Data Activities: Static Is Better than Clickable

Facilitate Access for All

Evolution of Vantage Data Activities: Static Is Better than Clickable*

By Scott Harris, Sr. Content Development Manager, and Isabel Cheng, Sr. Product Manager

The Challenge

When we launched Sage Vantage in 2019, all data activities featured interactive data sets from Sage Stats (a product used by university libraries). The activities were rich with clickable data and students could see the data in different formats, toggling between maps, charts, and tables. But that interactivity came at a cost:

The use of interactive data sets required a very high cognitive load. Students needed to learn how to properly navigate the tool (i.e., sorting, filtering, changing views) along with evaluating the data.
Navigation in the Sage Stats platform was problematic for students using assistive technology. Because of the dynamic nature of the data, it was not possible to commission alt text or long descriptions for the various data sets, which meant the activities were impossible for some students to complete.
Sage Stats data was subject to frequent updates, which made some assessment questions obsolete or incorrect over time.

The Solution

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We switched to using static figures in the data activities (i.e., an image of a table, chart, graph, or map). The benefits are many:

the data will not change
the assessment questions always align
simpler data requires no additional navigation
static figures can be tagged with alt text and long description
fewer distractions means that students can focus solely on data analysis

This switch improved student learning and made the activities more accessible for everyone.

Sage College Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)

Improvements in Action

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Data Activities: Static Is Better than Clickable

Evolution of Vantage Data Activities: Static Is Better than Clickable*

The Challenge

The Solution