In this paper, we describe subskills of visual communication based on the skill structure
outlined in the Common European Framework of Visual Literacy. We have developed this Framework
further through assessing the development of subskills related to visual communication in the
“produce” and “respond” domains of CEFR-VC in primary school grades. We developed and
validated online digital assessment tools to facilitate the introduction of authentic assessment as
a standard practice in curriculum development. The results of this study include the definition
of its components, development of innovative tools for their assessment, and description of the
development of its subskills in the “produce” and “respond” domains. Our tests for the “respond”
domain of the visual literacy framework were administered in the eDia interactive diagnostic testing
environment in Grades 4–6 (ages 10–12 years) of the Hungarian primary school system. The tools
for the second experiment about the “create” domain of visual communication were developed in
the GeoGebra free educational software environment and tested major components of the “produce”
domain of visual communication in primary Grades 5–8 (ages 11–14 years). Results show increasing
attainment in subskills through the age groups in the “produce” domain and less significant or
no development in the “respond” domain, which is underrepresented in Hungarian art education
curricula. Development is unrelated to school achievement in non-art disciplines, showing the
distinctiveness of the visual domain, and is weakly related to gender and digital literacy. Using
our subskill descriptions and the assessment tools, teachers may select those subskills that they
find most important to develop during the limited teaching time for visual arts. The paper ends
with suggestions to enhance visual communication as a cross-curricular competency that develops
visual-spatial intelligence