CHI 2026 Workshop on Data Literacy
Barcelona, Spain | April, 2026
Important Dates
- Submission Deadline: February 10, 2026 AoE (submission form)
- Notification: early March
- Early Registration Deadline: TBD
- Submission of Camera-ready version: TBD
Call for Participation
Data drives the modern world. It provides the basis for compelling visualizations that inform decision-making in business and government. Huge datasets are used to train AI models capable of performing an ever-growing variety of complex tasks. How people think with data is a cornerstone of the cognitive science of reasoning and learning. This ubiquity of data makes data literacy essential in the 21st century.
In order to construct a holistic framework for understanding, measuring, and teaching data literacy grounded in real-world applications, we are creating this workshop to bridge the related literacies (e.g., visualization literacy, statistical literacy, AI literacy) that rely on data as a foundation. Through interdisciplinary perspectives, we strive to advance both the study of data literacy and the research agendas within each individual discipline (full workshop proposal here).
This two-session workshop aims to facilitate interdisciplinary conversations around understanding, measuring, and teaching data literacy. We invite researchers, practitioners, and students with expertise in HCI, visualization, psychology, AI, learning sciences, and other relevant disciplines to contribute to topics including, but not limited to:
- designing formal and informal learning environments to improve data literacy from different perspectives
- developing assessments to measure learners' data literacy in different contexts
- designing tools that uncover the cognitive processes important to be data literate
- formulating a shared vocabulary across disciplines for a joint effort for studying data literacy
- bridging data literacy and individual disciplines to situate data literacy in specific contexts
- forming research agendas within different disciplines through this shared lens of data literacy
Position papers are strongly encouraged. We aim for a workshop with lively discussion to help us move the field forward. Thus, we also accept early stage or in-progress work, which might benefit from discussion and feedback. We are less interested in finished work unless you feel it would benefit from (and contribute to) broader discussion. If you are uncertain if your work would fit, please reach out! You can reach us via email: data.literacy.chi[at]gmail.com
Submissions should be 2-8 pages (excluding references), in single-column ACM Master Article Submission Template, comply with CHI 2026 paper accessibility guidelines, and do not need to be anonymized.
Submissions are due by February 10, 2026 (AoE). Notification of results will be around March (more details to come once we’ve received your submission), and accepted papers will be published on open-access repository and on our workshop’s website. To make paper submissions, please fill out this form.
At least one author of each accepted submission must attend the in-person workshop and all participants must register for the workshop. Outputs from the workshop, including panel discussions and group activities will be made available on our workshop website, facilitating further discussions within and beyond the CHI community.
We look forward to your contributions!
Sincerely,
Organizers of the CHI26 Workshop on Data Literacy
- Lily Ge, Northwestern University
- Michael Horn, Northwestern University
- Duri Long, Northwestern University
- Judith Fan, Stanford University
- Matthew Kay, Northwestern University