Accessible Charts, Plots, and Graphs

Utilizing Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Assistive Technologies (AT) for Online Mathematical Visuals

Introduction

Kamal, Lina, and Gus each click on the next lesson in their online math course: histograms.

Kamal has strabismus, a visual impairment that makes it difficult to focus on specific points (see  Visual Impairments), so he uses a screen reader for the lesson. He notices that whenever the lesson says to look a histogram, there is a large image on the page, but no description. He is unable to understand what the histograms are showing.

Lina has a visual-spatial processing disorder, which makes it difficult for her to distinguish how close together various items appear to be (see  Visual Processing Disorder). In analyzing the histograms, she misses the importance of the height of the bars in the display because that idea is only ever made through the visual display of the histograms.

Gus is able to read the lesson and see the graphs, but he is confused about some labels on the graphs that match up with more than one category. He can't figure out exactly how the labels and bars work because of this. Gus has protanopia, a type of colorblindness making it impossible to distinguish between red and green (see  Types of Colorblindness). Many of the histograms in the lesson use both red and green for the bars.

Kamal, Lina, and Gus don’t have to leave the lesson confused. By using Universal Design for Learning (UDL) strategies and assistive technologies (AT) in designing the histograms, this lesson could be accessible to each of these diverse learners (Bouck & Meyer, 2012; Pittman & Heiselt, 2014).

*For a more detailed and supported topic overview and full reference information, please see the “Articles” tab.

Purpose

This website will provide explanations, examples, and resources to aid in the creation of accessible online mathematics visuals, such as charts, plots, and graphs, by utilizing assistive technology and principles of UDL.