"Visual literacy is the ability to interpret, negotiate, and make meaning from information presented in the form of an image, extending the meaning of literacy," (Source)
Visual literacy is understanding and presenting information in a graphic format, where we present information using three essential elements: visual symbols like lines and bars, visual encodes like color, length, and position, and annotations like labels and notes.
A picture is worth a thousand words only when we know how to read it. We can use the following recommended steps to decipher a visual:
A picture is worth a thousand words only when we know how to read it. We can use the following recommended steps to decipher a visual:
- Examine the legend.
- Learn the meaning and the scale (the X-axis and Y-axis)
- Study each connected line (if there are arrows, pay attention).
- Understand the related position of each element.
- Imagine applying a quadrant on top of the chart and analyzing each section's meaning.
- Read annotations
- Check data to learn what is measured and what's not
- Verify the source of data
