Telling Your Story with Infographics Courtney Cunningham, Managing Partner

Why use an infographic? We learn visually-- 65% of humans are are visual learners. We process information based upon what we see. We process images 60,000 times faster than information in text Are 30 times more likely to be read than text

Design to your target audience. Who is your audience? Why are they your audience? People interested in affordable housing? Developers Tenants Government agencies Investment banks Commercial banks

Communicate one idea. Use short, compelling points on one topic People have very short attention spans Bombarded with information all day, everyday If you are communicating about multiple ideas, people will lose interest

Grab attention. Make them look. You are interrupting, so interrupt! Great headlines or graphics grab attention. Use striking color Use humor Find the pony

Keep it simple. Less is more Keep the graphics simple Easy to understand Follow a logical order Outside industry reviewer

Readability is key to engagement. Thirty-eight percent of visitors to webpages do not engage with content at all (Chartbeat for Slate) Optimize for platform where your target consumes content Sans serif fonts are best for short copy like infographics

Good writing matters. Very short text has to be well written. “Developers need subsidy funds because costs to build affordable housing are the same as market rate.” (second image) Tells you why developers need tax credits instead of telling you that developers apply for tax credits from states.

Best uses of infographics. In e-mail marketing campaigns To convey results of surveys, studies and whitepapers To convey information to the media To engage with target audiences on social media

Accessibility Considerations. Increased litigation under ADA Title II and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Section 504 Public entities are required to provide effective communications regardless of the medium chosen for communications Alt tags; works with screen readers; descriptive audio; text alternative; creative the infographic using HTML and cascading sheets instead of saving as an image

Questions?