Welcome to the DataDev Quest Challenge for October 2026! A picture is worth a thousand words. We only need 150. This challenge is designed to teach you how to export a Tableau view as PNG and SVG, and how to use AI to describe it: the first step to dashboards everyone can understand.

Challenge Overview

Objective:

Export the same view as PNG and SVG with the REST API, then ask an AI to write alt text and a short summary from the PNG.

Why this challenge?

Since Tableau Server 2026.2, the REST API can export a view as SVG as well as PNG. A PNG is pixels, great for an AI to read. An SVG is code, great for people to see, because you can edit it. A dashboard shared as an image is silent to a screen reader, and Tableau’s own SVG export ships with a placeholder title. This challenge uses each format for what it is good at: the PNG goes to the AI, the SVG goes to the people.

Learning Goals

Sign in with a Personal Access Token and find a view with the REST API or TSC
Export a view as PNG and SVG
See the difference between pixels (PNG) and code (SVG)
Prompt an AI model that can read images and get JSON back

Submission Guidelines

Source Code: Publish your project publicly in your GitHub profile
Add README: Include any setup instructions and describe how to run the program.
Video of Solution: Include a video of your solution in the README file. You can publish it on YouTube and embed the iframe, or save the video file in the repository’s root directory
Comments: Ensure your code is well-commented
Submission: Submit your challenge in the following forms

Additional Resources

Getting Started

The first step is to get and set up your Tableau Developer Sandbox. Cristian Saavedra Desmoineaux has a Medium Post that provides a step-by-step guide to configuring it.

1. Check your version

SVG export through the REST API needs Tableau Server 2026.2 or later (REST API 3.29 or later). PNG works on every version. On an older Server, or with no site at all, use the sample infographic exported from Tableau as PNG and SVG and start at step 2.

2. Create a Personal Access Token

In your site, go to My Account Settings and create a Personal Access Token. You will use it to sign in from code.

3. Install Python and TSC

Install Python 3.13 or newer, then Tableau Server Client. TSC is adding SVG through ImageRequestOptions; if your version does not have it yet, a plain requests call works.

uv add tableauserverclient requests

4. Pick a view and an AI

Any dashboard works; Superstore is fine. For the AI, use any model that can read images: Claude, Gemini, ChatGPT or a local model.

Challenge

Step 1: Export

Download the same view twice: once as PNG (the default) and once as SVG.

GET /api/3.29/sites/{site-id}/views/{view-id}/image
GET /api/3.29/sites/{site-id}/views/{view-id}/image?format=SVG

Open both files in a text editor. The PNG is pixels; the SVG is code. Look at the first lines of the SVG: what did Tableau write in <title> and <desc>?

Step 2: Describe

Send the PNG to your AI and ask for alt text (150 characters max) and a short summary. Asking for JSON makes the answer easy to use in code. For example:

Write alt text under 150 characters and a three-sentence summary of this dashboard.
Return JSON with the keys "alt" and "summary".

Then check the numbers in the answer against the dashboard. The AI drafts; a person checks.

Extra Challenge

Do you want to learn more? Try the no-code route: Tableau MCP’s get-view-image tool returns PNG or SVG straight into Claude Desktop. Or send the SVG to the AI instead of the PNG: which gives the better description, and why? When you are ready, the Intermediate challenge puts the AI’s words inside the SVG.

What a finished result looks like

What a screen reader hears before and after: Tableau export placeholder title versus AI-written alt text and description, shown in English for a Spanish infographic — What a screen reader announces before and after, read from Chrome’s accessibility tree. The infographic is in Spanish; with a language switch, someone who doesn’t read Spanish can understand it in English. Try the live demo. Click the image to open it full size.

Try the live demo

Read the brief on GitHub

Star or watch the repo

Solutions

A solution walkthrough will be presented at the November 2026 DataDev Tableau User Group and added here and to the GitHub repo. Star or watch the repo so you don’t miss it.

Who am I?

I am Pablo Gomez, a Tableau Visionary, Tableau DataDev Ambassador and co-lead of the DataDev Tableau User Group. I believe data can change the way we see the world, and I blend Tableau, design, storytelling and AI to turn data into something people can understand, feel and act on. I also co-lead ComuniDatos, the Spanish-speaking Tableau community. You can contact me on LinkedIn.