An accessible infographic is one where every person gets the same key information, whether they see the image, use a screen reader, magnify the screen, or have low vision or colour blindness. In practice that means three things: a clear visual with strong contrast and labels that don’t depend on colour, a text alternative that carries the real message and data, and a file or page that is built so assistive technology can read it in a sensible order. This guide walks through each of them, using Australian government guidance wherever it exists.
TL;DR
- Use a chart or infographic only when it explains the information better than a list, table or plain text would. Australian government guidance says the same.
- Give every infographic a short alt text for the main idea, plus a caption and a longer description (or a data table) when the content is complex.
- Meet WCAG AA contrast (4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text) and never use colour as the only way to show meaning.
- Publish on a web page first, build PDFs from an accessible source file, and test with a keyboard, a screen reader and a magnifier before launch.
Table of Contents
- Start by asking whether you need an infographic at all
- Write the text alternative before you finalise the design
- Colour, contrast and typography
- Titles, labels and a decluttered layout
- Reading order and document structure
- Publishing: web page, PDF or social post
- How to test an accessible infographic
- Our perspective
- Get accessible visuals built into your brand
- FAQ
- Sources
Start by asking whether you need an infographic at all
The most accessible infographic is sometimes no infographic. The Australian Government’s Style Manual advises using graphs, charts and maps only if they explain complex information better than text, lists or tables can. It adds that the best way to make data accessible is to avoid a complex graphic when a simpler format, such as a list or table, meets the user’s need just as well.
That is not an argument against visual communication. It is a filter. Before you brief a designer, ask:
- What is the one thing the reader should take away?
- Does the shape of the data (a trend, a comparison, a process) really need a picture to be understood?
- Could a three-row table say it faster?
If the answer is that a visual genuinely helps, build the accessible version in from the start, not as a patch applied the day before publication. Retrofitting alt text and contrast fixes onto a finished design is slower and usually leaves compromises behind.
Write the text alternative before you finalise the design
People who cannot see an infographic still need the information in it. The Style Manual says an infographic should give them the same important information through a text alternative: short alt text for the main idea, then a caption and an extended description for complex content such as data, processes or charts.
Writing this first is a useful discipline. If you can’t state the main idea in a sentence, the design will not communicate it either.
Three layers of description
- Alt text. Brief, giving the main idea of the image. Think one or two sentences, not a data dump.
- Caption. A visible summary of what the image shows, helpful to everyone, including people with cognitive disability or those reading quickly.
- Extended description. For complex content, a longer text covering what is measured, the units, the data range, key statistics, trends and comparisons. For graphs, the Style Manual notes that you can link to a data table.
Australia’s Disability Gateway gives the same direction: informative images, diagrams and graphs need meaningful descriptions and alt text, and complex images should have short alt text linked to a longer description.
Matching the description to the visual
The University of Technology Sydney’s Education Express guidance helps you choose the right level of detail. Very simple visuals can be summarised in alt text or supported by a linked list of the same data. More complex charts should be represented in an accessible table, and diagrams need a text description explaining their content.
| Type of visual | What to provide |
|---|---|
| Simple chart with one clear message | Brief alt text giving the main idea |
| Chart with several series or many data points | Brief alt text, caption, and an accessible data table |
| Process, flow or diagram | Brief alt text and a text description of the steps and how they connect |
| Long, multi-section infographic | Short alt text on each part, or one image with alt text and a full text version on the page |
A worked example
Say you have a bar chart showing how many people used your organisation’s peer support program each year for five years.
Weak alt text: “Bar chart.”
Better alt text: “Bar chart showing steady growth in peer support participants over five years.”
Then the caption and extended description do the heavier lifting: what the vertical axis measures (number of participants), the range (for example from the first year to the latest), the biggest jump, and any comparison the chart is built to make. Add the table of figures beneath it, and a screen reader user has everything a sighted reader has, in a form they can move through at their own pace.
For a long infographic with several sections, resist the temptation to publish one image with one sentence of alt text. Either split it into sections with their own text, or publish the content as real headings and paragraphs on the page and treat the graphic as a visual summary of it.
Colour, contrast and typography
Contrast is where many otherwise thoughtful infographics fail, especially when brand palettes use soft pastels or white text on bright colours.
Contrast ratios
WCAG 2.0 Level AA, as summarised in an Australian Government department’s style guide, requires a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, where large means 14 point bold or larger, or 18 point or larger. Later versions of WCAG keep these thresholds for text. Check every text and background pairing in the graphic, including text over photos and gradients, where contrast changes across the same line.
If your brand palette doesn’t pass, you don’t need to abandon it. Define an accessible subset: the brand colours that pass against white, against your dark neutral, and against each other. A good set of brand guidelines records those pairings so designers don’t have to rediscover them for every project.
Don’t rely on colour alone
A colour-blind reader can’t separate a red line from a green line, and a printed greyscale copy loses the difference entirely. The Style Manual says colour must not be the only means of conveying information in graphs or diagrams, and that text labels, patterns, dots and dashes can supplement colour.
Practical ways to do this:
- Label lines and bars directly instead of sending the reader to a colour key.
- Use different line styles (solid, dashed, dotted) or marker shapes for different series.
- Add patterns to filled areas when categories sit side by side.
- Put values on the chart where there is room, so the reader doesn’t have to estimate from the axis.
Type
The UK Government Analysis Function’s chart checklist, which is widely used as a reference, recommends sans-serif fonts and horizontal text inside charts, with direct labels where possible and legends avoided where possible. Rotated axis labels are hard to read for everyone and especially hard for people with dyslexia or low vision. If category names are long, flip to a horizontal bar chart so the labels stay level.
If you are designing for people who process information differently, our guide to neuroinclusive design covers spacing, density and visual noise in more depth.
Titles, labels and a decluttered layout
Accessible charts are, on the whole, simply clearer charts. The Analysis Function advises that statistical chart titles include the data topic, the geographic scope and the time period, alongside a “headline title” that conveys the main message. For an Australian audience that might read: “Waiting times for NDIS plan reviews fell in 2025, national figures”. Note that it does not say “Chart 3”. A reader using a screen reader who jumps between graphics hears the title first, so it should be meaningful on its own.
The same guidance suggests decluttering: avoid shaded backgrounds, unnecessary borders, 3D shapes and distracting gridlines. Those elements add noise for everyone and can break up the shapes that low-vision readers rely on.
A quick editing checklist for any chart:
- Title states the topic, place and period, and the message.
- Axes are labelled with units.
- Data is labelled directly, not only through a legend.
- Text is horizontal, sans-serif and large enough to read when the image is scaled down to a phone.
- One idea per chart. If you need two messages, make two charts.
Reading order and document structure
Screen readers move through content in a set order, which is not always the order the eye follows on a designed page. If your infographic is built as a document (a Word file, a slide deck or a PDF) rather than a single flattened image, structure matters as much as appearance.
Digital NSW recommends using heading styles to structure documents, then checking that the reading order is logical using Word’s Read Aloud or Check Accessibility features. Real heading styles, rather than bold text enlarged by hand, give people a way to navigate by section and let assistive technology announce the structure.
Some habits that help:
- Build the content in reading order: title, summary, then sections, then the source note.
- Put text in real text, not inside the image. Text baked into a picture can’t be resized, searched, translated or read aloud.
- Keep decorative graphics out of the reading path by marking them as decorative.
- Use short, descriptive link text in the infographic, never “click here”.
Publishing: web page, PDF or social post
Where you put the infographic changes what you have to do to make it accessible.
On a web page
The Victorian Government recommends prioritising web pages over documents, and using PDFs only for print-specific purposes such as posters. Its reasoning is practical: online documents are not mobile-friendly, take longer to download than HTML and can’t be made responsive. A web page with the graphic, a caption, the text description and a table is the most flexible home for an infographic. If you’re checking the wider site at the same time, our WCAG 2.2 checklist and website accessibility audit checklist cover the surrounding page.
In a PDF
Sometimes a PDF is the right output, for a printed poster or a report. Digital NSW’s document checklist says to start with an accessible source document with proper heading styles and alt text, convert it using accessible PDF software, tag and structure the PDF, and run an accessibility checker before publication. NSW Government guidance makes the same point from another angle: PDF accessibility depends on tagging the document structure during export from source software such as Word, with heading styles used correctly.
The common mistake is exporting a PDF from a design tool as a flat picture. It looks fine and reads as nothing. Fix the source, then export.
On social media
Social platforms are where infographics get shared most and described least. NSW Government social media guidelines advise avoiding images with excessive text; if alt text isn’t available, put the important information in the post copy, and use large text, readable fonts and sufficient contrast. In practice: write the key finding in the caption, add alt text wherever the platform allows it, and link to the full accessible version on your website. Our guide to Instagram for nonprofits goes through how to do this on that platform.
Why it matters beyond good practice
Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, government agencies are required to provide information in a non-discriminatory and accessible manner, and digital content is expected to meet WCAG AA according to the NSW Government’s visual identity checklist. If you are a nonprofit, a supplier to government or a business that wants to be credible in the disability sector, working to the same standard is the safe and sensible position. A published accessibility statement shows readers what you’ve committed to.
How to test an accessible infographic
Checking against a list is not the same as using the thing. Do both.
Check the visual itself. South Australia’s Online Accessibility Toolkit says to confirm that the overall trend is understandable, that data and variables are clearly labelled and that graph colours have sufficient contrast. It also suggests considering a data table and disability simulators.
Check it manually. Digital NSW recommends confirming appropriate alternative text, sufficient colour contrast, keyboard access, screen reader and screen magnifier operation, and usability across devices and browsers.
A simple test routine before publishing:
- Turn off images (or read only the alt text and description). Do you still get the message?
- Run a contrast checker on every text and background pair.
- Print or view the graphic in greyscale. Can you still tell the series apart?
- Tab through the page with a keyboard only. Can you reach every link or control, and do you see where you are?
- Listen to the page with a screen reader. Does the order make sense, and does the description carry the data?
- Zoom to 200 per cent and check the page on a phone.
- Ask someone who uses assistive technology every day to review it. Nothing replaces this one.
Our perspective
Most accessibility problems in infographics start with the brief, not the design. A team decides it wants a striking graphic, then someone asks at the end whether it’s accessible. By then the palette is fixed, the text is baked into the picture and the data lives only in the image.
We work the other way round. Our team includes young creatives with disability, and they notice things a checklist doesn’t: the chart that exhausts you to decode, the pastel palette that disappears on a cheap phone screen, the alt text that says “infographic” and nothing else. Designing with that experience in the room changes the outcome.
Disability brands carry extra weight here. If you speak for people with disability, your own communications are the first place readers look for proof that you mean it. A generic, inaccessible graphic undermines the message more than any slogan can repair. An infographic that is clear, contrasty, well described and distinctive tells people you understand the audience.
Accessible does not mean plain. It means the creativity is in service of understanding: direct labels instead of legends, a palette built to pass contrast, a layout with a logical order. That is where brand identity and accessibility meet, and it’s the work we do.
Tommy
Get accessible visuals built into your brand
If you’d rather not solve contrast, structure and descriptions piece by piece for every graphic, we can build them into your brand system. DISBRANDED provides brand strategy, visual identity and graphic design, web design, content creation and social media management for disability organisations and social enterprises, delivered by a team with lived experience of disability. We also offer DIY courses if you want to build the skills in-house.
See our services for the full range, or visit our brand guides to see how we document colour pairings, type and usage rules so your team can produce accessible graphics consistently.
FAQ
What makes an infographic accessible?
It has a clear, uncluttered design with sufficient colour contrast and labels that don’t depend on colour. It also has a text alternative that carries the same information: short alt text, a caption and, for complex content, an extended description or data table. Finally, it is published in a structure that assistive technology can read in a logical order.
How do I write alt text for a chart or graph?
For a simple chart, a brief sentence giving its main idea is enough. For a complex chart, keep the alt text short and add a caption and an extended description covering what is measured, the units, the data range, key statistics, trends and comparisons. The Style Manual notes that a graph can link to a data table.
What colour contrast do I need for charts and infographics?
WCAG AA asks for at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text (14 point bold or larger, or 18 point or larger). Also don’t let colour be the only signal: add direct labels, patterns or different line styles so the chart still works for colour-blind readers and in greyscale.
Should I publish an infographic as a PDF?
Usually a web page is better. Victorian Government guidance puts web pages first because they’re responsive and more accessible, and keeps PDFs for print uses such as posters. If you do need a PDF, start from an accessible source file, export with tags and run an accessibility checker before it goes out.
How do I check my infographic works for a screen reader user?
Read the alt text and description on their own to see whether the message survives without the image. Then tab through the page by keyboard and listen with a screen reader to check the order and the data. Testing with people who use assistive technology regularly will show you problems automated checks miss.
Sources
- Images | Style Manual
- Alt text, captions and titles for images | Style Manual
- Create accessible materials: Images and diagrams | Disability Gateway
- Write alternative text for graphs, charts and diagrams | UTS Education Express
- Official departmental style guides, brand guides and writing guides | DEWR
- Accessible charts: a checklist of the basics | Analysis Function
- Word documents | Digital NSW
- Document accessibility checklist | Digital NSW
- Accessible documents | NSW Government
- How to make content accessible | vic.gov.au
- Accessibility and inclusion on social media | NSW Government
- NSW Government Visual Identity System: Design Checklist
- Data visualisations | Online Accessibility Toolkit
- Accessibility testing | Digital NSW