Progress towards accessible
analytics and data visualization
Ed Summers
SAS Institute
McKinsey report on Big Data
"The United States alone faces a shortage
of 140,000 to 190,000 people with deep
analytical skills, as well as 1.5 million
managers and analysts to analyze big data
and make decisions based on their
findings."
Education initiatives
•
•
•
•
•
SAS mobile learning apps
SAS Curriculum Pathways
Institute for Advanced Analytics
SAS OnDemand for Academics
Accessible data visualization initiative
SAS mobile learning apps
• Primarily for K-12
• Initially on iOS, expanding to other
platforms
• Enables effective use of technology in the
classroom
• Available at no cost
SAS Curriculum Pathways
• Curriculum resources for grades 6-12
• Contains more than 1,100 interactive,
online, standards-based resources
• Covers all the core disciplines
• Aligned with the Common Core State
Standards
• Used in more than 100,000 classrooms
around the world
• Available at no cost
Institute for Advanced Analytics
• Established at NCSU in 2007
• Created the nation's first Master of
Science in Analytics (MSA) degree
• MSA is an intensive, full-time, 10-month
learning experience
• MSA job placement greater than 90% for
five years
• Serves as a model for similar programs
across the U.S.
SAS OnDemand for Academics
• Immediate access to enterprise-class SAS
software at no cost
• Used to teach data management or analytics
in post-secondary education
• Students gain marketable skills
• 100% instructor-driven
• Access apps from anywhere
• Processing takes place on secure servers
hosted at SAS
Instructor perspective
• Set up SAS OnDemand for Academics
account
• Register as an instructor
• Access instructor home page on SAS
OnDemand for Academics Control Center
• Create a course and upload data
• Invite students to register for the course
Student perspective
• Set up SAS OnDemand for Academics
account
• Access student home page on SAS
OnDemand for Academics Control Center
• Register for a course
• Install client software, if necessary
SAS Enterprise Guide
• Primary interface to SAS
• IDE for SAS programming
• Menu-driven and wizard-driven tasks for
analyzing data and publishing results
Accessibility of SAS Enterprise
Guide 6.1
• Available in SAS OnDemand for
Academics in Fall 2013
• Adopts Windows color scheme
• Supports a high contrast theme
• Significant keyboard accessibility
• Programming environment supports
screen readers
• Still a work in progress
SAS Web Editor
• Web-based access to SAS programming
environment
• Zero-footprint
• Supported on Internet Explorer, Firefox,
Chrome, and Safari
• Desktop access went production in
February 2013
• iPad access is beta
Accessibility of SAS Web Editor
•
•
•
•
•
Supports browser zoom
Adopts browser color scheme
Significant keyboard accessibility
Significant support for screen readers
Recommended screen reader is JAWS 14
with Firefox
More information
http://support.sas.com/ondemand/
Accessible data visualization
initiative
Design goals
• Affordable mainstream hardware
• Born-accessible mainstream content
• Cradle-to-grave digital delivery of
content
• First-hand access with perceptual
precision
• Support roles of consumer and producer
Example data visualizations
•
•
•
•
•
Bar chart
Line chart
Pie chart
Scatter plot
Maps
Delivery on iOS touchscreen
devices
•
•
•
•
•
Built-in accessibility features
Support for refreshable braille displays
Support for kinesthetic feedback
Broadly adopted in K-12 schools
Broadly adopted in blind community
SAS accessibility gallery
http://support.sas.com/misc/accessibility
Questions?
accessibility@sas.com