Color & Meaning -2
Adapted from Accessibility at Penn State Links to an external site., San Francisco State University, Links to an external site. and University of Minnesota, Color & Contrast Links to an external site.
Never use color alone to show emphasis
Bold formatting, size variations, and/or patterns and shapes can be used along with color to show emphasis or make comparisons between data paints. This simple technique can help improve information access for people in a wide variety of situations and with various conditions, including:
- Color blindness
- Low vision
- Age-related vision issues such as macular degeneration
- Monitors with incorrect or imperfect color rendering
- People trying to read your materials on their phone while standing in broad daylight
Techniques for graphic emphasis
For non-text graphics, use color and shape, color and size, color and textures or patterns, or some other means of visually distinguishing information differences. Here is a chart where the areas are denoted using color alone:
Here is how that chart appears to someone with red-green color blindness:
If you design this chart using color and pattern, a person who cannot see color will still be able to understand it. Here is the same chart, corrected with an accessible design that includes color and pattern fill: