Accessibility

Accessibility &
Color Design
Accessibility is about inclusion where accommodations are not always
feasible or possible.
Color blindness is an accessibility issue.
In the US,
• Color blindness is more prevalent in males (8%) than females (0.5%).
• Deuteran-opia/omalous – green deficiency affects about 5.0%.
• Protan-opia/omalous – red deficiency affects about 2.5%.
• Tritan-opia/omalous – blue deficiency affects about 0.5%.
• Achromatopsia – monochrome vision affects about 0.0003%.
I'm a photographer and use color calibrated photographic monitors.
I am also colorblind – protanomalous or red deficient.
https://www.color-blindness.com/ishiharas-test-for-colour-deficiency-38-plates-edition/
Paul Tol offers this simple test for the most common forms of color
blindness.
https://personal.sron.nl/~pault/
Accessibility issues like this are an everyday occurrence for the color
blind.
Dark modes are problematic for the color blind.
00000F 0F000F 0F0000 0F0F00 000F00 000F0F 00000F 0F000F 0F0000 0F0F00 000F00 000F0F
0000AF AF00AF AF0000 AFAF00 00AF00 00AFAF 0000AF AF00AF AF0000 AFAF00 00AF00 00AFAF
0000BF BF00BF BF0000 BFBF00 00BF00 00BFBF 0000BF BF00BF BF0000 BFBF00 00BF00 00BFBF
0000CF CF00CF CF0000 CFCF00 00CF00 00CFCF 0000CF CF00CF CF0000 CFCF00 00CF00 00CFCF
0000DF DF00DF DF0000 DFDF00 00DF00 00DFDF 0000DF DF00DF DF0000 DFDF00 00DF00 00DFDF
0000EF EF00EF EF0000 EFEF00 00EF00 00EFEF 0000EF EF00EF EF0000 EFEF00 00EF00 00EFEF
0000FF FF00FF FF0000 FFFF00 00FF00 00FFFF 0000FF FF00FF FF0000 FFFF00 00FF00 00FFFF
Dark modes are problematic for the color blind.
0000AF AF00AF AF0000 AFAF00 00AF00 00AFAF 0000AF AF00AF AF0000 AFAF00 00AF00 00AFAF
0000BF BF00BF BF0000 BFBF00 00BF00 00BFBF 0000BF BF00BF BF0000 BFBF00 00BF00 00BFBF
0000CF CF00CF CF0000 CFCF00 00CF00 00CFCF 0000CF CF00CF CF0000 CFCF00 00CF00 00CFCF
0000DF DF00DF DF0000 DFDF00 00DF00 00DFDF 0000DF DF00DF DF0000 DFDF00 00DF00 00DFDF
0000EF EF00EF EF0000 EFEF00 00EF00 00EFEF 0000EF EF00EF EF0000 EFEF00 00EF00 00EFEF
0000FF FF00FF FF0000 FFFF00 00FF00 00FFFF 0000FF FF00FF FF0000 FFFF00 00FF00 00FFFF
E8E8E8 181818
Simple diagrams in lectures can be difficult to read.
8 7
a b c
4 9
2
11
h i 7 d
4
7 6
8
10
g f e
1 2
17
Color and
typography
issues can slow
a reader.
• Comic Sans is
okay for titles,
not text bodies.
• Font sizes are
also an issue.
These slides date back to 1999, before accessibility was recognized as
a significant issue. Is it time for an update?
Gradient
backgrounds
can be
problematic
with
disappearing
text and
graphics.
Gradient
backgrounds
can be
problematic
with
disappearing
text and
graphics.
Never use color as the ONLY distinguishing factor.
Use a color contrast checker to verify and adjust text color selections
(red and green) to a contrast > 7.
Dark backgrounds require different colors (red and blue) than light
backgrounds to provide sufficient color contrast.
The Paul Tol pale, dark, and light qualitative color schemes are effective
for text backgrounds.
The Pau Tol bright, vibrant, and qualitative color schemes are effective
for discrete, unordered data in graphs, charts, etc.
The Paul Tol sunset, BuRd, and PRGn divergent color schemes are
useful for ordered data between two extremes with a center.
The Paul Tol YlOrBr, iridescent, and discrete/smooth rainbow sequential
color schemes are useful for ordered data from low to high.
The W3C Web
Accessibility Initiative
helps make the web
accessible to people
with disabilities.
Most commercial tools like

Canvas and zyBooks are
Web Content Accessibility
Guideline (WCAG)
compliant.
ACM provides
accessibility
recommendations for
publishing in color.
SIGAccess, SIGCHI, and

others also have more
general guidelines for
accessibility.
Use Color Well!
I used a lot of it in this presentation. You can too.
Summary of color use guidelines for presentations and websites.
• Never use color as the only distinguishing factor.

• Use combinations of R, G, B. Avoid pure, primary, & secondary colors.
• Use color contrast checkers. https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/
• Use color schemes designed for all. https://personal.sron.nl/~pault/
• Use CSU web guidelines, PowerPoint templates. https://brand.colostate.edu/
• Use accessibility evaluation tools in PowerPoint, UDOIT on Canvas.
• Use tools to view your pages as other see them.
• Consult CSU Accessibility. http://www.chhs.colostate.edu/accessibility
• Consult W3C WAI. http://w3c.org/WAI
One more thing - there is more to accessibility than colors and fonts.
Screen readers for blind or moderate to severe visually impaired people often
require significant modifications.
• Ordering of page elements so they are read in order.
• Grouping page elements.
• Hiding decorative elements.
• Alt-text for non text elements and groups.
• Unique title for each slide.
These slides provide basic support for screen readers.

• Verified by Tools > Check Accessibility in PowerPoint.
Thank You!

Accessibility

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Accessibility &

Most commercial tools like

SIGAccess, SIGCHI, and

• Never use color as the only distinguishing factor.

These slides provide basic support for screen readers.

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