This project presents a practical guide to designing inclusive and accessible information visualizations. The guide combines research on visual accessibility with practical design recommendations for improving the usability of charts and dashboards for audiences with visual impairments, including color vision deficiencies and low vision. Drawing on academic literature, accessibility standards, and personal experience as a visually impaired and colorblind data practitioner, the guide highlights how thoughtful design choices can make data communication more inclusive and impactful. The project also includes demonstration tutorials and example visualizations created in Tableau that illustrate accessible design principles in practice. The guide also discusses how accessibility considerations are often overlooked in dashboards and business intelligence tools despite growing awareness in the data visualization community and provides suggestions for future growth within this field.
• WCAG standards
• Color accessibility and design choices for color-vision deficiencies
• Inclusive design vs accessibility in visualization
• Direct labeling and annotation techniques
• Alt-text and screen reader compatibility for charts
• Scalable visualizations and magnification considerations
• Literature review of accessibility research in data visualization
• Analysis of accessibility standards and best practices
• Development of practical design guidelines
• Creation of demonstration visualizations and tutorials
Tableau, screen-recording, web-based documentation
• Accessible data visualization design guide website
• Demonstration Tableau visualizations
• Video tutorials showing accessible visualization techniques