# 26 — Visualization & Data-Communication Audit · Unified Platform (2026-09-18)

**Method:** rendered captures (dashboard/admin/reports texts + shots) + chart source review (recharts) + money-format verification.

## What the data layer does well
- **Real numbers everywhere** — no fake bars found (the Aug fake-data class stays dead): dashboard shows live fund balances (GME $40,051 / $1,250 cap, Dept Stipend $177,139), real OR counts (OR today 9 / week 40), real open-block counts (201), real staff-out (1 with 0 call-outs).
- **Money formatting**: cents applied across totals (Sep-17 polish commit verified in UI text); "<1%" display for small percentages; group tiles split labels.
- **Honest zeros**: "$0 — TOP SPENDER — this month", "0 call-outs · 0 coverage" render as real empties, not decoration.
- Fund cards show usage-vs-cap as `spent / cap` pairs — legible at a glance.

## Findings
| # | Finding | Sev |
|---|---|---|
| V-1 | Chart-heavy surfaces (recharts vendor chunk 435 KB) live behind the Reporting tab and GME fund views; stat cards carry the dashboard. Chart **axis formatting on the new reporting Explore view** was not individually inspected this pass (rendered table dominates) — open verification item, not a defect claim. | P3 (verify) |
| V-2 | The "—" pattern still appears as a stand-in in at least one stat slot ("TOP SPENDER — this month") — here it's under a label so it reads as an empty value; keep the rule: never ship an unlabeled dash (F5 class). | P3 |
| V-3 | Dashboard "THIS MONTH SPEND $0 / -100% vs last mo" — the -100% delta on a $0 month is technically right but reads alarming; consider suppressing the delta when the month has no data. | P3 (polish) |

## Verdict
Visualization layer = **trustworthy and improving** (post-reporting-rebuild). No misleading-viz defects found; recommendations are polish-level.