Captions: The Unsung Heroes of Data Communication

Data visualization has been recognized as an important tool in communicating data-related findings. Figures often contain a dense amount of information and readers rely on accompanying text to help guide them to the important takeaways. Captions provide the reader with the context needed to interpret visualizations and help tie together the written and visual narratives. Alt-text also plays a role in making the visualization accessible to a broader audience, translating visual cues for those with visual impairments. However, the art of writing captions and other accompanying text for visualizations has rarely been explicitly taught as a companion to the pedagogy of effective data visualization. We describe a variety of classroom activities and assignments that explicitly focus on what makes an effective caption, interpreted broadly, and that build awareness for a variety of audiences for data-related findings.