“I think including alt text that goes beyond just what the thing is, but why you’re including it and what is interesting about it to really help people understand” – Amy Cesal
In this episode of Data Chats, hosted by Chris Richardson, we dive deep into the realm of data and design with Amy Cesal, a co-founder and board member of the Data Visualization Society and a product evangelist at EverViz.
Amy, a three-time Information is Beautiful award winner, has significantly contributed to the field of data visualization, pioneering the use of innovative style guides and continuously creating unusual and impactful data visualizations.
In this episode, Chris and Amy discuss:
- Why dual encoding helps with accessibility
- Alt text strategies
- How to gain buy-in for style guides
- Balancing simplicity with unique and memorable ways to present information
- Places to find data visualization inspiration
Here are the links to some of the things Amy discussed on today’s episode:
- Color contrast checker: https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/
- Chancey Fleet image poverty: https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/06/15/1074036/ending-image-poverty/
- NASA alt text: https://www.npr.org/2022/07/22/1112878868/webb-telescope-alt-text-visually-impaired
- Cow chart: https://www.datarevelations.com/favorite-things-2021/
- Covid Spiral chart: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/06/opinion/omicron-covid-us.html
- Sunlight Foundation Style Guidelines: https://sunlightfoundation.com/2014/03/12/datavizguide/
- MICA Data Analytics and Visualization program Amy teaches for: https://www.mica.edu/graduate-programs/data-analytics-and-visualization-mps/
- Play doh data viz project: https://www.amycesal.com/day-doh-viz-all
- Wedding data viz: https://medium.com/nightingale/https-medium-com-data-visualization-society-wedding-data-viz-36e7b9f4787f
- Learn more about Amy on her website: https://www.amycesal.com/
Ready to Learn More About Data Visualization?
Effective data visualization comes down to knowing your audience. Business-Driven Data Analysis enables data practitioners to refine their projects based on available data, produce results, and effectively communicate strategic insights to diverse stakeholders.
