[ubuntu-art] Is colour useful in high-viz icons?

[Matthew Nuzum]

I've worked on software for visually impaired and print handicap users
in the past. The key thing is contrast.

It is my opinion and experience that you can use colors but you should
limit your palette, ensure you have high contrast and avoid using
color to convey important information. For example, don't have two
icons where one is simply a blue exclamation mark and the other is a
red exclamation mark. Some people won't be able to easily discern
between them.

"Visually impaired" encompasses a lot of different conditions, and
some people can see color just fine. Aurora Ministries (the
organization I worked for that caters to the visually impaired) has a
policy that things should still look nice but be as accommodating as
possible.


On 3/20/06, Henrik Nilsen Omma <henrik at ubuntu.com> wrote:
>
> We are working on the high viz icon theme, trying to make it more
> complete: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArtworkTeam/AccessibilityIcons
>
> The original author Jakub Steiner notes in his icon development guide:
> http://jimmac.musichall.cz/doc/high-contrast/html/index.xhtml
> that the icons have been made black and white in order to get the
> maximum contrast.
>
> However, it strikes me that while this may the case for an individual
> icon, colour cues might be useful in telling icons apart, for those who
> can discern colours.
>
> So I guess my question is: do many/most/few people with blurred vision
> have the ability to see colour and if you cannot see colour are the
> black and white icons very much better than a set with deep primary colours?
>
> It's probably a good idea to keep to one colour when designing the icons
> to make sure they become as simple and clear as posible, but perhaps
> after they are made some could be converted to green+white, red+white,
> etc. (and inverse).
>
> It's not realistic to try this for Dapper; we should just focus on
> completing the existing set, but if colour is a useful additional cue
> then it might be worth adding colour to the set or making a separate set
> with 4-5 base colours. For now I'm just seeking some advice from our VI
> experts.
>
> - Henrik
>
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>


--
Matthew Nuzum
www.bearfruit.org