Why are graphs important?

Graphs are used on a daily basis in a wide variety of industries including finance, technology, health care, and academia. Graphs make it easy for people to quickly get a big-picture understanding of data.

What happens if you cannot see graphs?

39 million people worldwide are estimated to be blind. Inability to utilize visual graphs can lead to a professional disadvantage, negatively affecting educational development and career prospects.

QUOTES FROM USERS WITH A VISUAL IMPAIRMENT

-“It’s hard for me to picture the trend, I just see the values in Excel”

- U1: Participant who has been blind for 20 years 6/14/16

“Give me information that graphs provide, and leave the art to someone who has seen it.”

-U2: Participant has been blind since birth 5/29/16

“I feel like I am now at a lifelong disadvantage because I don’t have regular exposure to graphs and analyzing graphs"

- U3: Participant has been blind since birth 6/23/16

“...I need to be able to communicate where I am on a web page [with someone who is sighted].”

- U3: Participant has been blind since birth 6/23/16

About

Sonify- Making graphs accessible. For our MHCI Capstone project we partnered with Bloomberg, LP to investigate computer accessibility in desktop applications for people with disabilities.

Sponsors

Carnegie Mellon University
Bloomberg L.P.