Investing in Data Viz Accessibility Pays Off

In this playful exploration of data visualization accessibility, we delve into why it matters and the steps a person or organization might take on their road to deeper knowledge about the topic.

Reasons to Invest

Legal

Many companies in the world are subject to the legal prohibition of discrimination based on disability. Furthermore, even in lieue of such a law, anti-discrimination lawsuits can still be very costly.

Moral

Caring about disabled users is the right thing to do as it aligns with human rights and the principles of modern democracies. The digital world is currently an inequal space bt we should change that.

Financial

Investing in accessibility expands market size, boosts brand loyalty, enhances product quality, and fosters diversity. Early adoption saves money in the long run.

The Accessibility
Journey

Click the stations to read the descriptions

Cognitive

The most common starting point for dataviz accessibility, learning about color vision deficiencies and corresponding techniques can teach a lot of skills needed to design for accessibility. It is a tiny subset of problems however.

Low Vision

There exist vision problems outside of CVD-s and less severe than blindness. Alleviating the challenges they pose for impacted users improves the experience for everyone.

Cognitive

Memory and attention are limited but cognitive disabilities impact them severely. Designing products that require less cognitive effort doesn't only make them accessible for some, but more useful for all.

Assistive Technologies

The most difficult part of this journey, as designing for assistive technologies - e.g. screen readers - requires specialized knowledge. Start by learning to use a screen reader as that shows the fundamental challenges.