How can you be sure that a visual is ethical?

Ethical problems,both intentional and unintentional,can range from photos that play on racial or gender stereotypes to images that imply cause-and-effect relationships that may not exist to graphs that distort data.Try to view your visuals from your audience members' perspective.Will their biases,beliefs,or backgrounds lead them to different conclusions than you've intended? Provide context.Even when they are completely accurate,visuals can show only a partial view of reality.Part of your responsibility as a communicator is to provide not only accurate visuals but enough background information to help audiences interpret the visual correctly.Don't hide or minimize negative information that runs counter to your argument.Obscuring information prevents your audiences from making fully informed decisions regarding your content.Don't exaggerate information that supports your argument.You have a responsibility not to oversell information in support of your argument.You should also resist the temptation to alter or enhance photographs and other images in order to support your arguments.Don't oversimplify complex situations.By their very nature,visuals tend to present simplified views of reality.Take care not to mislead an audience by hiding complications that are important to the audience's understanding of the situation.Don't imply cause-and-effect relationships without providing proof that they exist.Avoid emotional manipulation or other forms of coercion.Be careful with the way you aggregate data.