A business dashboard should let a reader recover the values, units and important pattern without relying on colour or a picture. Before commissioning a chart, approve its data table and a short interpretation. A decorative alt label cannot carry an entire quantitative comparison.
Primary evidence and claim boundaries
W3C WAI recommends short identification plus a detailed description for complex images, including relevant scales, values, relationships and trends. Primary reference · Read 17 October 2026.
Filled acceptance example
Synthetic teaching scenario, not a client case, provider integration test or business result. Scroll the example table on narrow screens.
| Synthetic month | Order records / cancelled | Net records in this example |
|---|---|---|
| July | 150 / 10 | 140 |
| August | 180 / 15 | 165 |
| September | 165 / 5 | 160 |
| Interpretation | 165−140=25;160−165=−5 | Increase then small decline; no revenue inference |
Practical handover procedure
- Define the grain, units, subtraction rule and period before drawing. In this teaching example a record is not a unique customer, a paid order or revenue.
- Write a short label such as “Synthetic monthly order-record comparison” and provide the full table beside the chart or through a descriptive adjacent link. Keep the same values and ordering.
- Test whether a reader can answer highest month, largest change and exact value without viewing the graphic. Check keyboard access to the description and update both layers together.
Interpret the outcome
The maximum net value is 165 in August, and the three-month net total is 465. The description should state the rise from 140 to 165 and retreat to 160, rather than “business performance improved”. This is a complete teaching data layer a supplier can reproduce; it is not MadRaven trading data.
Acceptance decision
Require agreement between chart marks, accessible description, table and downloadable data after a value changes. Test meaning as well as the presence of an alt attribute.
Limits and unverified work
Synthetic records only. No chart accessibility certification, live dashboard test or causal/business result is claimed. Interactive charts require additional keyboard and screen-reader testing.
Download the filled bilingual acceptance record — Contains these inputs, steps, expectations and limits. This is a teaching record, not an executable integration.