Track 3 · Visualising and Exploring Data · Lesson 11 of 11
Accessible charts and data stories
Write chart titles that state the finding, label charts so they can be read without a legend hunt, choose colours that work for colour-blind readers, and provide text alternatives and data tables.
A chart only works if its reader gets the point. Some readers skim titles only; some cannot tell red from green; some use a screen reader and never see the picture at all. The same habits that make a chart accessible to them make it clearer for everyone.
Titles that state the finding. A label-style title (“Commute time by travel mode”) tells the reader what was measured; a finding title tells them what to see: “Bus commuters spend the longest getting to work”. Readers who read nothing else still get the message, and the title commits you to a claim the chart must support. Keep the descriptive information in a subtitle or the axis labels (“Median one-way commute, minutes, 240 employees”).
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It has 8 graded exercises with feedback, hints and worked solutions. After it you will be able to:
- Write titles that state the finding and keep descriptions in subtitles and axis labels
- Make charts readable without colour, using labels, shapes and lightness differences
- Compute a contrast ratio and apply the 3 : 1 and 4.5 : 1 guidelines
- Write concise alt text and provide a data table for detail