Accessibility: the benefits and challenges of Web 2.0 Design,
design, design The emergence of Web 2.0 technologies has created
opportunities for the visualisation of much information on the
web. For example, a dashboard showing the current state of a
business can summarise a great deal of information on a single
page and highlight areas of interest or concern. Unfortunately,
the way this information is presented may mean that it is
difficult, or impossible, for people with various forms of
disability to access it. A visual on a screen is of no use to
someone who is blind. I will come back to how to present
information in this situation; but I want to look at how to
support other groups first, because good design can not only
make visualisation accessible, but can also make the information
more accessible. The design principles underlying the WCAG
standards apply equally to visualisation. I am going to look at
various disabilities and see how they can be supported. I will
start with colour blindness because it