When building a Tableau dashboard, it’s easy to focus on making things look sleek and data-rich. But what if some of your users struggle with numbers? Dyscalculia—a learning difficulty that affects numerical comprehension—can make it challenging for people to interpret number-heavy visuals. The good news? With a few tweaks, you can make your dashboards far more accessible for these users.
1. Use Visual Cues, Not Just Numbers
People with dyscalculia may struggle with reading and comparing numbers, so lean on visuals. Icons, colour coding, and simple bar/line charts are much more effective communicators than dense tables. For example, instead of showing "85%" in a table, use a progress bar that fills up to 85%. It’s quicker to understand at a glance.
2. Minimize Cognitive Load
Too much information on one screen? Overwhelming. Break things down into clear sections. White space is great here, and so are tooltips—let users hover over a chart for details instead of crowding the screen with numbers.
3. Use Consistent and Simple Layouts
Jumping between different types of charts, axis styles, and number formats makes things harder:
- Use the same scale across charts when comparing numbers.
- Stick to a single format (e.g., don’t mix decimals and percentages randomly).
- Clearly label everything to reduce guesswork.
4. Be Mindful of Color Choices
Colors can help or hurt. Too many different colours? Confusing. Low contrast? Hard to read. Stick with clear, distinct colours and consider using patterns or icons in addition to colouur (in case your users also have colour blindness).
Final Thoughts
Good dashboard design isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about usability. Making small changes to accommodate dyscalculia won’t just help those with learning differences; it’ll improve clarity and accessibility for everyone. And isn’t that the whole point of data visualisation?