Visualizing Health and Healthcare Data

Chapter NineMaking Accessible Visualizations

Accessible Design Is Good Design

In order to make health and healthcare data visualizations accessible to as broad an audience as possible, it is crucial to remember that some people may experience the visualizations differently than the way you envisioned. For instance, those with visual impairments or mobility limitations will experience the visualizations differently from those without such challenges. However, designing for accessibility is not predicated exclusively on the existence of a disabled or visually/physically limited audience. Components such as labels, text, white space, and colors crafted in a way that optimizes usability for everyone is the goal. Many of the methods for making data visualizations accessible are the same ones that simply make them good. Nevertheless, it is essential to design with particular human challenges and conditions in mind.

Accessibility in Data Visualization

Accessibility in data visualization is making the information in them usable for as many people as possible. As visualizations are being fine-tuned for accessibility, the delivery mode must always remain at the forefront of consideration. There are, for example, special considerations for web-based content. In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, require all web content—applications, websites, web pages and attached files such as PDFs—to be accessible to people ...