For Graphic & Web Designers
For a colour blind person it is not enough to ask whether they can see a colour, it's whether they can distinguish between 2 or more colours since one or more types or rods or cones in their eyes are impaired or missing (see about section). For instance, consider how many types of red there are in the world, some reds are condsidered warm or are orange red or maybe they have more blue and fall into the purple range (See drag and drop example) Can a colour blind person distinguish between these variations? The same question applies to all of the seven hues. Lime Green, Forest Green, Blue Green each person might have their own interpretation. But to a colour blind person the colour becomes visually unimportant, what maters is the contrast. How bright or dark is the colour compared to another.
Example of Painful combos of colours that are hard on people eye's (vibrating color)
Use of contrast patterns to differentiate or addition of symbols for clarification
Use of Illustrator or Photoshop for testing
If you are designing for everyone including the colour blind remember:
- Good graphic design avoids using colour coding or using colour contrasts alone to express information
- help people who are colour blind see like a normally sighted person would see.
- Consider the media used, is colour enough for a map or do I need a graphic symbol like dotted lines?
- Is the graphic design on paper, plastic or a computer screen (material affects the colour)
- Are the lines thick enough and provide enough contrast against a background?