Click here to buy from Amazon. Mobile devices are used in all sorts of environments, and must be clear and easy to read when bright, dark, dirty, rain-covered, and so on. General heuristic principles should be followed to dual- (or triple-) encode information so that it is clear in all conditions.

Therefore, the design of mobile devices should not be significantly affected by consid- erations for users with color vision deficits. Practically, many, many interfaces are still single-coded, with (for example) red type used for important notices and no use of iconography or type weight to reinforce this.

The information and guidelines in this appendix should serve not just as a reminder of how to address the needs of a significant portion of the population, but also of how color vision can fail every user in certain conditions. If colorblind users are considered in de- sign, the product will work better for all users.

General Information on Color Deficits

Color vision deficiency (commonly referred to as colorblindness) is a condition in which certain colors cannot be distinguished or can only be distinguished with difficulty. It is most commonly due to an inherited condition. There is no treatment.

Red/green colorblindness is by far the most common form. Blue/yellow and other forms also exist, but are rarer and harder to test for. Complete colorblindness (seeing only in shades of gray) is extremely rare. Color deficiencies of one sort or another occur in about 8% to 12% of males and about 0.5% to 1% of females (of European origin).

Clinically, disturbances of color vision will occur if the amount of pigment within a cone is reduced or if one or more of the three cone systems are entirely absent. The gene for this is carried in the X chromosome. Therefore, colorblindness occurs much more commonly in males and is typically passed to them by their mothers. Reduction in pigment in one or more channels is more common than the loss of one or more sets of cones; therefore, most have a strict color deficiency, and perceive certain color channels more poorly, versus not at all.

Types of color deficiency

The following are various types of color deficiency:

Protanomaly (partial red-green, 1% of males)

Deuteranomaly (partial red-green, 5% of males, the most common form of color blindness)

Dicromasy

The following are some less-common color deficit conditions:

Common Usability Complaints for Colorblind Individuals

The following are some common usability complaints among those who are colorblind:

Design Patterns for Users with Color Deficits

Design patterns to design around users with a color deficit (e.g., colorblindness) are available at WeAreColorblind.com (http://wearecolorblind.com/category/patterns/).

These are heavily focused on infographics, but the principles are easy to follow.

Color Deficit Simulators

Here is a list of color deficit simulators:

Other Color Deficit Design Tools & Resources


Next: Other Mobile Pattern Libraries


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