Towards a universal cognitive tool

Data visualization leverages human visual system to enhance cognition, it helps a person quickly and accurately see the trends, outliers, and patterns in data. Yet using visualization requires a viewer to read abstract imagery, estimate statistics, and retain information. These processes typically function differently for those with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and have created an inaccessible barrier for them to access data. Preliminary findings from our graphical perception experiment suggest that people with IDD use different strategies to reason with data and are more sensitive to the design of data visualization compared with non-IDD populations. This article discusses several implications from that study and lays out actionable steps towards turning data visualization into a universal cognitive tool for people with varying cognitive abilities.