An outline drawing can pictorially represent the shape of a surface. However, a sound that varies in pitch can as well. The Accessible Graphics Initiative is exploring how information displays can be inclusively designed by conceptualizing the visual cortex as a spatial cortex that is recruited by site, sound, and touch.
Currently the design of information displays used to make decisions, even in critical digital media systems, is more of an art and craft than a science. For example, within the applied art and design tradition, the majority of the research, training, and practice is focused on the techniques for creating graphic representations, such as how to draw them, arrange them, or use computer programs to generate them. Unfortunately, many assumptions that guide contemporary design practice exclude individuals with perceptual capabilities, learning styles, or cultural-linguistic backgrounds that differ from the norm.
The aim of the Accessible Graphics Initiative (AGI) is to better understand the diverse ways that individuals perceive, cognitively process, react to, and socially interact through information displays. This understanding is expected to inform the design of information displays that increase access to resources that enable life and prosperity for a wider diversity of perceptual capabilities and learning styles. For more, see research.