How-Tos and Demos
Accessible Graphics
Example: Including a Graph and Its Description on the Same Page
The histogram above displays estimated population sizes for all 9 known subspecies of African Great Apes. All are currently listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as endangered or critically endangered. The scientific and English common names and population sizes for each species or subspecies are listed below.
| Scientific Name | English name | Number |
|---|---|---|
| Pan troglodytes verus | Western Chimpanzee | 12,000 |
| P. t. troglodytes | Central Chimpanzee | 80,000 |
| P. t. schweinfurthi | Eastern Chimpanzee | 13,000 |
| P. t. vellerosus | E. Nigerian-W. Cameroon Chimpanzee | unknown |
| Pan paniscus | Bonobo | 5,000 |
| Gorilla gorilla gorilla | Western Lowland Gorilla | 100,000 |
| G. g. diehli | Cross River gorilla | 200 |
| G. beringei graueri | Eastern lowland (Grauer's) gorilla | unknown |
| G. b. beringei | Mountain gorilla | 650 |
How to do it
Code example for text alternatives for graphs and charts 
Rationale
There are several ways to provide alternative descriptions for graphics that are too complex for the alt attribute alone. Probably the simplest and most effective technique is to provide a textual description of the graphic and its information within the context of the document itself. This makes the description fully accessible to both disabled and non-disabled users, and mirrors the techniques practiced by speakers who make verbal presentations of complex graphical information. As the example shows, the alt attribute should still be used to identify the graphic.
Note that in this example the text description of the Great Ape population graph includes a data table with the necessary accessibility features. We used Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) to control the presentation of species' Latin names.
How it sounds with the JAWS screen reader
Listen to JAWS reading this graphic
JAWS transcript
[Graphic. African great ape populations.
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The histogram above displays estimated population sizes for all 9 known subspecies of African Great Apes. All are currently listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) as endangered or critically endangered. The scientific and English common names and population sizes for each species or subspecies are listed below.
Blank.
Table with three columns and ten rows.
Summary: A three-column chart giving the names and population sizes for endangered species of African Great Apes.]