Title: Creating Accessible Charts and Graphs
Course: Web Accessibility MOOC for Educators > Section: Creating Accessible Images, Diagrams, and Charts

Charts & Accessibility

Charts, graphs and maps use visuals to convey complex images to users. But since they are images, these media provide serious accessibility issues to colorblind users and users of screen readers. See the examples on this page for details on how to make charts more accessible.

If the data in a chart, graph or map is crucial to the content of a Web page, then you must provide a text description of the image. In some cases, a numeric table replicating the chart data could provide additional accessibility.

Supplement color coding of charts with texture, differences in line style, text in graphs or different shades of color to improve accessibility for colorblind users. Charts should be readable in black and white.

NOTE: The default settings of the Chart Wizard in Excel are not color accessible. Use the formatting tools to change line styles and colors. Don’t convert tables of data into images—use an actual data table instead.