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Color blindness

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A decreased ability to identify or distinguish colors.

Color blindness can make everyday tasks like selecting ripe fruit at the grocery store or reading traffic lights more challenging. When color is the only indicator of information and someone can’t determine what that color is, they can’t interpret and use the information being presented. Status indicators that are red or green to signal “on” or “off” are a common example of this. Using certain colors as prominent features of video game play may make the screen content appear murky or blurry for someone with difficulty distinguishing the colors used in the game.

There are many ways that color blindness can impact daily life, including difficulty distinguishing between certain colors, difficulty identifying colors, or the inability to perceive colors at all.

Color blindness is most often genetic but can also be caused by physical or chemical damage to the eye, optic nerve, or parts of the brain that process color. Color vision may decline with age, especially in the presence of a cataract.

Barriers

  • Using color as the only means of portraying information (for example, the mic mute button is orange, but doesn’t have a mic mute symbol, or team jersey colors are used without the appearance of a distinguishing logo or symbol)

Facilitators

  • Avoiding color palettes that are known to be problematic to the primary types of color blindness​
  • Using other means of conveying information in addition to color (such as universal symbols or text)​
  • Settings that facilitate ease of access for users with color blindness (such as color filters, contrast settings)​

Examples

A man stands in front of a large touch screen that shows a pie chart. The whole chart appears to be the same grey color.

BARRIER —When the only means of describing information is through the use of color, this creates a barrier for someone who is color blind.

The man selects a color filter on one side of a touch screen. He’s looking at a pie chart on the other side that has easily distinguishable grey tones.

FACILITATOR — Providing color filter settings that match the user’s particular type of color blindness can help alleviate this barrier.

 

The purpose of this reference is to provide concepts people can use to document and discuss aspects of function. Design should happen with people with disabilities, this reference is meant to support that activity, not replace it.