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GRAPHIC_CHECKLIST.md

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Daily Graphics Checklist

Initial Concept

  • Is the data organized by the component most important to the narrative?
    • geographic -> map
    • temporal -> timeline
    • ordinal -> table
  • Do we have sufficient narrative context to understand the meaning of the data?
  • If the data is vulnerable to being misinterpreted, have we adequately warned against it?

Data

  • Does the data mean we what think it means? (Are we very, very sure?)
  • Is the data internally complete? (e.g., no missing years) If not, do we make it clear what data is missing?
    • For example, in a chart: dotted or missing lines and a corresponding footnote
    • In a table: “n/a” in the table cell, or an asterisk + footnote
  • Have we been careful to ensure we don't treat "0" and "null" interchangably?
  • Does any bucketing of the data effectively represent the distribution? (quartiles, quintiles, equal-interval, jenks breaks, box plot, etc.)

Text

  • Is the headline human-friendly? (conversational, non-technical)
  • Are quotes in the headline singular and escaped? (‘)
  • Does the Source line link back, if possible?
  • Does the Credit line include everyone who worked on the graphic?
  • Do the footnotes explain all caveats a normal reader would need to know to understand the chart fully?

Technical / Code

  • Does the graphic respond correctly? Does it read well on mobile? (e.g., nothing is cut off, text is readable, hover states disabled)
  • Are we only including data we’re actually displaying (to keep page weight down)?
  • Have you created a static fallback image for your final graphic? (fallback.png)
    • If there have been late edits to your graphic, have you updated the fallback image?
  • Are all links out target="_blank" so they don't open inside the iframe?

Charts

  • Does the chart have a zero-baseline? (Or a very compelling reason for not having a zero-baseline?)
  • Is there a grid line at the maximum value of the chart?
  • Do the grid lines break at reasonable intervals?
  • Are axes, labels, margins and colors consistent between charts that display related information? (small multiples, etc.)
  • Are colors readable by someone who is red/green colorblind?
  • Are the number of axis labels reasonable at various screen sizes?
  • Does the entire chart fit within a normal user’s viewport?

Tables

  • Is the the sort order sensible?
  • Is there a useful secondary sort order?
  • Have any repetitive unit labels been moved to the header? (%, $)
  • Are all numeric values within a column rounded to the same number of decimal places?

Process / Project Management

  • Has the graphic been edited?
  • Has the graphic gone through a copy edit?