Designing for Accessibility – Colorblind

In the United States, about 7 percent of the male population – or about 10.5 million men – and 0.4 percent of the female population either cannot distinguish red from green, or see red and green differently, according to Wikipedia. This statistic is every important when designing a web site or any graphic for the Internet or print for that matter. Any business that website alienates this population by having a poorly designed site would be missing out on selling a product or service to a potential customer. Not only could you be missing out on over 10 million customers, but also any new customer these folks may refer to your website.

So what can one do to ensure their website is accessible to individuals whom are colorblind? I would suggest using a colorblind filter so you would be able to view your website just as it would look to someone that is colorblind. I would recommend using the Colorblind Web Filter website to check your site. It allows you to view your website using several different classifications of colorblindness, such as Protanopia, Deuteranopia, and Tritanopia.

Another useful resource is Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Overview by the WC3. This documentation provides useful information about how to design a website so that it is easy for everyone to access.

I do hope that you find this posting useful. If you know of any other resources that will benefit either web designers or business owners that relates to website accessibility for colorblind people, feel free to add a link in the comment section below.

About Joe

Hi. I am a web designer and front end developer located in Muskegon Mi. I specialize in helping small and medium size businesses succeed online.
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