Exercise 1a
Exercise 1b
Short description of choices: In both of the charts above I chose colours that have clear contrast to the background for accessibility, as well as clearly describe the numbers for visually impaired. Additionally to that I decided to keep labels close to the bars and the line in the different charts to help the reader when looking at the graph. I also wanted to keep the variables on y- and x-axis very easy to read. The grid is also kept in the background for the reader to follow along easier when looking at the graph.
Exercise 1c
- Have you followed the checklist for visualizations (every step)?
Yes and I really find it useful to show it to someone else.
- Colours: How easy or difficult is changing colours using the tool?
Very easy. Just a click away when you decide which style you want on the graph.
- Text/Labels: How easy or difficult is it to work with text and labels in the tool?
Very easy as well. It's very user friendly to just write the title, legend etc. in the tool menu and it appears in the chart.
- Flexibility: How flexible are the tools? Can you make the changes you need?
The tools are very flexible. The only change that I was hoping to make and couldn't was to add a label to the x- and y-axis.
- Accessibility: What are the different accessibility options provided by the tools?
You can easily choose colours with high contrasts or watch the chart from the viewpoint of someone with colour blindness in Data wrapper. It's also very easy to write an alternative description for screen readers since there is a box dedicated for it.
- Smartphone: How do the charts appear on your smartphone? Have you faced any issues while accessing them?
The charts appear great and are easy to click on. The only thing that might pose a problem in the future is that they adapt to the screen and therefore might show a bit of a steeper linear chart than what appears on a computer. This could be misinterpreted by a reader who is not aware of that.
Exercise 2a
Exercise 2b
Short description of choices: Just as earlier both of the charts have colours that work great for readers with colourblindness. There's clear contrasts as well as an alternative text. The first linear chart also shows several small dots along the line, which differs from the linear chart in Datawrapper and makes it even more clear for the readers which datapoints are added. Especially since I decided to have a less clear label on the graph and only keep it on the side for the y-axis. I've also added some additional notes to highlight some important facts at the bottom of each chart. In my opinion this wasn't relevant enough to be added as an annotation on the actual chart. The labels of the y- and x-axis are also added for extra clarity.
Exercise 2c
- Have you followed the checklist for visualizations (every step)?
Yes.
- Colours: How easy or difficult is changing colours using the tool?
It's very easy to change colours. It's under its own label and very clear on how to change colour scheme while looking at it.
- Text/Labels: How easy or difficult is it to work with text and labels in the tool?
It's very easy to work with text labels and even possible to change and add labels on the y- and x-axis in a simple way.
- Flexibility: How flexible are the tools? Can you make the changes you need?
In general I think Flourish is a bit harder to understand than for example Data wrapper. It has some more options when you choose the graphs for example, but if you don't follow the instructions very well it's easy to get lost and the flexibility then becomes more of a problem.
- Accessibility: What are the different accessibility options provided by the tools?
There's not an option to see how the graph will look like if you are visually impaired but there is an option for alternative description which is good for accessibility.
- Smartphone: How do the charts appear on your smartphone? Have you faced any issues while accessing them?
Both charts look good. They're a bit small but not in a sense that makes it impossible to read. You can press on the graph and the info is easily understandable.
Exercise 3
- In what context do you think Datawrapper is the best tool, and why? When would you not use it?
I think Data wrapper is a bit simpler to use than Flourish. I would use it for quick data in both linear and column/bar charts. However in the mobile view it's easy to see that the linear graph gets a bit compressed which may make the reader think that there's a steeper curve than it is. Perhaps I would keep that in mind and maybe not choose Data wrapper for that type of graph in the future, since it also did not enable to label the different axis.
- What are the main benefits of using Datawrapper?
The main benefits is the simpleness and the ease of use. The settings of checking for how it would look when watching the graph and being colourblind is also great.
- In what context do you think Flourish is the best tool, and why? When would you not use it?
There are a lot of options that can be confusing at times but also well needed. It also has great options when working with maps. The linear graphs does not get steeper when adapting to mobile view which is also very good and can be kept in mind. If I have something more simple or something that needs to be very accessible then I would not turn to Flourish since it doesn't give the options to do something quick (very many steps) or to explore the accessibility further.
- What are the main benefits of using Flourish?
I think flourish is a good tool when working with complex graphs that needs a lot of adjustment. The main benefit is that you can change and adapt a lot more than in Data Wrapper. For example you can label the y- and x-axis.
- Which of the tools do you personally prefer so far?
So far I personally prefer Datawrapper since I find it easier to understand and more user friendly.