ColorWise

Chapter 7. Accessibility and Addressing Color Blindness

Color vision deficiency, or color blindness, means viewing colors differently than most people, which can often make it very hard to tell the difference between similar saturations of different colors. It’s not a problem that gets much play in the media or in the public eye except on rare occasions when it becomes a national issue. In this chapter we’ll discuss the importance of selecting colors that are easily interpreted by those with color vision deficiency and cover some best practices on how to address the issue.

Why It Matters

Let’s discuss a circumstance when color blindness was highlighted publicly. In November 2015, the National Football League tried an experiment during a football game between the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills. Normally, the Jets wear green pants with white jerseys or the opposite, and the Bills wear some combination of red, blue, and white depending on if they are playing on the road or in their own home stadium. During the NFL’s “Color Rush” campaign to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the league’s first-ever TV game shown in color, both teams dressed in solid color pants and jerseys: green for the Jets, and red for the Bills. The result was total chaos for NFL fans who are red/green color blind, who could not tell the teams apart besides the icons on their helmets (Figure 7-1).¹

Figure 7-1. Two football teams wearing green and red uniforms

The website Deadspin took the protest ...