VoxLens: Making Online Data Visualizations Accessible with an Interactive JavaScript Plug-In
Ather Sharif, Olivia H. Wang, Alida T. Muongchan, Katharina Reinecke, Jacob O. Wobbrock
Abstract
JavaScript visualization libraries are widely used to create online data visualizations but provide limited access to their information for screen-reader users. Building on prior findings about the experiences of screen-reader users with online data visualizations, we present VoxLens, an open-source JavaScript plug-in that—with a single line of code—improves the accessibility of online data visualizations for screen-reader users using a multi-modal approach. Specifically, VoxLens enables screen-reader users to obtain a holistic summary of presented information, play sonified versions of the data, and interact with visualizations in a “drill-down” manner using voice-activated commands. Through task-based experiments with 21 screen-reader users, we show that VoxLens improves the accuracy of information extraction and interaction time by 122% and 36%, respectively, over existing conventional interaction with online data visualizations. Our interviews with screen-reader users suggest that VoxLens is a “game-changer” in making online data visualizations accessible to screen-reader users, saving them time and effort.