Dashboard Specification Template (BI Report, WCAG 2.2)

Audience and decisions, questions, KPI list linked to metric definitions, wireframe, filters and drill paths, row-level security, refresh, WCAG 2.2, performance budget, sunset

データエンジニアリング・ガバナンスフルW3C WCAG 2.2 (2024-12-12)dashboard specification更新 2026/10/24

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使い方: Use it when you plan, build or certify one dashboard or BI report. Fill the audience, decisions and questions first, then link each KPI to its Metric Definition before sketching the layout. The main pitfall is a calculated field inside the dashboard that quietly redefines a certified metric.

プレビュー

Dashboard Specification: [Dashboard name]

Specification of one dashboard or BI report: its audience and the decisions it supports, the questions it answers, the KPI list (each linked to a Metric Definition), the layout wireframe, filters and drill paths, row-level security, refresh and data latency, accessibility against W3C WCAG 2.2 (Recommendation, 12 December 2024 edition), the performance budget, testing, ownership, certification and the sunset date. Tool-neutral: it works for any BI or notebook tool. Replace every [bracketed] value and every row marked Example.

Document control

Field	Value
Document ID	[DSH-001] (Example)
Dashboard name	[Executive Sales Dashboard] (Example)
Tool and workspace	[BI tool, workspace or folder]
URL	[link to the published dashboard]
Semantic model	[SEM-ORD-001] (Example)
Version	[1.0]
Status	[Draft / In build / In review / Certified / Deprecated / Retired]
Owner	[@business-owner]
Developer	[@bi-developer]
Approvers/reviewers	[@head-of-sales], [@data-governance-lead], [@accessibility-reviewer]
Classification	[Internal / Confidential]
Last updated	YYYY-MM-DD
Certification review	YYYY-MM-DD
Sunset date	YYYY-MM-DD (review or retire on this date)

Approvals

Role	Name	Decision	Date
Business owner	[@name]	[Approved / Changes requested]	YYYY-MM-DD
Data governance lead	[@name]	[Certified / Not certified]	YYYY-MM-DD
Accessibility reviewer	[@name]	[Passed / Passed with exceptions / Failed]	YYYY-MM-DD

Revision history

Version	Date	Author	Change
0.1	YYYY-MM-DD	[@author]	First draft agreed with audience
1.0	YYYY-MM-DD	[@author]	Certified and published

1. Audience and decisions
2. Questions answered
3. KPIs and metrics
4. Data sources and lineage
5. Layout and wireframe
6. Visual and content rules
7. Filters, parameters and drill paths
8. Row-level security and sharing
9. Refresh, latency and data status
10. Accessibility
11. Performance budget
12. Testing and acceptance
13. Ownership, certification and sunset
14. Glossary and references

1. Audience and decisions

Audience ID	Audience	Use frequency	Device and context	Decision supported (Example)
AUD-01 (Example)	Executive team	Weekly business review, Monday	Large screen in meeting room, laptop	Shift budget between regions and channels
AUD-02 (Example)	Regional sales managers	Daily	Laptop, sometimes phone	Prioritise promotions for underperforming categories
AUD-03 (Example)	Finance business partners	Month end	Laptop	Explain revenue variance to plan
[AUD-NN]	[audience]	[frequency]	[device]	[decision]

Not intended for (Example): operational monitoring of the checkout service (use the observability dashboards), or customer-level investigation (use the CRM).

2. Questions answered

Q ID	Question	Audience	Answered by visual
Q-01 (Example)	How is net revenue tracking against plan this fiscal month?	AUD-01, AUD-03	V-01, V-02
Q-02 (Example)	Which regions and channels drive the variance?	AUD-01, AUD-02	V-03
Q-03 (Example)	Is average order value moving, and in which customer segment?	AUD-01	V-04
Q-04 (Example)	Which categories are below last year in my region?	AUD-02	V-05
Q-05 (Example)	Are refunds within 30 days rising?	AUD-01, AUD-03	V-06
[Q-NN]	[question]	[AUD-NN]	[V-NN]

3. KPIs and metrics

KPI ID	Label shown	Metric ID	Metric definition	Certified	Comparison	Target source (Example)
KPI-01 (Example)	Net revenue	MET-REV-001	Metric Definition MET-REV-001	Yes	Plan, same period last year	Finance plan, monthly
KPI-02 (Example)	Orders	MET-ORD-001	Metric Definition MET-ORD-001	Yes	Same period last year	None
KPI-03 (Example)	Average order value	MET-REV-003	Metric Definition MET-REV-003	Yes	Same period last year	None
KPI-04 (Example)	Net revenue growth vs last year	MET-REV-004	Metric Definition MET-REV-004	Yes	Plan growth	Finance plan
KPI-05 (Example)	Refund within 30 days	MET-ORD-002	Metric Definition MET-ORD-002	No (labelled "Preview")	Previous 3 months	None
[KPI-NN]	[label]	[MET-ID]	[link]	[Yes / No]	[comparison]	[source]

Rules:

DSH-R01 Every KPI comes from the semantic model. Dashboard-level calculations are limited to formatting and to comparisons the model cannot provide, and each one is listed here.
DSH-R02 An uncertified metric is visibly labelled (for example "Preview") and placed below certified KPIs.
DSH-R03 Each KPI tile links to its Metric Definition (data/metric-definition) from an information icon or tooltip.

4. Data sources and lineage

Dependency	Type	Owner	Declared as exposure	Notes (Example)
SEM-ORD-001	Semantic model	[@analytics-engineer]	Yes	Only path to order and revenue data
`finance.plan_monthly`	Table	[@finance-analytics]	Yes	Loaded on business day 2 of each month
[dependency]	[type]	[@owner]	[Yes / No]	[notes]

Register the dashboard as an exposure in the transformation project (rule DBT-055 in dbt Project Standard, data/dbt-project-standard) so model changes show it as affected.

5. Layout and wireframe

Page 1, "Overview" (Example):

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Title, data as of [time], filters applied: [Region] [Channel]    |
+---------------+---------------+---------------+------------------+
| V-01 KPI tile | V-01 KPI tile | V-01 KPI tile | V-01 KPI tile    |
| Net revenue   | Orders        | Avg order val | Growth vs LY     |
+---------------+---------------+---------------+------------------+
| V-02 Net revenue vs plan, by week (line)  | V-03 Variance by     |
|                                           | region and channel   |
|                                           | (bar, sorted)        |
+-------------------------------------------+----------------------+
| V-04 AOV by segment (line, small multiples) | V-06 Refund rate   |
|                                             | (line, Preview)    |
+---------------------------------------------+--------------------+
| Footnotes: definitions, exclusions, contact                       |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

Page 2, "Categories" (Example): V-05 category table with last year comparison, conditional icons and drill-through to a category detail page.

Visual ID	Title	Chart type	Metrics	Dimensions	Answers
V-01 (Example)	Headline KPIs	KPI tiles with comparison	KPI-01 to KPI-04	Fiscal month to date	Q-01
V-02 (Example)	Net revenue vs plan	Line, actual and plan	KPI-01	Week	Q-01
V-03 (Example)	Variance by region and channel	Horizontal bar, sorted by variance	KPI-01	Region, channel	Q-02
V-04 (Example)	Average order value by segment	Line, small multiples	KPI-03	Week, segment	Q-03
V-05 (Example)	Categories vs last year	Table with icons	KPI-01, KPI-02	Category, region	Q-04
V-06 (Example)	Refund within 30 days	Line	KPI-05	Month	Q-05
[V-NN]	[title]	[chart type]	[KPI-NN]	[dimensions]	[Q-NN]

6. Visual and content rules

DSH-R10 Bar charts start at zero; line charts may use a fitted axis when the axis is labelled.
DSH-R11 Show units and currency codes on every number and axis (Example: "EUR, thousands").
DSH-R12 Use the same colour for the same category on every page; reserve one highlight colour for "below plan".
DSH-R13 Sort categorical bars by value unless the categories have a natural order.
DSH-R14 Write titles as findings or questions (Example: "Net revenue vs plan, fiscal month to date"), and put definitions, exclusions and the contact in the footnote.
DSH-R15 No 3D charts, no dual axes with different units, no pie charts with more than [4] slices (Example).
DSH-R16 Follow the platform report standards in Analytics and BI Solution Design (architecture/analytics-bi-solution-design, section "Report and dashboard standards").

7. Filters, parameters and drill paths

Filter ID	Filter	Type	Default	Scope	Visible in header (Example)
F-01 (Example)	Fiscal period	Single select	Current fiscal month	All pages	Yes
F-02 (Example)	Region	Multi select	All regions the user may see	All pages	Yes
F-03 (Example)	Sales channel	Multi select	All	All pages	Yes
F-04 (Example)	Customer segment	Multi select	All	Page 1, V-04 only	Yes
[F-NN]	[filter]	[type]	[default]	[scope]	[Yes / No]

Drill ID	From	To	Carries filters	Purpose (Example)
DR-01 (Example)	V-03 bar (region)	Region detail page	F-01, F-03, selected region	See weekly trend for one region
DR-02 (Example)	V-05 row (category)	Category detail page	F-01, F-02, selected category	See top products in a category
[DR-NN]	[from]	[to]	[filters]	[purpose]

DSH-R20 The header always shows the active filters in text, not only in filter controls.
DSH-R21 Drill paths never lead to customer-level rows; the lowest grain is [product by day] (Example).

8. Row-level security and sharing

Rule ID	Audience	Rows visible	Enforced in	Tested by (Example)
RLS-01 (Example)	Executive team, finance	All regions	SEM-ORD-001 access rule ACC-03 (finance and the executive team)	TC-06
RLS-02 (Example)	Regional managers	Own region only	Row access policy, SEM-ORD-001 rule ACC-02	TC-06
[RLS-NN]	[audience]	[rows]	[layer]	[test]

DSH-R30 Row-level rules are inherited from the semantic model or the data platform, never defined only inside the dashboard.
DSH-R31 Scheduled snapshots run as each recipient, or are limited to content every recipient may see.
DSH-R32 Data export is [disabled / limited to aggregated data] (Example: limited to aggregated visuals, no underlying rows).
DSH-R33 Usage measurement for this dashboard uses aggregate view counts from the BI tool's own logs; no third-party tracking scripts, no individual-level profiling, and no data beyond what is needed to decide whether to keep the dashboard.

9. Refresh, latency and data status

Item	Specification (Example)
Data latency objective	Data complete to the end of the previous day by 07:00 UTC
Refresh method	Live query to the semantic model, cached for 60 minutes
Plan data	Monthly, by business day 2
Data as-of indicator	Header shows "Data as of [timestamp], [time zone]" from the latest source freshness check
Late data behaviour	Banner "Data delayed, last complete day: [date]"; KPIs keep the last complete day
Known incident behaviour	Banner with link to the incident; severity per Incident Severity Matrix (`ops/incident-severity-matrix`)
Partial periods	Current week and month marked as incomplete

Freshness and quality thresholds come from the source data contracts and from Data Quality Standard (data/data-quality-standard).

10. Accessibility

Target conformance: WCAG 2.2 level [AA] for the dashboard page, within the limits of the BI tool. Record tool limitations as exceptions with a workaround.

Req ID	Requirement	WCAG 2.2 success criterion	Check (Example)
A11Y-01	Every chart has a short text alternative stating the main finding, plus access to the underlying aggregated table	1.1.1 Non-text Content	Screen reader test
A11Y-02	Headings, KPI labels and tables are exposed with correct structure	1.3.1 Info and Relationships	Accessibility tree inspection
A11Y-03	Colour is never the only way to show status or series; add labels, icons or patterns	1.4.1 Use of Color	Greyscale review
A11Y-04	Text and numbers meet the minimum contrast ratio (4.5:1 for normal text)	1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum)	Contrast checker
A11Y-05	Lines, bars, focus indicators and filter controls meet 3:1 against adjacent colours	1.4.11 Non-text Contrast	Contrast checker
A11Y-06	The page reflows without loss at 320 CSS pixels wide, or a mobile layout is provided. Charts and data tables may scroll in two dimensions under the 1.4.10 exception for content that needs a two-dimensional layout; the rest of the page (header, filters, KPI tiles, footnotes) must reflow	1.4.10 Reflow	Browser zoom 400 percent
A11Y-07	Tooltips can be dismissed without moving focus, can be hovered, and stay visible until hover or focus moves away or the user dismisses them	1.4.13 Content on Hover or Focus	Manual test
A11Y-08	Every filter, tab, visual and drill action works with a keyboard	2.1.1 Keyboard	Keyboard-only walkthrough
A11Y-09	Focus is visible and is not hidden by sticky headers or panels	2.4.7 Focus Visible, 2.4.11 Focus Not Obscured (Minimum)	Keyboard walkthrough
A11Y-10	Interactive targets are at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels or adequately spaced	2.5.8 Target Size (Minimum)	Measurement
A11Y-11	Auto-rotating pages or animations can be paused	2.2.2 Pause, Stop, Hide	Manual test
A11Y-12	Custom controls expose name, role and state to assistive technology	4.1.2 Name, Role, Value	Accessibility tree inspection

Use the Accessibility Checklist (design/accessibility-checklist) during build and the Accessibility Audit (quality/accessibility-audit) for the formal evaluation before certification.

11. Performance budget

Budget ID	Measure	Budget (Example)	Measured on
PB-01	Time to first meaningful view (cached)	3 seconds at the 90th percentile	Typical office laptop and network
PB-02	Time to first meaningful view (uncached)	10 seconds at the 90th percentile	Same
PB-03	Filter change to updated visuals	3 seconds at the 90th percentile	Same
PB-04	Queries per page view	12 or fewer	Query log
PB-05	Visuals per page	8 or fewer	Design review
PB-06	Compute cost per month	Within [budget] tagged to this dashboard	FinOps Cost Review (`ops/finops-cost-review`)

When a budget is breached for [2] consecutive weeks (Example), open a ticket: reduce visuals, pre-aggregate in a mart, or increase caching. Plan load tests with Performance Test Plan (quality/performance-test-plan) for dashboards with more than [200] daily users (Example).

12. Testing and acceptance

Test ID	Test	Expected result (Example)	Owner
TC-01	Each KPI equals the semantic model saved query for the same filters	Exact match	[@bi-developer]
TC-02	Net revenue for the last closed month reconciles with finance	Within 0.5 percent	[@finance-analytics]
TC-03	Every filter and drill path works and carries filters as specified	All pass	[@bi-developer]
TC-04	Late data banner appears when source freshness fails	Banner shown, KPIs hold last complete day	[@analytics-engineer]
TC-05	Accessibility requirements A11Y-01 to A11Y-12	Pass or recorded exception	[@accessibility-reviewer]
TC-06	Regional manager test identity sees only its own region, and an executive test identity sees all regions, including in snapshots	Pass	[@security-reviewer]
TC-07	Performance budgets PB-01 to PB-04	Within budget	[@bi-developer]
TC-08	User acceptance with two members of each audience	Questions Q-01 to Q-05 answered without help	[@business-owner]

13. Ownership, certification and sunset

Role	Responsibility	Person
Business owner	Decides content and audience, approves changes	[@business-owner]
BI developer	Builds and maintains the dashboard	[@bi-developer]
Data steward	Keeps definitions and footnotes accurate	[@data-steward]
Support contact	Answers user questions	[channel or queue]

Certification requires: all KPIs certified or labelled as preview, tests TC-01 to TC-08 passed, owner and support contact named, and the dashboard registered as an exposure. Certification lasts [12 months] (Example).

Sunset and review:

At the sunset date, the owner reviews aggregate usage, open issues and whether the decisions in section 1 still exist.
The owner chooses: renew (new sunset date), redesign (new version of this specification) or retire.
To retire, announce [30 days] (Example) ahead, archive this specification, remove the exposure and delete the dashboard.
A dashboard with no named owner for [60 days] (Example) loses its certified status automatically.

14. Glossary and references

Term	Meaning
KPI	A metric chosen to track progress toward a goal, shown prominently
Certified	Approved by the business owner and data governance as correct and supported
Drill path	Navigation from a summary visual to more detailed data with filters carried
Row-level security	Rules that limit which rows a user can see
Data latency	Time between an event and its appearance in the dashboard
Exposure	A declared downstream consumer registered in the transformation project
Sunset date	Date by which the dashboard must be renewed or retired

References:

W3C, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, W3C Recommendation, edition of 12 December 2024: https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/
Related templates: Metric Definition (data/metric-definition), Semantic Model Specification (data/semantic-model-specification), Analytics and BI Solution Design (architecture/analytics-bi-solution-design), Data Dictionary (architecture/data-dictionary), Data Platform Architecture (architecture/data-platform-architecture), Accessibility Audit (quality/accessibility-audit), Analytics Tracking Plan (data/analytics-tracking-plan) for product event data that feeds metrics.

Standard and licence note

Based on the success criteria of W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, cited by number and short name only under the W3C document licence; no WCAG text is reproduced. The rest of the structure is original, aligned with common business intelligence practice, and the Corvid Commerce example is fictional. This template is original text written for this collection. Check the current official WCAG version and your BI tool's documentation before use. Template licence: MIT.