Visual Aids: Ethical Considerations
Visuals are meant to help readers understand written data. Just as you are ethically bound not to alter, misrepresent, or fake that written data, you are also expected to present that data visually in a way that is accurate and easy to interpret. When you design visuals, pay attention to the following ethical considerations. There are many more you should consider, but if you follow these, you'll be a step ahead.
K.I.S.S.
The old mnemonic K.I.S.S. -- which we're going to stay stands for Keep It Simple, Sweetheart -- should be your guiding principle when you create a visual aid of any sort. Regardless of whether your visual is a chart, a graph, a drawing, or a photograph, don't overload it with multiple points of data. Keep each visual as simple as possible so your reader can understand it.
Take, for example, Figure 1, which is supposed to show the range of salaries for selected Major League Soccer players as of 1 May 2013 [1].
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Figure 1: Salaries of Major League Soccer Players (2013) |
This chart is so cluttered with information that it is nearly impossible to interpret without serious effort. The designer likely wanted to ensure that all of the information needed was presented in a single visual, but doing so often defeats the very purpose of a visual aid--to help the reader understand data. Such poorly-designed graphics even have a name: "chart junk" [1].
The same caution goes for photographs. Figure 2 shows parts or all of three key items: an iPhone, a tape measure, and a calculator [2]. You can even see part of a notebook peeking into frame as well.
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Figure 2: Photo of Tape Measure, Phone, and Calculator |
Let's imagine that the photo is used to show readers what a common tape measure looks like. Even though this photo puts the tape measure in the center of the frame, it still is a poor visual representation of "tape measure" because it includes other items as well. If you are taking a photo of something, you need to ensure that other details are left out of the frame.
Don't Distort Scale
Don't mislead readers by using "cutesy" images distort scaling. Take Figure 3, which is meant to illustrate the average male height of men from six countries in meters.
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Figure 3: Visual Comparison of Men's Height from 6 Countries |
The images are attention-getting, but the scale is truly terrible. The Dutch man is a bit over 6' tall, while those from the U.S., Canada, and England are a bit over 5'7". The average man from India stands 5'4", while the one from the Philippines is about 5'3". To understand how this cool-looking graph totally distorts scale, all you need to do is imagine the men from India and the Philippines walking up to the man from the Netherlands -- and walking easily through his legs. Cool, but totally inaccurate.
Don't Play With Your Xs and Ys
Several rules come into play when you are creating a graph. In "5 Ways Writers Use Misleading Graphs to Manipulate You," Links to an external site. Ryan McCready talks about several tricky techniques, using infographics to illustrate them [4]. Here are just three rules you should play by when you are designing a graph.
Make Your Baseline 0
Most graphs use "0" for a baseline because that ensures a more accurate representation of the data. If you see a graph that starts anywhere but 0, it's likely that the data is being skewed by the designer to fit the story they are selling.
Make Your Scale Accurate
Don't expand or compress the measurements you use to track data because doing so can make changes seem more or less significant.
Accurately Represent Ranges
Make sure that you are providing an accurate representation of data with the range or period over which you are measuring.
Make Your Visuals Accessible
It should go without saying that when you design a document of any sort, it should be accessible to everyone who might be expected to read or need it. However, when it comes to ensuring that your visual aids are accessible, it is sometimes difficult to understand how to accomplish that. If you have 20/20 vision -- even if that vision is accomplished through the use of glasses -- you might not be able to understand the problems faced by those who are visually impaired.
Take Figure 1 (above). We can all agree that the graphic is a terrible one and should never be emulated. But in terms of whether it is accessible, the answer is both yes and no. When you use a visual in Canvas, the system will actually tell you whether it meets accessibility standards. Initially, the image had a score of 0% because all illustrations used online should have been described by alternative text (aka, Alt Text), which can be read by screen readers, yet it had none. Even when alt-text was added, however, as shown in Figure 4, there was still a problem with contrast in the image, resulting in an imperfect final score of 75%.
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Figure 4: Accessibility score for Fig. 1, provided by Canvas. |
So when you work with visuals, keep these general principles in mind:
Provide Specific Alt Text for Online Visuals
A brief but specific description of what the image shows should be helpful for screen readers.
Provide Informative Captions for Printed Visuals
A clear caption can serve the same purpose as Alt Text.
Use High-Contrast Colors
White text on a medium gray background might be unreadable for some people. Instead, ensure that your color choices are high contrast. Black on white or white on black are good choices.
Size Visuals Appropriately
Take a look at the It is much better to place visuals as close to their in-text references as possible, but doing so often requires you to make them small. If they are too small, however, you run the risk of making them unreadable. Visuals that become unreadable if made small should be placed in an appendix, where they can be shown -- and read -- at their full size. For example, check out Figure 5, which shows a screen grab of VT's interactive map. Can you read it?
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Figure 5: Screen grab of VT's interactive |
If you plan to use a visual, like this map, you should either zero in on the section you want to discuss or draw attention to or place the map on a full page in an appendix -- or both.
[1] Hickey, Walt. "The 27 Worst Charts of All Time." Business Insider. 26 June 2013. Available: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-27-worst-charts-of-all-time-2013-6. Links to an external site.
[2] "Messy Desk." Rachelrinse. Pixabay. Available: https://pixabay.com/photos/tape-measure-messy-desk-to-do-lists-5300174/ Links to an external site..
[3] “Bad Graphs.” TickTockMaths. https://ticktockmaths.co.uk/tag/misleading-graphs/ Links to an external site.
[4] McCready, Ryan. "5 Ways Writers Use Misleading Graphs to Manipulate You." Venngage. Available: https://venngage.com/blog/misleading-graphs// Links to an external site.