Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

A Diagram Must Never Be Ten Thousand Words: Text-Based (Sentential) Approaches to Diagrams Accessibility Limit Users’ Potential for Normative Agency

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Diagrammatic Representation and Inference (Diagrams 2022)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 13462))

Included in the following conference series:

  • 731 Accesses

Abstract

Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) require digital diagrams to be tagged with screen readable text descriptions for access by blind and partially sighted individuals (BPSI). The aim of these guidelines is to comply with human rights-based accessibility legislation, which aims to preserve the normative agency of BPSI (the ability to reflect on, evaluate and act upon a conception of what constitutes a worthwhile life for themselves). However, theories from the Diagrams community suggest that text and diagrams offer distinctly different constraints. For example, Shimojima’s Constraint Hypothesis (the relationship of structural constraints to target problem constraints in a mode of representation establish the variance of inferential potential) and the interrelated free ride phenomenon (additional inferences can be made in a representation if the relationship of constraints is a good match). Therefore, a guideline that requires the text description of a diagram (such as via the WCAG) might limit the normative agency diagram users who are BPSI. Despite the apparent necessity of providing non-visual alternatives of diagrammatic properties for accessibility, they are rarely explored or developed sufficiently to be consistently provided to BPSI. Thus, we argue that the affordances of diagrammatic representations provide possibilities for normative agency that are lost if not represented non-visually in diagrams designed for accessibility.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Larkin, J.H., Simon, H.A.: Why a diagram is (sometimes) worth ten thousand words. Cogn. Sci. 11(1), 65–100 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Shimojima, A.: On the efficacy of representation. Indiana University (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Coppin, P.: Perceptual-cognitive properties of pictures, diagrams, and sentences: Toward a science of visual information design. University of Toronto (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Coppin, P., Abrose L., Carnevale, M.: Iconic properties are lost when translating visual graphics to text for accessibility. Cognitive Semiotics (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Elavsky, F., Le Gassick, L., Fossheim, S.: Are your data visualizations excluding people? Outlier 2021 (2021). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWB-KLXN-Ok

  6. Jung, C., Mehta, S., Kulkarni, A., Zhao, Y., Kim, Y.S.: Communicating visualizations without visuals: Investigation of visualization alternative text for people with visual impairments. IEEE Trans. Visual Comput. Graphics 28(1), 1095–1105 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): Understanding conformance (2022). https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/conformance#levels, last accessed 2022/03/16

  8. Gibson, J.J.: The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception. Taylor & Francis LLC, New York (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Griffin, J.: On human rights. OUP Oxford (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Stapleton, G., Jamnik, M., Shimojima, A.: What makes an effective representation of information: a formal account of observational advantages. J. Logic Lang. Inform. 26(2), 143–177 (2017)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  11. Coppin, P., Windeyer, R.: Sonifying Napoleon’s march by identifying auditory correlates of the graphic-linguistic distinction. In: Chapman, P., Stapleton, G., Moktefi, A., PerezKriz, S., Bellucci, F. (eds.) Diagrams 2018. LNCS (LNAI), vol. 10871, pp. 228–235. Springer, Cham (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91376-6_23

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  12. Warren, W.H.: Direct perception: the view from here. Philos. Top. 33(1), 335–361 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Han, R.: Translating scientific content into accessible formats with visually impaired learners: Recommendations and a decision aid based on haptic rules of perception. Master’s thesis, OCAD University (2020)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Dragicevic, P., Jansen, Y., Vande Moere, A.: Data physicalization. In: Vanderdonckt, J., Palanque, P., Winckler, M. (eds.) Handbook of Human Computer Interaction, pp.1–51. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-27648-9_94-1

  15. Hogan, T., Hornecker, E.: Towards a design space for multisensory data representation. Interact. Comput. 29(2), 147–167 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Bassett-Bouchard, C., Saltz, E., Tane, N., Marie Carroll, C., Prathipati, J.: Stockgrok: A sonic chart analysis tool for Google Chrome (2017). https://stockgrok.github.io/index.html. Accessed 20 Mar 2022

  17. Goncu, C., Marriott, K.: GraVVITAS: generic multi-touch presentation of accessible graphics. In: Campos, P., Graham, N., Jorge, J., Nunes, N., Palanque, Philippe, Winckler, Marco (eds.) INTERACT 2011. LNCS, vol. 6946, pp. 30–48. Springer, Heidelberg (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-23774-4_5

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  18. Fryer, L.: Putting it into Words: The Impact of Visual Impairment on Perception, Experience and Presence. University of London, Goldsmiths (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  19. Lundgard, A., Satyanarayan, A.: Accessible visualization via natural language descriptions: a four-level model of semantic content. IEEE Trans. Visual Comput. Graphics 28(1), 1073–1083 (2021)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Biggs, B., Coughlan, J., Coppin, P.: Design and evaluation of an interactive 3D map. Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America 2021 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Ghodke, U., Yusim, L., Somanath, S., Coppin, P.: The cross-sensory globe: participatory design of a 3D audio-tactile globe prototype for blind and low-vision users to learn geography. In: Proceedings of the Designing Interactive Systems Conference 2019 (DIS 2019), pp. 399–412 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Seabright, P., Stieglitz, J., Van der Straeten, K.: Evaluating social contract theory in the light of evolutionary social science. Evol. Hum. Sci. 3 (2021)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Perceptual Artifacts Lab, OCAD University, Toronto, ON, M5T 1W1, Canada

    David Barter & Peter Coppin

  2. Inclusive Design Program, OCAD University, Toronto, ON, M5T 1W1, Canada

    David Barter & Peter Coppin

  3. Faculty of Design, OCAD University, Toronto, ON, M5T 1W1, Canada

    Peter Coppin

Authors
  1. David Barter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Peter Coppin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Barter .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

    Valeria Giardino

  2. Lancaster University in Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Sven Linker

  3. West Chester University, West Chester, PA, USA

    Richard Burns

  4. Universitá di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Francesco Bellucci

  5. Université Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Dijon, France

    Jean-Michel Boucheix

  6. Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niterói, Brazil

    Petrucio Viana

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Barter, D., Coppin, P. (2022). A Diagram Must Never Be Ten Thousand Words: Text-Based (Sentential) Approaches to Diagrams Accessibility Limit Users’ Potential for Normative Agency. In: Giardino, V., Linker, S., Burns, R., Bellucci, F., Boucheix, JM., Viana, P. (eds) Diagrammatic Representation and Inference. Diagrams 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 13462. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15146-0_7

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15146-0_7

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-15145-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-15146-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics