Announcements

Hello everyone, as we discussed this Tuesday, we will slow down the pace a little bit so that we can reduce the number of assignments from 4 to 3. Accordingly, the deadline for assignment 1 will be extended to Oct 27.

Yesterday, we did a quick look at Tableau. Next Tuesday, we will do some exploratory visualization with Tableau. But we still have many functions in Tableau that we cannot cover. You can refer to some resources online: 

• Learning Tableau Desktop by Tableau
• Tableau Tutorial by GeeksforGeeks
• Tableau: An Introduction. Princeton University
• Tableau Viz Gallery
• Tableau Dashboard Showcase

Also, Mik mentioned the new rule on accessibility of web content and mobile apps, which could impact how we do visualization, and Digital Accessibility Resource from WA Office of Equity. A few rules related to data visualization summarized by Google:

• No color-only data: You cannot use color as the single way to distinguish lines, bars, or slices.
• Add textures and markers: You must use symbols, distinct line styles, or high-contrast patterns alongside colors.
• Enforce strict text contrast: Text on charts must hit a minimum 4.5:1 contrast ratio against its background.
• Enforce strict graphical contrast: Visual elements like bars, lines, and borders must hit a minimum 3:1 contrast ratio against neighboring colors.
• Provide alt-text descriptions: Every chart must include text summaries that explain the main data trends and conclusions.
• Include raw data tables: Complex graphs must be paired with accessible data tables that screen readers can easily scan.
• Enable 100% keyboard control: Users must be able to navigate filters, tooltips, and interactive fields using only a keyboard.
• Design for 400% zoom: Layouts must dynamically scale up to 400% without overlapping text or requiring horizontal scrolling.

At thing, because of a medical appointment, Haoyu’s office hours on Oct 19 (next Monday) will be changed to 12:30 - 1:30 PM on the same day.

Hello everyone,

Assignment 1 has been published, and the due date is October 20, 2026. Please review the instructions and use Canvas Discussion as your first place to ask questions. We will respond to questions in Canvas within 24 hours.

We will have Quiz 1 on October 13 at the beginning of the class. The quiz will be 30 -min, closed-book, and paper-based. Please bring your pens. There will be 4-5 T/F, multiple-choice, or short-answer questions similar to Question 1 in Assignment 1, and 1 short essay question based on readings and lecture notes.

Windows users, please decompress the .zip lab file before opening the file. You can refer to this zip and unzip files tutorial from Microsoft.

Creating PDF documents from Rmd need Latex installed. Please refer to this tutorial.

Hello everyone,

It was nice meeting you all today. I wanted to let you know about a change to the location of my TA office hours. Although office hours were originally scheduled to be held via Zoom, they will now be held in-person at Gould Hall 432 (Urban Ecology Lab), from 10:00–11:00 AM on Fridays.

For tomorrow, I will also keep the Zoom link available for anyone who would prefer to join remotely. Starting next week, office hours will be held in-person. Thanks!

Best, Sun Ho

I would like to warmly welcome you to start your MUP program at the University of Washington. As one of the three required courses in your first quarter, URBAN 520 Quant Methods provides you with the necessary skill set for working with data, which is increasingly important in the age of AI. We are looking forward to meeting you in person on our first day of class. The course website will be the main place for all course information and materials. We will use Canvas as a place for announcements, discussion, submitting assignments and for grading purposes. Before the first class, please:

1. Complete a short pre-class survey.
2. Look through the syllabus and readings for this class on the course website.
3. Bring your laptop, no matter Windows or Mac, to each class!