Dashboards are a great way to visualise data, but it is important to remember that it can be seen as a vehicle towards making data more accessible for the average person.
The following things should be considered:
- Colour Blindness: There are 11 types of colourblindness that people have, with Deuteranopia being the most common. It is therefore important to consider that some of your audience might interpret colours differently, and so the choice of colours is very important. To be able to see how the colours vary depending on the condition: colororacle.org
- Blindness/Visual Impairments: Some people are not able to look at the viz in the complete manner as you might have initially thought, and they require screen readers in order to give a description of what the dashboard is showing. Some other individuals might have less prominent conditions, however inclusivity for these individuals is also important. Creating the dashboard with segments of text, in the correct order, can help for screen readers, and making smaller text larger can help those with long-sightedness for example.
- Motor Impairment: Some individuals might have motor impairment, and so the ability to create dashboards to cater for these needs is very useful. It is entirely possible to access and navigate dashboards only using the keyboard, and by tabbing and clicking arrows you are able to access different parts of the dashboard, and so it can be very helpful to create dashboards with this thinking in mind. Since some might not be able to use their mouse, the use of tooltips and other interactivity needs to be considered, potentially incorporated into the dashboard in a more accessible manner.
- Cultural Context: It is important to consider the cultural context behind your dashboard, as well as who the main audience is. Take the example of the colour red: in the western world, red is seen as negative and is often used to indicate poor performance or a negtaive indicator, however in China, red is seen as lucky and is a positive colour. This is important to bare in mind, as well as other aspects of your dashboard, including the direction of reading, the layout of the dashboard, and the general suitability and consideration of other cultures.
- Neurodivergence: Individuals have different levels of understanding, as well as familiarity with the context of the dashboard. As a result it is important to consider these individuals and make dashboards as accessible as possible to all levels of understanding, background, and intelligence. This can come in the form of varying levels of detail or explanation, in order to alienate as few people as possible when viewing your vizualisation.