Using colour in a visualisation

Name:

Date:

Class:

Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. A student's dashboard uses 12 different bright colours for one chart. What is the better choice?

A Add even more colours so it looks lively

B Use a small palette of a few colours

2. Your bar chart shows Sales, Support and Admin in blue, green and orange. On the next chart in the same report, which choice is better?

A Keep Sales blue, Support green and Admin orange

B Swap the colours so each chart looks different

3. Which statement about colour in a visualisation is correct?

A Each colour in the palette should have one clear meaning

B Colours should be picked at random for variety

4. A map uses only red and green to show 'fail' and 'pass'. How can you make it easier for colour-blind viewers?

A Make the red and green brighter

B Add labels, icons or patterns as well as colour

5. True or false: A red and green pairing is a colour-blind safe choice.

A False

B True

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1palette = ["navy", "orange", "grey"]		AA limited palette: a small set of colours chosen on purpose, rather than a rainbow of random colours
2Sales = blue, Costs = blue		Bcolours = ["blue", "orange"]
3Colour should not be the only way to show information, so colour-blind viewers can still read the chart		CSame colour for the same category in every chart, so the viewer learns what each colour means
4A colour-blind safe choice uses colours that differ in lightness, such as blue and orange, instead of red and green		Dline style = solid or dashed + direct label
5Pass = green, Fail = red (no labels or symbols)		EToo many colours in the palette. Reduce it to a few colours, each with one clear meaning.
6palette = [red, blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, lime, teal]		FRelies on colour alone, so a red-green colour-blind viewer cannot tell Pass from Fail. Add text labels or symbols.

Definitions

colour palette

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

_______ = ["navy", "orange", "grey"]

_________("Sales") = "blue" bar.fill = colour_of("Sales")

if len(palette) _ 5: print("Too many colours")

if ___ has_labels: add_labels(chart)

chart.___________("colourblind_safe")

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A palette_size = 12

B colour(Sales) = navy

C colour(Costs) = orange

D label_each_bar = true

Question 2

A chart1: colour(Cats) = orange

B chart1: colour(Dogs) = grey

C chart2: colour(Cats) = green

D chart2: colour(Dogs) = grey

Question 3

A title = Pass rate

B good = green, bad = red

C add_labels = true

Question 4

A colour(Cats) = navy

B style(Cats) = dashed

C colour(Dogs) = orange

D style(Dogs) = dashed

Question 5

A colour(High) = dark_blue

B colour(Medium) = mid_blue

C colour(Low) = pink

D legend = true

Answer Key

Using colour in a visualisation

Section A: Quick Questions

B — Use a small palette of a few colours

A — Keep Sales blue, Support green and Admin orange

A — Each colour in the palette should have one clear meaning

B — Add labels, icons or patterns as well as colour

A — False

Section B: Match the Pairs

palette = ["navy", "orange", "grey"] → A limited palette: a small set of colours chosen on purpose, rather than a rainbow of random colours

Sales = blue, Costs = blue → Same colour for the same category in every chart, so the viewer learns what each colour means

Colour should not be the only way to show information, so colour-blind viewers can still read the chart → line style = solid or dashed + direct label

A colour-blind safe choice uses colours that differ in lightness, such as blue and orange, instead of red and green → colours = ["blue", "orange"]

Pass = green, Fail = red (no labels or symbols) → Relies on colour alone, so a red-green colour-blind viewer cannot tell Pass from Fail. Add text labels or symbols.

palette = [red, blue, green, pink, yellow, purple, lime, teal] → Too many colours in the palette. Reduce it to a few colours, each with one clear meaning.

Section C: Definitions

colour palette — A small, consistent set of colours where each colour has one meaning. Use the same colour for the same category, and never rely on colour alone, so colour-blind viewers can still read it.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

palette = ["navy", "orange", "grey"]

colour_of("Sales") = "blue"
bar.fill = colour_of("Sales")

if len(palette) > 5:
    print("Too many colours")

if not has_labels:
    add_labels(chart)

chart.set_palette("colourblind_safe")

Section E: Spot the Error

A — A palette should be small. Twelve colours is too many to tell apart or remember. It should be about 3, as in the correct line.

C — The same category must keep the same colour in every chart. Cats is orange in chart1, so it must stay orange in chart2, not change to green.

B — Red and green look alike to many colour-blind viewers. Use a colour-blind safe pair such as blue and orange: good = blue, bad = orange.

B — Both lines now share the same style, so colour is the only difference. Colour should not be the only way to carry information. Cats should keep a different style, such as solid.

C — Pink adds a colour outside the limited palette and breaks the dark-to-light blue scale. Low should be light_blue so the shades stay consistent.