Here are step-by-step directions on how to create a bar chart in the Pages app. There are a few minor changes in iOS 11 from previous versions. Bar charts created in Pages are fully accessible with VoiceOver.
Teacher Hint: Creating an accessible bar chart is a relatively easy process in Pages. Students should be introduced to digital bar charts and how to create their own digital bar charts in elementary school using simple data. Bar charts – and the tech skills required to interact with bar charts – are important skills for online assessments. These digital skills are foundation skills for more complex spreadsheets and graphs for high school and college level work! A bar chart created in Pages on the iPad – a touch screen device- is interactive, meaning that a student can drag his finger around the screen which builds spatial skills. Accessing charts and graphs on a computer using JAWS is only auditory and requires strong spatial skills.
Creating a bar chart in Pages
Update: In iOS 17, the Tool Bar at the top of the page is slightly different. Select the Insert Chart button (pie chart symbol) > select 2D bar chart.
Open a new Pages document.
Select the Insert button (Plus symbol).
Select Charts button in the popup menu.
Select 2D Chart.
Swipe left or right to view possible chart colors and select your desired chart. (I chose the first chart (bar chart) in blue.
The chart template appears. Tap on the Chart.
Select the Edit Data button in the popup row.
Screen now shows chart data in a spreadsheet format (grid).
Delete data and replace with desired data.
Note: Currently, all the bar charts have two regions. If only one region is desired, delete everything in the Region 2 row.
When done entering the data, select the Done button.
Select the Format button (paintbrush image).
Chart button:
Add a Chart Title: toggle on Chart Title. Tap on the Title to open the textfield. Replace with desired title. (Note: Opening the textfield can be tricky – try tapping slightly below the ‘title’ text.)
X Axis:
Options of adding grid lines and tick marks.
To add x axis label, toggle on Axis Name. Tap on Category Axis text and replace with desired label.
Y Axis:
Options of adding gridlines, tick marks and change the value scale of Y axis numbers.
Resources
iOS 11 introduced a new accessible feature called ‘shapes’. These are images of objects (circle, horse, apple, etc.) that can be added like a sticker to a Pages document. Currently, Shapes can not be added to a table in Pages; however, you can add Shapes to a table in the Numbers app. For details, see the Teaching Positions in a Table: iOS Activity post.