City Research Online

Abstract

Background: Accessibility of data visualization has been explored for users with visual disabilities but the needs of users with language disabilities have seldom been considered.

Aim: This scoping review synthesised what is known about data visualization for adults with language disabilities, specifically the acquired language disability, aphasia, and developmental language disorder. It sought to extract key findings and identify what practices support effective visualization for decision making for people with language disabilities.

Method: Papers were included if they investigated visualization of data, and the consumers of the data visualization were people with aphasia or developmental language disability. Seven databases were searched: CINAHL, Academic Search, Medline, APA PsychINFO, Ovid, ACM Digital Library, and IEEE Xplore. Included studies were charted to extract title, author(s), year, country, paper type, scientific field, participant number(s), participant group(s), main topic, sub-topic, method, task description, task category, data visualization, summary, key findings relevant to the review question, and guidelines or recommendations. Narrative synthesis was used to describe how people with language disability have interacted with data visualization from a range of literature.

Main contribution: Six studies (seven publications) were included in the review. One study came from the field of health, one from a disability rights collaboration and four studies from computer science. No studies satisfying the review criteria explored data visualization for developmental language disorder; however, five studies explored participants with cognitive disabilities that included impairments of language, so these were included. A range of visualization designs were found. Studies predominantly explored understanding of visualization (4/6). One study explored how to express data visually, and one explored the use of the visualization i.e., for an action, choice, or decision. Cognitively accessible data visualization practices were described in four papers and synthesised. Supportive practices reported were reducing the cognitive load associated with processing a visualization and increasing personal relevance of data visualization.

Conclusion: Accessible data visualization for adults with aphasia and developmental language disorder has only minimally been explored. Practices to specifically support users with language disability are not yet apparent. As data use in making everyday decisions is widespread, future research should explore how people with language disabilities make use of data visualization.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2024 The Author(s). International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders published by JohnWiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.
Publisher Keywords:	accessibility, adults, aphasia, data visualization, developmental language disorder, scoping review
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Language & Communication Science School of Science & Technology School of Science & Technology > Computer Science
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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