A Case Study In Accessible Redesign Of A Wastewater Dashboard

Public health dashboards communicate data that can inform important decisions, but they often raise accessibility challenges. We present a case study redesigning the Utah Wastewater Surveillance System dashboard to improve accessibility and usability across desktop and mobile settings. The redesign was informed by WCAG and developed iteratively with Utah DHHS collaborators, and we collected feedback on the final design from an external blind researcher. Our case study highlights that accessible dashboard design requires aligning accessibility guidelines with user needs, stakeholder workflows, and technical constraints. It also suggests that simple, targeted technical solutions tailored to the existing environment can provide practical value for dashboard redesign in government contexts.

Tingying He, Jake Wagoner, Md Rahat-uz- Zaman, Md Dilshadur Rahman, Willy Ray, George G. Vega Yon, Matthew Samore, Alexander Lex, and Paul Rosen. A Case Study In Accessible Redesign Of A Wastewater Dashboard. IEEE VIS AccessViz Workshop, 2026.

@inproceedings{he2026case,
  title = {A Case Study in Accessible Redesign of a Wastewater Dashboard},
  author = {He, Tingying and Wagoner, Jake and Zaman, Md Rahat-uz- and Rahman, Md
    Dilshadur and Ray, Willy and Vega Yon, George G. and Samore, Matthew and Lex, Alexander
    and Rosen, Paul},
  booktitle = {IEEE VIS AccessViz Workshop},
  year = {2026},
  abstract = {Public health dashboards communicate data that can inform important
    decisions, but they often raise accessibility challenges. We present a case study
    redesigning the Utah Wastewater Surveillance System dashboard to improve accessibility
    and usability across desktop and mobile settings. The redesign was informed by WCAG and
    developed iteratively with Utah DHHS collaborators, and we collected feedback on the
    final design from an external blind researcher. Our case study highlights that
    accessible dashboard design requires aligning accessibility guidelines with user needs,
    stakeholder workflows, and technical constraints. It also suggests that simple, targeted
    technical solutions tailored to the existing environment can provide practical value for
    dashboard redesign in government contexts.}
}