccessible to blind people and people with some other disabilities, especially certain types of cognitive and vision disabilities.
Making data visualizations –such as charts, graphs, diagrams, and infographics– accessible to all readers is an emerging field, and there are many different techniques for different aspects of the problem. These range from tactiles to sonifications to advanced screen-reader approaches, as well as auditing techniques, WCAG conformance, and different considerations for different disabilities.
Our goal is to find these common problems and solutions, to identify best practices for accessible data visualization, and create materials and guidelines for making charts and graphs accessible to everyone.
# Resources
This is a link to our longer list of resources on accessibility and data visualization. This document is something that we hope to grow and maintain as more is produced in this intersection of work. Articles, academic papers, examples, and libraries are all included.
# Data Viz and Accessibility Resources (Shortlist)
An Intro to Designing Accessible Data Visualizations, by Sarah Fossheim
Why Accessibility is at the Heart of Data Visualization, by Doug Schepers
Writing Alt Text for Data Visualization, by Amy Cesal
# General Accessibility Resources (Shortlist)
Microsoft’s Inclusive Design Guide
Web Accessibility Initiative’s Introduction to Web Accessibility
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
# Libraries (Shortlist)
# Who are we?
A collection of folks from around the world, all interested in data visualization and accessibility.
Email the group: accessible-visualization [AT] outlook [DOT] com
Frank Elavsky is a data experience engineer and designer interested in accessibility, motion and interaction design, and design systems. He helps schedule meetings and take care of simple admin tasks for this group.
# Contributors:
This is a collection of folks who have contributed to our efforts in a significant way, whether past or present. Due to the flexible nature of volunteer work, we decided it was best not to recognize only "current" contributors but keep a record of everyone that has really done a lot for us along the way.
Amy Cesal is a data visualization designer and instructor. While working for the federal government, she developed an interest in the intersection of data viz and accessibility. She is also a co-founder and on the board of directors for the Data Visualization Society.
Chris DeMartini runs the data visualization team at Visa Inc. He is passionate about data visualization and interested in how to enable more equal experiences for all users. He is also a Tableau Zen Master and his public facing contributions can be found on the DataBlick blog.
Sarah is a developer and designer who focuses on user experience and accessibility. While working on dashboards for the health and educational sector, they became passionate about how to make data visualizations more inclusive. Sarah also writes and speaks about accessibility, data visualizations, user experience and design ethics.
Ted Gies leads the accessibility initiative at Elsevier and parent company RELX. He is fascinated by technology related to science, health, and visualizations on the web. He has helped provide accessible and usable content for over 20 years as a UX designer and accessibility guru.
ScienceDirect Accessibility Statement
Javascript developer and cat herder, working on accessibility at Microsoft.
Emily Kund trains professionals on data visualization and Tableau fundamentals to help them create actionable insights. She weaves in real world experiences and focuses on audience reporting and accessibility. She is also a Tableau ambassador and founder of the Tableau Fringe Festival.
Larene is a software engineer at Datalust and Microsoft MVP who specialises in UX. She has spoken at tech conferences, private companies, and meetups about accessibility. Larene currently works on software which includes dashboards, logs, and stack traces, and plans to share what she learns in making more complex components like dataviz accessible.
Currently working as a software engineer for a public interest tech consulting company called Bloom Works Digital. Also serving as co-chair of Code for America's volunteer network advisory council.
Øystein has been developing software since his early childhood and has taken a great interest in data visualizations and accessibility in later years. He is currently Head of Accessibility at Highcharts, having joined the charting company in 2013.
Doug is the director of Fizz Studio, a startup focusing on accessible data visualization, offering software, public speaking, and consulting services. Previously, Doug served as project manager and developer relations lead at W3C for a decade, defining web standards like SVG, Web Audio, various DOM APIs, and graphics accessibility. Doug hosts the A11yDataViz community forum, and is working on accessible dataviz guidelines for WCAG 3.0.
Ryan Shugart is an accessibility subject matter expert at Microsoft. He works with 700 product teams to advise on accessible experiences and a good solution to accessibility bugs.
Amber creates data-driven, visual essays at The Pudding. She is currently exploring ways to make her team's experimental data stories more accessible to a wider audience.
Léonie is Director of TetraLogical; a member of the W3C Advisory Board; co-Chair of the W3C Web Applications Working Group; and a member of the BIMA Inclusive Design Council.