What are the best practices for creating accessible infographics and charts?

1 Why infographics and charts need accessibility

Infographics and charts are powerful tools to communicate data and insights, but they can also pose challenges for accessibility. People with visual impairments, cognitive disabilities, or low literacy may have difficulty interpreting them, especially if they rely on colors, shapes, or symbols that are not explained or labeled. Moreover, infographics and charts may not be compatible with assistive technologies, such as screen readers, magnifiers, or keyboards, that some people use to access content.

2 How to design accessible infographics and charts

When creating accessible infographics and charts, it's important to consider your audience and their needs. Think about who will use your content, what they want to learn from it, and how they will access it. To ensure accessibility, use simple and clear language without jargon or technical terms. Choose colors that contrast well with the background and each other, and that can be distinguished by people with different types of color vision. Additionally, select fonts that are easy to read and match the tone of your content, as well as sizes that are large enough for most readers. Finally, arrange your elements in a way that makes sense and follows a clear hierarchy. Utilize white space, grids, alignment tools, headings, subheadings, or labels to organize and structure your content.

4 How to test and improve your accessibility

The final step to create accessible infographics and charts is to test and improve their accessibility. You can use online tools, such as WAVE, AChecker, or Lighthouse, to scan your content and identify potential accessibility issues. Additionally, you can use assistive technologies to access your content and listen to how it sounds, look at how it appears, or navigate through it using different commands or gestures. Lastly, you can ask for feedback from real users who have different abilities, preferences, or devices. Listen to their needs and expectations and make changes accordingly.