As with all public-facing content, your chart and graphs must meet the government’s digital service standards. The following standards are specific to charts and graphs.
Apply the government’s brand standards
All charts, graphs and data representations should follow the government’s branding standards. They should:
- apply the brand colour and palettes for digital services;
- use the brand fonts;
- not have borders or background tints;
- only use gridlines when they help people read the data; and
- ensure the y-axis can be viewed across the entire screen.
Make sure your data is accurate and your presentation is not misleading
Prioritize data accuracy, clarity and integrity. Before you publish your chart or graph, make sure you’ve double checked to make sure any details or figures in the body of the text and that presented in the chart are the same.
It’s also important to make sure you start the y-axis at 0.
If you are not sure about the accuracy of your data source or if your chart or graph accurately communicates what you intend, reach out to the Yukon Bureau of Statistics to confirm it does before you publish it.
Make sure the data you are sharing is open and does not disclose personally identifiable information
Check in with your department privacy lead if you are not sure you can, or should publish the data.
Make sure your chart or graph is translated into French
Charts and graphs should be available in English and French. Make sure you have contacted the French Language Services Directorate and you have a plan to do this.
Make sure your chart or graph is inclusive and accessible
Charts and graphs should meet WCAG 2.0 AA at a minimum. This ensures they can be used by people with a variety of abilities. When you do your testng, make sure your chart or graph:
- has high contrast;
- can be used and understood by people using screen readers;
- is viewable across devices;
- has x- and y-axes labels;
- includes a legend that tells people the meaning of the lines, colours and symbols;
- includes units of measurement to help people understand what the numbers mean;
- includes a title and captions when relevant; and
- takes into account user needs with regard to data depth, complexity and modality.
Include all of the elements of a chart
Title
The title is a short explanation of what is in your chart or graph. It should help the end user identify what they are about to look at.
Legend
The legend tells the end user what each dataset represents so they can better understand what they are looking at.
Y-axis
In line graphs, the y-axis runs vertically. It should start counting at 0. The y-axis is often a number or quantity of the thing being measured.
X-axis
In line graphs, the x-axis runs horizontally. It is usually made up of numbers that represent the things you are comparing.
Data
This is the most important part of the chart or graph. The data is the information you are conveying to users.
If your data is not stored in the government's open data site, you should include a link from open data to your page or site. eServices can help with that.
Source and notes
These explain the source of the information you’ve included in your chart or graph. You must always indicate the source so users can have a path back to the original data collector.