Visualization Exercises
Exercise 3
Exercise 2
I tried to add a label to the vertical axis but couldn’t figure out how to do it in Datawrapper. That part was easier in Flourish.
I tried to avoid having the countries color-coded according to cold war-tropes because it felt weird.
I started out with the top 10 but realized the most interesting data was in the top 5, so I selected those instead.
My alt-text says: “This is a column chart of the number of civilian nuclear reactors per country. It shows the top 5 countries with the most reactors: USA 93; France: 56; China: 55; Russia: 37; South Korea: 25”
I tried to emphasize the fact that these are civilian reactors in my title and description because I feel like that’s an easy mixup when discussion nuclear energy.
Exercise 1
I made the line red and the whole table more contrasted for visibility in Datawrapper. In Flourish I kept it blue because I felt like it was legible enough (and pretty).
My alt-text says: “A line chart of the total number of active nuclear reactors worldwide. It shows a strong increase from 1 in 1954 to 420 in 1989 and a quite stable number from 1989 until today, with 437 reactors in 2021.”
- Ensure that each visualization includes and accurately reflects all of the following elements:
- All numbers double-checked
- Headline/title
- Spell check
- Description of what the x- and y-axis represent
- Units of measurement
- Y-axis starts at 0
- Conscious choice of colors
- Source
- Instructions for use
- Context or explanation
- Byline
- Accessibility (contrast, caption for screen readers, attached table etc)
- Understandable for someone who sees the visualization for the first time
- URL with the visualization checked on a mobile device
Tool Review
Have you followed the checklist for visualizations (every step)? Yes
Colours: How easy or difficult is changing colours using the tool? I wish there were more automatic color options in Datawrapper, preferably multiple color schemes to choose from like in Flourish, because i hand-picked the colors for the countries graph and was quite annoyed while doing it.
Text/Labels: How easy or difficult is it to work with text and labels in the tool? Easy enough in Datawrapper, harder in Flourish because there’s more clicking around, but maybe there are more options for customization.
Flexibility: How flexible are the tools? Can you make the changes you need? I like that I can jump around in the process in Datawrapper and that is quite intuitive. Flourish was maybe even more flexible and the result was prettier.
Accessibility: What are the different accessibility options provided by the tools? I could write an alt-text but I still don’t really understand how much of the data people with a screen reader can access if the alt-text interests them. I would be really interested in learning more about this in-depth in class. Flourish has a screen reader label, which I didn’t see in Datawrapper but I could be wrong.
Smartphone: How do the charts appear on your smartphone? They look alright (the red graph even looked good) and they are zoomable and interactive without bugging/freezing.
Have you faced any issues while accessing them? My computer takes longer to respond like it’s overloaded, which made it really frustrating to work after a while.
Comparison
- In what context do you think Datawrapper is the best tool, and why? When would you not use it? If you want something really straightforward and quick I think Datawrapper is the best, but some things that I expected to be able to customize I couldn’t. I think I would personally choose Flourish nearly every time.
- What are the main benefits of using Datawrapper? Less lagging (for me); Easier to use for a beginner.
- In what context do you think Flourish is the best tool, and why? When would you not use it? I would avoid it if I was in a big hurry or if my computer really kept lagging, but otherwise I prefer Flourish by far because I feel limited by the options in Datawrapper sometimes.
- What are the main benefits of using Flourish? More detailed functionalities (ex. grid of charts, naming both axes, automated color palettes etc.); Prettier finished result.
- Which of the tools do you personally prefer so far? Flourish