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Robust
Robust
Ensure visualizations remain accessible across technologies, formats, and assistive tools.
Accessible visualizations should work reliably across devices, platforms, and assistive technologies. Users may access information through screen readers, alternative formats, exported documents, keyboard navigation, or assistive technology rather than the visualizations themselves. Providing multiple ways to access and understand data helps ensure information remains available to a broader audience.
The guidance in this section focuses on three key aspects of robustness: Alternative Text & Descriptions, Data Tables & Alternative Representations, and Screen Readers & Assistive Technology. Together, these practices help ensure information remains accessible regardless of how users access or consume it.
Alternative Text & Data Descriptions
Alternative Text & Data Descriptions
Why It Matters
Why It Matters
Not all users can rely on visual elements to understand a chart or dashboard. Alternative text (ALT Text), captions, and descriptions provide essential context and help communicate important information when visual access is limited or unavailable.
The best approach depends on whether a visualization is static or interactive. Static visualizations can often communicate key findings directly, while interactive dashboards may need to describe what users can explore rather than summarizing a specific conclusion.
What to Avoid
What to Avoid
Missing alternative text or descriptions.
Generic descriptions such as "Bar chart" or "Line graph."
Descriptions that only list chart components.
Descriptions that fail to communicate purpose or context.
Static conclusions attached to interactive visualizations that change based on user selections.
What Good Looks Like
What Good Looks Like
Alternative text communicates the purpose of the visualization.
Static visualizations include important findings and trends.
Interactive visualizations describe what users can explore and how filters affect the results.
Context is provided when needed.
Users can understand the visualization without relying solely on sight.
Example: Improving Alternative Text & Descriptions
Example: Improving Alternative Text & Descriptions
The example below demonstrates how thoughtful alternative text can improve understanding of visualizations. Descriptions that communicate key findings and context help users interpret information more quickly and accurately.
Before: Less Accessible
Accessibility Challenges
The description provides little useful information.
Important findings are not communicated.
Users may not understand the purpose of the visualization.
The description focuses on chart type rather than meaning.
After: More Accessible
Accessibility Improvements
Alternative text communicates purpose and context.
Static visualizations summarize key findings, while interactive visualizations describe available exploration paths.
Users can understand the visualization without relying solely on visual interpretation.
Descriptions provide meaningful guidance rather than generic labels.
Context helps users interpret the information more accurately.
Quick Test: If the visualization disappeared, would the alternative text or description still communicate its purpose and most important information?
Resources: Alternative Text & Data Descriptions
Resources: Alternative Text & Data Descriptions
These tools and resources can help you create meaningful alternative text, descriptions, captions, and summaries that make visual information accessible to a broader audience
General Guidance
UW–Madison: Accessible Data Visualizations: Guidance on creating alternative text, chart descriptions, and other accessible ways of communicating visual information.
Harvard: Data Visualizations, Charts, and Graphs: Recommendations for describing charts, graphs, and visual data in meaningful ways.
University of Iowa: Providing More Accessible Data Visualizations: Practical guidance for creating accessible charts, descriptions, and alternative representations of data.
Writing Effective Descriptions
Highcharts: 10 Guidelines for Data Visualization Accessibility: Includes recommendations for meaningful chart descriptions, context, and communication of key findings.
Pope Tech: How to Make Charts and Graphs More Accessible: Discusses alternative text, chart summaries, and communicating insights effectively.
A11Y Collective: Understanding and Using Alternative Text: A Comprehensive Guide: Includes practical guidance for creating effective alt text.
Power BI & Tableau
Microsoft: Design Power BI Reports for Accessibility: Guidance on alternative text and accessibility features for report visuals.
Tableau: Author Views for Accessibility: Includes recommendations for descriptions, labels, and supporting accessibility features
Data Tables & Alternative Representations
Data Tables & Alternative Representations
Why It Matters
Why It Matters
Users access and interpret information in different ways. While visualizations can make patterns and trends easier to recognize, some users benefit from accessing exact values, underlying data, or alternative formats. Providing data tables and other alternative representations helps ensure that information remains accessible regardless of how users prefer to consume it.
What to Avoid
What to Avoid
Providing only a visual representation of the data.
Requiring users to estimate values from charts.
Making detailed information available only through hover interactions.
Limiting access to underlying data.
Assuming every user prefers graphical representations.
What Good Looks Like
What Good Looks Like
Data tables are available when appropriate.
Exact values can be accessed easily.
Multiple representations support different user needs.
Underlying data remains accessible independently of the visualization.
Alternative formats support a wider range of devices and assistive technologies.
Example: Providing Alternative Access to Data
Example: Providing Alternative Access to Data
The example below demonstrates how providing an accessible data table alongside a visualization can support users who need exact values, prefer tabular information, or access content through assistive technologies. Alternative representations help ensure information remains available in multiple formats
Before: Less Accessible
Accessibility Challenges
Users must visually estimate values from the chart.
Exact data points are not readily available.
Information is presented in only one format.
Some users may prefer or require access to the underlying data.
The underlying data cannot be accessed independently.
After: More Accessible
Accessibility Improvements
Exact values are available through a data table.
Information can be accessed in multiple formats.
Users can compare and interpret values more easily.
Alternative representations support a wider range of access needs.
Data remains accessible independently of the visualization.
Quick Test: Can users access the underlying data without relying solely on the visualization?
Resources: Data Tables & Alternative Representations
Resources: Data Tables & Alternative Representations
These tools and resources can help you provide alternative ways to access data, including tables, downloadable datasets, and other accessible representations of information.
General Guidance
UW–Madison: Accessible Data Visualizations: Guidance on providing alternative ways to access visual information, including tables, text descriptions, and supporting content.
Harvard: Data Visualizations, Charts, and Graphs: Recommendations for supplementing visualizations with accessible text, tables, and alternative representations.
University of Iowa: Providing More Accessible Data Visualizations: Practical guidance for supporting access to underlying data and alternative formats.
Alternative Representations
Highcharts: 10 Guidelines for Data Visualization Accessibility: Includes recommendations for providing accessible alternatives to charts and graphs.
A11Y Collective: The Ultimate Checklist for Accessible Data Visualizations: Discusses alternative representations, data access, and inclusive visualization practices.
Pope Tech: How to Make Charts and Graphs More Accessible: Guidance on supporting users through multiple representations of information.
Oregon Health Authority: Accessible Data Visualization Quick Guide: Includes recommendations for making data available beyond visual formats and supporting multiple user needs.
Screen Readers & Assistive Technology
Screen Readers & Assistive Technology
Why It Matters
Why It Matters
Some users access visualizations, reports, and dashboards using screen readers and other assistive technologies rather than relying on visual presentation alone. Clear structure, descriptive titles, logical reading order, and accessible navigation help ensure information can be interpreted accurately and efficiently regardless of how it is accessed.
What to Avoid
Generic chart titles such as "Chart 1" or "Graph 2."
Missing alternative text or descriptions.
Illogical reading order.
Dashboard elements that lack meaningful labels.
Presenting information only through visual relationships.
Assuming users can see the chart itself.
What Good Looks Like
What Good Looks Like
Visualizations have descriptive, meaningful titles.
Alternative text is provided where appropriate.
Reading order follows a logical sequence.
Dashboard elements are clearly identified.
Important information is communicated beyond visual design alone.
Assistive technologies can convey the purpose of each visualization.
Example: Supporting Screen Readers & Assistive Technology
Example: Supporting Screen Readers & Assistive Technology
The example below demonstrates how screen reader accessibility can be improved through descriptive labeling, meaningful alternative text, and logical content structure. These enhancements help users understand and navigate dashboard content without relying solely on visual presentation.
Before: Less Accessible
Accessibility Challenges
Visual titles provide limited context.
Users may struggle to understand the purpose of individual visualizations.
Navigation order is unclear.
Important information relies on visual interpretation.
Screen readers may communicate limited information about dashboard content.
After: More Accessible
Accessibility Improvements
Descriptive titles provide meaningful context.
Alternative text communicates purpose, context, and available interactions.
Dashboard elements are organized in a logical reading order.
Visualizations are easier to identify and understand.
Users can access and interpret information more effectively using assistive technologies.
Quick Test: If a user could not see the visualization, would the titles, descriptions, and navigation order still communicate the purpose of the dashboard?
Resources: Screen Readers & Assistive Technology
Resources: Screen Readers & Assistive Technology
These tools and resources can help you create visualizations, reports, and dashboards that are easier to navigate and understand using screen readers and other assistive technologies.
General Guidance
Harvard: Data Visualizations, Charts, and Graphs: Guidance on creating visualizations that can be understood beyond visual presentation alone.
Power BI
Microsoft: Design Power BI Reports for Accessibility: Covers alternative text, reading order, keyboard navigation, and accessibility best practices for report authors.
Microsoft: Create Reports in Power BI Using Accessibility Tools: Guidance on built-in accessibility features that support screen readers and assistive technology users.
MoonStory: Accessibility Features in Power BI You Probably Didn't Know About: Practical overview of alternative text, screen reader support, tab order, and accessible report design.
Tableau
Tableau: Author Views for Accessibility: Guidance for creating Tableau dashboards that support screen readers and other assistive technologies.
Tableau Enablement Series: Building Accessible Dashboards: Demonstrates accessibility techniques and assistive technology considerations in Tableau.
Testing & Evaluation
WAVE Evaluation Tool (Chrome Extension): Helps identify accessibility barriers that may affect screen reader users and other assistive technologies.
Power BI Accessibility Best Practices (GitHub): Community-maintained guidance and recommendations for improving accessibility in Power BI reports.
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