Most conversations about accessibility begin with disability. That is understandable. Accessibility standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) were developed to remove barriers for people with disabilities, and that remains their primary purpose.
However, accessibility is not only relevant when someone has a permanent disability. The way we consume information changes constantly depending on our environment, the device we are using, our level of concentration, our workload and even our energy levels.
If you have ever struggled to read a dashboard in bright sunlight, found yourself zooming into a report on a smaller screen, or tried to interpret a complex visual after a long day of meetings, you have already experienced why accessibility matters.
The same design principles that support people who rely on accessibility features often make reports easier and more effective for everyone else too.
Accessibility recognises that people rarely consume information in perfect conditions. Real‑world use involves changing environments, devices, levels of attention and familiarity. Here are some everyday situations where accessible design makes Power BI clearer, faster and easier to use.
Lighting Conditions Change How We See Information
A report that looks perfectly readable in a developer’s workspace may not provide the same experience when it is viewed somewhere else.
Users might open a dashboard on a laptop near a window, review a report outdoors on a tablet, or check key metrics on a phone while travelling. Even before considering the environment itself, screen settings can significantly affect readability. A display that is too bright can make colours appear washed out, while a screen that is too dim can make subtle differences between colours almost impossible to distinguish.
Suddenly, colours that appeared clearly different during development may become difficult to tell apart. This is why colour contrast matters.
Good contrast is not only important for people with low vision. It helps everyone quickly identify information and understand visualisations when lighting conditions, device quality or screen settings are not ideal.
This is why I always recommend testing reports beyond your own monitor. A dashboard should not only work in the environment where it was created; it should work in the environments where decisions are actually made.
A useful rule of thumb is that light backgrounds generally require darker colours for text and visual elements, while dark backgrounds require lighter colours. However, choosing accessible colours should not rely on guesswork.
WCAG provides measurable thresholds to help designers create distinguishable content:
- Normal text: requires a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for WCAG AA compliance.
- Large text: requires a minimum contrast ratio of 3:1 for WCAG AA compliance.
- Non-text elements, such as charts, icons and interactive components, require a minimum contrast ratio of 3:1.
Level AA is often considered the practical target because it addresses a wide range of accessibility barriers while remaining achievable for most digital products and reports.
When creating Power BI reports, you can test your colour palette using tools such as the PBIX A11y Colour Contrast Checker or the Accessible Palette Builder, which help identify suitable colour combinations before they become a problem.
It is also worth considering APCA (Accessible Perceptual Contrast Algorithm), which takes a different approach by considering how humans perceive contrast rather than only comparing mathematical colour differences. This can be particularly useful when designing dark-themed dashboards, where traditional contrast ratios may not always represent how comfortable text is to read.
APCA testing is also available through the PBIX A11y Colour Contrast Checker, allowing designers to evaluate colour choices using a more perception-based approach.
Mental Overload Changes How We Process Information
Reports are rarely consumed in perfect conditions with complete focus and unlimited time.
A user might be switching between meetings, responding to messages, analysing information and making decisions within minutes. In those situations, every unnecessary design choice increases the effort required to understand the information.
A dashboard can become difficult to use when users have to search for important information, remember where specific metrics are located or interpret inconsistent patterns across pages. Crowded layouts, unclear labels, excessive decoration and inconsistent navigation all increase cognitive load because they force users to spend energy understanding the report rather than using the insights it provides.
Accessible design reduces this unnecessary effort by creating predictable experiences.
A good Power BI report should guide users naturally through the information. Important metrics should have clear visual priority, related information should be grouped together, and navigation should behave consistently across pages.
There are several practical ways to improve this:
Creating a clear visual hierarchy helps users understand where to focus first. Size, position, spacing and emphasis should communicate importance rather than simply making every element compete for attention.
Reducing unnecessary visual clutter allows users to focus on the information that supports decisions. Decorative shapes, excessive borders and visuals without a clear purpose often create noise rather than insight.
Using consistent layouts makes reports easier to navigate. For example, keeping filters, navigation buttons and key information in predictable locations reduces the amount of effort users need to spend learning how the report works.
Clear navigation paths are also essential. Users should always understand where they are, where they can go next and how to return. Buttons, bookmarks and page navigation should follow familiar patterns rather than requiring users to experiment.
Accessibility does not remove complexity from data. It removes unnecessary complexity from understanding it.
Tired Minds Need Clearer Information
Reports are often used during busy working days, when concentration and attention are not at their highest.
Towards the end of the day, our ability to process information changes. Text that was easy to read in the morning can become tiring. Dense tables require more effort to interpret. Complex visuals demand more mental processing.
This is why typography, spacing and simplicity matter.
Larger fonts, sufficient spacing and simplified layouts are not just accessibility features; they acknowledge that human attention fluctuates throughout the working day.
For a standard Power BI canvas size of 1280 × 720 pixels, a recommended minimum font size is 12pt. Although Power BI allows text as small as 8pt, using the smallest available size does not mean it creates the best experience.
Small text may allow more information to fit onto a page, but it increases the effort required from users. A dashboard should optimise for understanding, not simply for fitting more content onto the canvas.
It is also important to remember that increasing the canvas size does not automatically make the report easier to read. A larger canvas gives us more pixels to work with, but the physical screen where the report is viewed has not changed. If typography remains the same size while the canvas grows, the text occupies a smaller proportion of the page and becomes harder to read.
To maintain readability, font sizes should scale proportionally with the canvas size. For 16:9 Power BI layouts, the most consistent approach is to use the canvas height as the reference point.
The calculation is:
New font size = Base font size × (New canvas height ÷ Base canvas height)
Using the standard 1280 × 720 canvas as the baseline:
- 1280 × 720 → 12pt font
- 1920 × 1080 → 12 × (1080 ÷ 720) = 18pt
- 2560 × 1440 → 12 × (1440 ÷ 720) = 24pt
- 3840 × 2160 → 12 × (2160 ÷ 720) = 36pt
This approach keeps the relationship between the canvas and typography consistent, maintaining visual hierarchy and readability as the report size changes.
If you do not want to calculate this manually, the PBIX A11y Minimum Font Size Calculator can help determine suitable font sizes based on your canvas dimensions.
Spacing is equally important. White space, also known as negative space, refers to the empty areas between visual elements. It is not wasted space; it is a design tool that helps users understand relationships between information.
When everything is tightly packed together, the brain has to work harder to identify groups, priorities and connections. Adding space around visuals, sections and text creates separation, improves readability and reduces cognitive load.
The same proportional thinking can also be applied beyond typography. Margins, padding, containers and other layout elements should maintain their relationship with the canvas size rather than remaining fixed while everything around them grows. This helps preserve balance, hierarchy and consistency across different report dimensions.
Simplifying visuals follows the same principle. A chart should help users answer a question, not require them to decode unnecessary complexity. Removing redundant labels, limiting colours, highlighting important information and choosing appropriate visualisations all help users focus on what matters.
A simpler report is not a less valuable report. It is a report that communicates more effectively.
Distractions Make Clarity More Important
The modern workplace is rarely a quiet environment. Reports are often reviewed while users are dealing with interruptions, conversations, notifications and competing priorities.
In these situations, accessibility helps users remain oriented even when their attention is divided.
Consistent navigation, clear visual grouping and predictable interactions allow users to quickly understand where they are and what actions they can take.
For example, placing filters in consistent locations, using meaningful section headings and maintaining the same page structure across reports reduces the effort required to find information.
Good design recognises that users may not always give a dashboard their full attention. The report itself needs to provide enough structure to help users quickly regain context.
Smaller Screens Change How We Interact
Power BI reports are no longer viewed exclusively on large desktop monitors.
Executives review KPIs while travelling. Project managers check progress from site. Leaders approve decisions between meetings using tablets and mobile devices.
A report that works well on a large screen may become difficult to use when space is limited.
Smaller screens introduce different challenges because users have less room, different interaction methods and often less time. Touch interactions require larger targets, scrolling needs to be considered carefully and important information needs to remain easy to find.
Touch-friendly controls, sufficient spacing between interactive elements and readable typography become increasingly important.
Designing for smaller screens encourages better prioritisation because it forces us to consider what information users genuinely need rather than simply displaying everything available.
Unfamiliar Users Need Clearer Language
Every organisation develops its own vocabulary over time.
Project names, acronyms, internal measures and technical terminology often become second nature to the people who create and maintain reports. However, these terms may be confusing for someone joining the organisation, an external stakeholder or an occasional report user who does not have the same background knowledge.
Accessibility encourages clearer communication by focusing on meaning rather than assumptions.
Descriptive labels, consistent terminology and meaningful titles make reports easier to understand. For example, a metric named “SPI” may be familiar to a project controls team, but writing “Schedule Performance Index (SPI)” provides context for users who may not work with that measure every day.
One practical way to improve consistency is to create and maintain a metrics dictionary. This provides a shared reference for the definitions, calculations and naming conventions used across reports, helping ensure that the same measure is not described differently by different teams. A metrics dictionary also supports onboarding by giving new users a clear understanding of what each KPI represents and how it should be interpreted.
It is also important to align naming conventions with the language used by the client or organisation. A report may be technically accurate, but if it introduces unfamiliar terminology or uses names that differ from established business language, users may struggle to connect the information with their existing knowledge. Using agreed terminology, consistent abbreviations and familiar definitions reduces cognitive effort and makes insights easier to understand.
Clear communication improves accessibility because it reduces the knowledge barrier between the report and the person using it. A dashboard should not require users to already understand the language of the people who built it; the design should help them get there.
Different Ways of Interacting Require Flexible Design
Not everyone interacts with technology in the same way.
Some users prefer keyboard shortcuts because they are faster. Others rely on keyboards because they use assistive technologies.
A well-designed report considers different ways of navigating information.
Logical tab order, visible focus indicators and predictable interactions improve accessibility while also improving usability for everyday users.
Designing for keyboard users encourages better report structure because it requires designers to think carefully about the order information is presented and how users move through the experience.
Good Accessibility Creates Better Design
One of the biggest misconceptions about accessibility is that it is something added later for a specific group of users.
In reality, accessibility is about reducing unnecessary effort.
Better contrast helps users read dashboards in different environments. Clearer language helps people understand information faster. Consistent layouts help users navigate confidently. Simpler visuals help people focus on what matters.
These choices do not only benefit people with disabilities. They improve the experience for everyone.
That is why I increasingly see accessibility as a quality indicator rather than simply a compliance exercise.
A well-designed Power BI report should work whether it is viewed on a phone during a commute, in bright sunlight, after a long working day, by someone joining an organisation for the first time, or by someone using assistive technology.
Because when a report is easier for everyone to understand, it is ultimately a better report.
Thank you for joining me on this journey. Until next time, let’s keep crafting accessible and ethical insights that make a difference!
