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Ask HN: I am colorblind

13 points by DictumMortuum ↗ HN
Hello hacker news,

I am colorblind and I work at a relatively large international corporation. I know that it's not a serious disability like the loss of a limb, except I notice it every day. The higher management always used a color scheme I can't understand for graphs. The new boardgame my friends buy is difficult, as I have to concentrate to understand which color is which; games like junglespeed, where speed matters are unplayable for me.

I also know that I am not the only one, so please, if you are a designer, a manager or someone who has to use a color scheme for their work, take colorblind people into account.

Happy Christmas everybody!

10 comments

[ 4.8 ms ] story [ 31.3 ms ] thread
a3n
Are colorblind-friendly palettes widely known among visual designers?

Can these palettes (and patterns) be included as a choice in end-user and programmatic graphing apps?

azeirah
I know that at least matplotlib's default colormap, viridis, is colorblind friendly.
aurizon
I think game devs could easily associate a color with a pattern that would assist color blind gamers. It would be a good idea for an industry wide standard to be set. An extra ~~8% of male players is worth chasing after. Women are fortunate only ~~0.5% have this problem
DictumMortuum
Truth be told, I had the least issue with games, as most include a colorblind setting.
aurizon
Ah, I see, I was not aware that they had allowed for CB players. How do they do it?
DictumMortuum
e.g. By changing what colors mean. For example in MOBAs, instead of seeing all the player colors in the minimap, you just see white/red (allies/enemies). You lose some information, sure, but it's better for my sanity.
floatingatoll
It’s a serious disability. No one should say otherwise.

If you have an iOS 11 device, Settings > General > Accessibility > Display Accommodations > Color Filters is really amazingly useful for one key reason:

It’s a live filter for anything shown on the display, including the camera app. So you can hold up your phone facing the chart and see it adjusted for your personal variant of color blindness, or take a photo and then zoom in and study it.

And if anyone gives you flak about it, explain what’s up. It’ll seem like black magic to them, and then maybe they’ll fix their palettes someday :)

godot
I have worked as a software engineer for 10+ years in both companies big and small. I've gotten very used to and comfortable with my color deficiencies. I call it out right away when anything comes up and treat it almost comically. When some graph/diagram/chart comes up in a meeting and there's a bunch of colors I can't tell, I make sure to call it out; and pretty much take every opportunity that arises to remind my team mates that I'm not good at telling colors. No one feels bothered or anything, they tell me which is which, might use easier-to-tell colors next time, and we all have a laugh about it.

There are indeed board games where colors matter a lot and they use colors I can't tell. Factory Fun is an example. I bought my own copy so that I could use a marker and put a letter "R" next to the red pipes on every tile so I can tell it from the green ones.

zerr
Seems like a use case for smart glasses?
helen842000
You should mention it. Suggest alternate color schemes - at least at work. There are probably other color blind people that struggle and say nothing. For boardgames and to generally help you in day to day life - perhaps consider a pair of these > http://enchroma.com

Even a pair of the sunglasses could make a nice walk on a sunny day a much more enjoyable experience and everyone deserves that.