Pointing at Data Together: Establishing Common Ground With Multi-modal Data Representations in Blind/Sighted Collaboration

Authors

Jonathan Zong (University of Colorado Boulder), Arvind Satyanarayan (MIT)

Presentation

Session

The more the merrier

Time

Tuesday, Nov 10, 10:36 – 10:48 (US/Eastern) · session 10:00 – 11:30

Location

Hall America north

Keywords

accessibility, data visualization, multimodal data representation, collaborative analytics, contextual inquiry

Abstract

Research on collaborative analytics has long recognized that data representations enable collaborative sensemaking by establishing a common point of reference. Yet research on visualization accessibility has largely approached data representations in terms of individual comprehension—whether they enable a blind reader to independently extract equivalent information. In this paper, we draw on linguistic anthropology to understand data representations' central role in mediating communication in collaborative, mixed-ability settings that include both blind and sighted data analysts. Through a contextual inquiry with Bower Lab, an oceanography lab led by blind PI Amy Bower, we show how multi-modal representations provide shared linguistic affordances for data reference and social signaling that enable collaborators to establish common ground and manage joint attention. These findings suggest a reframing of accessibility in visualization as effective bidirectional communication—for instance, tactile representation not only makes data accessible non-visually but also makes a blind analyst's analysis process accessible to sighted collaborators.

For Practitioners

The paper's practitioner audience are professionals who build accessible data tools (accessibility engineers, visualization developers, and assistive-technology designers), and collaborative data-analysis teams and their managers. The paper tells tool builders to measure an accessible chart by whether it lets a blind analyst participate in collaborative discussion, not by whether it delivers equivalent information for solo reading. This reframing suggests opportunities for accessible design to support cross-modal that two collaborators are looking at the same feature, and emit passive evidence of attention (as a blind analyst's hands on a tactile map already do for sighted observers) rather than requiring explicit check-ins. Analysts in mixed-ability teams can adopt the working practices we documented with Bower Lab, including spoken control-handoff protocols for shared computers and a shared cursor that one person reads visually and the other hears through a screen reader.