Strategies and Tips 

A) Choosing an App: 
This section will give an overview of several of the most popular infographic creator apps: 

• Canva  
• Venngage  
• Piktochart  
• Snappa  
• Adobe Express 
• [Note that there are several other notable infographic/graphic making apps that are not covered here, but they can become relatively more difficult to use and/or potentially more expensive. Some examples are: Visme, Infogram, Biteable (video infographics), Adioma, etc.] 
• The first step for any of these resources is to sign up for a free account (Note: On the Canva site, don’t sign up for “Canva for Education”—this is for K-12 

B) Creating an Assignment

Approach #1:  Simple Infographic Instructions 

• An infographic is a visual representation of factual information and the relationship between pieces of information.  It is supposed to present information in a way that the reader can easily grasp the key points of the concept and can instantly see how the concept is relevant to real life.   

Student tasks: 

• Choose a topic (Note: Either curated by professor or student-driven) 
• Use your book and course content to identify accurate and pertinent information on your topic. Write down the main points you want to convey on your infographic (one short sentence or bulleted words). Your main points may include: 

• • Define the issue (i.e., Why is it important to wash your hands?). 
  • Use facts about the issue. 
  • Use theories from your book to write about the issue. 
  • Use other interesting facts, processes, or tips that can help people better understand the issue.  
  • If your infographic’s purpose is to convey a process, make sure to write down the steps in order and with the briefest possible description before you choose a template. 

• Choose a template from XXXX app that appropriately conveys your information. 
• Design an infographic for a general audience.  In other words, this should be something that anyone could read to become better informed on your topic. Infographics have two parts:  CONTENT and DESIGN.  Your infographic must be both accurate and visually appealing.  

Approach #2: Formative Assignment 
A formative infographic assignment has four basic parts:   

• Topic Selection:  If topic(s) are curated by faculty, this is not a separate step. If topics are chosen by students, it is recommended that they be approved by faculty. 
  
  
• Research/Evaluation: Students do library research and evaluate what they learn for inclusion in an infographic presentation. 

• • Sources/citations and brief statements of what the student wants to include is submitted for feedback. 
  • Feedback centers on: 1) Appropriateness and relevance of sources and 2) Appropriateness and relevance of information to be included 

• Design Phase: The text for each infographic section/topic/blurb and a description of a graphic element is submitted for feedback. 

• • Feedback centers on: 1) Encouraging specificity and brevity of written information, 2) Alignment of visual elements and written elements, 3) Information presented is accurate and clear, and 4) Is it true-to-purpose? 

• Finalization:  Students work on the final version of the infographic. Peer review can also be an important part of this part of the formative design process for an infographic—it gives a necessary “third party” view of how the information is presented. 

C) Accessibility

• Accessibility can be a particular issue with infographics, as they are often either saved as images (jpeg or png) or feature an image-heavy design. Screen readers cannot recognize text within a saved image. Follow these tips to increase accessibility: 
• If saving the infographic as an image, include a linked transcript or attach a transcript at the bottom of the image. 
• If possible, save the infographic as a pdf and follow the guidance here (https://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/creating-accessible-pdfs.html) to create accessible pdfs.  
• Some additional considerations before saving: 

• • Provide alt text for all images 
  • Make sure there is clear color contrast between foreground and background colors 
  • Make sure your organization makes the content readable by screen readers (rather than visual scanning) in a logical order 
  • Include clear titles and headers for each section/part
  • Keep the font size readable…encourage strong summarization skills rather than more text with a smaller font size