Data visualisation
Guidance
All our data visualisation guidance is on our guidance hub.
It includes guidance on charts, tables, colours, dashboards and infographics – all of which have been updated to reflect the accessibility legislation.
It also includes guidance on maps but this is due to be updated or superseded.
If you publish on GOV.UK, see our examples of HTML tables and charts you can publish on GOV.UK.
Guidance from other sources:
- Presenting data from Style.ONS – guidance for creating charts and tables to publish on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website (this is due to be updated soon)
- Evergreen Data has some really good resources and an excellent blog.
E-learning
Our data visualisation e-learning
Notes:
- This e-learning is publicly available on this website
- It gives an introduction to standard charts used in statistical and analytical publications
- It is based on our tables, charts, colours and accessibility guidance
- This is currently being iterated and improved – please let us know what you think!
Data visualisation in R or Python
Notes:
- The Data Science Campus have developed this course
- It is only available to those badged to a government analytical profession.
Exploring data: graphs and numerical summaries
Notes:
- This is a free e-learning course from the Open University which will take up to 20 hours to complete.
- It gives an introduction to summarising data.
- It provides statistical definitions and activities to practise
- Some equations are images so may not be visible to screen reader software.
Notes:
- This is e-learning from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
- It is a useful resource on how to approach creating data visualisations.
- Active content within this resource has been removed.
Support
Analysis in Government Month 2023 session on making charts accessible – with real-life examples
Slides from this session (PPTX, 31MB)
DataConnect22 presentation on making charts accessible
Materials from the “Making charts accessible” session delivered as part of DataConnect22. These materials include the recording, slides, plain text version of slides and question and answer session.
Basecamp network for presentation and dissemination of statistics and analysis
Basecamps are online spaces with a message board where you can ask questions and share ideas. There are also areas to share documents and advertise events.
Please email analysis.function@ons.gov.uk to ask for an invite link to be sent.
Drop-in clinics for communicating analysis
We offer communicating analysis drop-in clinics every other Wednesday, 10:30am to 11:30am. Clinic dates and information on how to drop-in can be found on the events area of this website.
Drop-in with any queries related to communicating data, statistics or analysis. These could be about making content accessible, best practice for data visualisation or advice on written content.
Anyone in government is welcome to join. You can just turn up, but, if you would like to send your query to us beforehand you can email Analysis.Function@ons.gov.uk.
Data visualisation accelerator programme
The Data Visualisation Accelerator Programme launched in 2021. It is delivered by the Office for National Statistics’ Data Science Campus on behalf of the Government Data Science Partnership (GDSP).
The Accelerator is a capability-building programme that gives analysts from across the public sector the opportunity to develop their data science or data visualisation skills. It runs alongside the Data Science Accelerator. It is open to UK public sector employees including central and local government.
More information on the Data Visualisation Accelerator Programme.
Accessibility
Guidance
All our guidance related to accessibility is on our guidance hub.
It includes our guidance on the accessibility legislation and guidance on data visualisation and spreadsheets that has been updated to reflect the legislation.
It also includes guidance on making analytical publications accessible. This covers how to make written content and document formats accessible.
Support
Data visualisation and accessibility:
See the data visualisation section on this page.
Spreadsheets and accessibility:
- Check out our guidance on spreadsheets
- View the recording and transcript from our Analysis in Government Month session on making spreadsheets accessible.
- Use the Python program or R program to automate production of best practice, accessible spreadsheets. Bear in mind these will not automatically produce perfectly accessible spreadsheets, the aim is to help you automate some of the edits. Please email Analysis.Function@ons.gov.uk if you are using them so we can evaluate the outputs produced.
- We also have a spreadsheet resource page which includes a demonstration video showing how Python can automate the production of accessible spreadsheets, as well as checklists and examples.
- Read this blog post with more information about the automation of producing accessible and best practice spreadsheets.
Basecamp for accessibility of statistics
Basecamps are online spaces with a message board where you can ask questions and share ideas. There are also areas to share documents and advertise events.
Please email analysis.function@ons.gov.uk to ask for an invite link to be sent.
Drop-in clinics for communicating analysis
We offer communicating analysis drop-in clinics every other Wednesday, 10:30am to 11:30am.
Drop-in with any queries related to communicating data, statistics or analysis. These could be about making content accessible, best practice for data visualisation or advice on written content.
Anyone in government is welcome to join. Clinics are drop-in events, so you can just turn up. But, if you would like to send your query to us beforehand you can email Analysis.Function@ons.gov.uk.
Information on how to join the clinics is on the events area of this website.
Other accessibility support
If you are looking for help on specific accessibility queries, three good places to look for help are:
- the UK Government Digital Slack channel for accessibility.
- the Basecamp for the Cross-government Content Community.
- the cross-government accessibility community.
If you want a better understanding of access needs, you might find the following resources useful:
- Accessibility empathy for users of spreadsheets (blog post)
- Empathy prompts website
- Accessibility personas from the Government Digital Service
- Accessibility posters from Home Office
- Watch this talk called “How accessibility can be life-changing for disabled people” from Ben Merrick, the deputy disability champion for the UK Civil Service.
Dissemination
All our guidance related to dissemination is on the guidance hub.
It includes guidance on spreadsheets and using symbols and shorthand in tables.
It also includes guidance for dashboards.
Communication
All our guidance related to communication of statistics and analysis is on the guidance hub.
It includes guidance on writing about statistics (due to be updated) and tips on communicating the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19).
It also includes guidance on labelling official statistics and advice for policy professionals.
You can also access a guide for writing about statistics on the Style.ONS website.
Analysis in Government Month 2023 – Communicating analysis effectively: three perspectives
Slides from this session are available (PPTX, 17MB).
We have made this file as accessible as possible. If you have any problems accessing or using it please email analysis.function@ons.gov.uk.
Useful links
- Analysis Function guidance on making analytical publications accessible – see the notes on readability within the “making written content more accessible” section.
- Hemingway app – use to check reading level and hard to read sentences – but do not use with pre-release data!
- Blog post on dyscalculia and low numeracy and how we can help.
- Office for National Statistics’ publication on population density – check out the way population density is communicated through football pitches
Future work
We are reviewing all our guidance to incorporate the accessibility legislation. We have updated the guidance on releasing statistics in spreadsheets, charts, tables, colours, dashboards and infographics. We are moving on to writing about statistics and maps soon.
We always welcome feedback on our guidance. Please email us or use the feedback forms on the guidance pages to let us know what you think.
Contact
For general questions about communicating statistics, please email Analysis.Function@ons.gov.uk.
Hannah Thomas is the Presentation and Dissemination Support Lead in the Analysis Function Central Team. You can follow Hannah @statshan on Twitter.
All departments should have a Government Statistical Service (GSS) presentation and web dissemination champion. These champions should be able to help you find out more about communicating statistics and analysis in your department.
Read more about the GSS presentation champion network.
Read more about the GSS dissemination champion network.