

How to make infographics: a beginner’s guide to data visualisation - vocatys
http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2014/aug/28/interactive-infographics-development-data?utm_content=buffer6d40f&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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minimaxir
Recently, I planned to use a JS interactive chart library in my blog posts
instead of prerendrting the graphics using R/ggplot2, but I decided against
it. I realized something: what's the _point_ of an interactive chart on a blog
post, which uses only static, unchanging data?

For example, look at the interactive chart used in Jawbone's Earthquake blog
post: [https://jawbone.com/blog/napa-earthquake-effect-on-
sleep/](https://jawbone.com/blog/napa-earthquake-effect-on-sleep/)

Does it gain any benefit from being interactive as opposed to just using an
image? Yes, you can mouse over each point for exact times/percentages, but
that should already be implied by properly-defined chart axes, and it doesn't
help enhance the meaning of the chart (e.g. the spike)

Additionally, from my own testing, each charting library has its own quirks in
both construction and mobile usage (e.g. if chart implements a zoom feature,
you can't scroll it on mobile) so every chart I make would require additional
QA to make sure it works as expected, and it would slow down blog post
creation to a halt.

If I was creating an application with dynamic, unpredictable data, then
interactive charts would be valuable, but otherwise interactive charts with
normal data seems like a gimmick.

Also, one _very important_ caveat with SVG chart libraries: you can't easily
convert the chart to an image, with makes going viral harder. (Canvas-libraies
are not affected, though. Highcharts has an export module too, albeit it's not
very convenient.)

