Content design for data tables, spreadsheets, CSVs and APIs

content-design-for-data-tables-spreadsheets-csvs-and-apis.md

Content design for data tables, spreadsheets, CSVs and APIs

Interfaces for exploring data rely on the data itself being well written.

Improving the way data is labelled and described, wihout affecting the underlying meaning, whilst also making sure it's still machine readable is a tricky task!

Here are some resources that can help (thanks everyone for the suggestions).

Useful resources

• https://style.ons.gov.uk/
• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gds-api-technical-and-data-standards#design-data-fields-with-user-needs-in-mind
• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/style-guide/a-to-z-of-gov-uk-style
• https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/tables
• https://digitalblog.ons.gov.uk/category/content-design/
• https://www.benjystanton.co.uk/blog/making-data-tables-more-accessible/
• https://service-manual.nhs.uk/content/numbers-measurements-dates-time
• https://blog.ldodds.com/2016/08/31/help-me-use-your-data/
• https://blog.ldodds.com/2017/03/07/designing-csv-files/

Original tweets from me, asking for advice…

• https://twitter.com/benjystanton/status/1255071210729353218
• https://twitter.com/benjystanton/status/1255085177681907712

From my own research, the following is important to get right…

• Download file names
• Latest data first
• Table headings should be unique and descriptive
• Link to longer table heading descriptions could be useful
• Consider whether human readable and machine readable data could be provided as different files
• Fixing typos
• Consistent capitalisation

http://specs.frictionlessdata.io/#overview

Don't use spreadsheet cells for layout
Examples of this might be

• using the first few rows for the title, description and copyright information (also known as metadata)
• Or laying out a grid of address labels

Encountered one last week where the "data" was the cell's red/green background colour.
https://twitter.com/psd/status/1270286445509513216

If I wanted to add/append/link to some human readable descriptions for a CSV download without messing up the machine readable stuff. How would I do that? https://twitter.com/benjystanton/status/1266306003861110786

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-design/tables#how-to-make-tables-accessible

Writing Alt Text for Data Visualization https://medium.com/nightingale/writing-alt-text-for-data-visualization-2a218ef43f81

Metadata standards for sharing and publishing data https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/metadata-standards-for-sharing-and-publishing-data via https://twitter.com/RosalieMarshall

https://gss.civilservice.gov.uk/policy-store/making-analytical-publications-accessible/

Making excel documents accessible

Via Steve Green

• https://webaccess.msu.edu/Tutorials/excel.html
• https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/make-your-excel-documents-accessible-to-people-with-disabilities-6cc05fc5-1314-48b5-8eb3-683e49b3e593
• https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/accessibility-support-for-excel-0976b140-7033-4e2d-8887-187280701bf8
• https://www.framingham.edu/Assets/uploads/about-fsu/accessibility/_documents/7-steps-accessible-excel.pdf
• https://www.hhs.gov/web/section-508/making-files-accessible/checklist/aspa-dcd-general-office-document-file-508-checklist/index.html
• https://gov.texas.gov/organization/disabilities/accessibledocs2013-16