There are two people I know of in my company (over 100,000 people) who can see the color red fine in the real world, but cannot read red text , typically error messages, on a computer screen. They did not know they had a problem until they called a help desk to find out why they were having a problem completing a form. Turns out they received errors but could not read them. The area where the error messages appeared looked like smudges to them, not text.
I have not read anything that describes this problem, yet they clearly could not see the text well enough to read it. My recommendation to developers is to show error messages as black text on a white background with a bold red box around the error message. On 5/4/08 10:01 PM, "Ben Buchanan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Hiya, > >> What we need more information about is how the colour red can affect >> readability. I have done research, and I know about the w3c colour contrast >> algorithm. I've also had a look at the psychology of the different colours >> and that red is associated with anger and intensity. > > I used to work on a site that had a red/white/black corporate look and I can > sympathise :) I suspect that actually you know all the reasons why not to use > red in certain ways, but you're being outvoted by a client. > > I'd keep fighting for certain basics - your colours must at least comply with > the W3C contrast rules (if you're not already using it, grab the CCA to make > that easier - http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrast-analyser.html). > > I'm sure there is research out there for everything else; but you could try a > different tack and run some usability tests with real live users. Get ten > people to test drive your designs and see if anyone finds the colours > confronting. There's no research as relevant as your own :) > > Anecdotally, a key thing to avoid is primary red #f00 - it's just too bright. > Also especially avoid using red on white (or reverse) for blocks of text, > people often describe the result as it "vibrates" and that's prime territory > for headaches; particularly for anyone who's photosensitive. > > cheers, > Ben ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ******************************************************************* ******************************************************************* List Guidelines: http://webstandardsgroup.org/mail/guidelines.cfm Unsubscribe: http://webstandardsgroup.org/join/unsubscribe.cfm Help: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *******************************************************************
