32. Progress, Not Perfection: A Workshop Series on Accessible Data Visualization

Data visualization can improve access to and understanding of information to a wider audience. In emergencies, charts and infographics can be used to quickly communicate information and help with decision making. Despite these benefits, inaccessible data visualizations can exclude people from getting the key information they need to understand a topic or to make decisions. Accessibility is a core part of social justice work and should continue to be a critical component of the future of data.

This poster will cover a workshop series at the University of Washington that teaches attendees how to create more accessible visualizations. The workshops emphasize accessibility at the foundation of visualization creation to be more inclusive of all users, and they provide guidance on topics such as screen readers, color and vision, and more.

The next stage of this workshop series is to gather feedback on the content and presentation, then hopefully make the content, including slides and activities, open to anyone who is interested in using the material to work with their own user groups.