Legal and Citizenship Responsibilities For Color Design
[Author: Text & Illustration: Bill Fischer]
Overview
There are three reasons to integrate universal color into everything we create as artists and designers.
Legal Responsibilities: The Americans With Disabilities Act requires places of public accommodation, educational institutions, government, and federally funded organizations to comply with regulations designed to ensure equal access to all.
Design Citizenship: It is our moral imperative to be inclusive in everything we create as artists and designers.
Tools Availability: We now have digital tools that we can use to simulate all forms of color abilities that provide unprecedented opportunities for artists and designers to create universal art and design color.
Art and Design Citizenship
We should go beyond the legal, technical requirements for the accommodation of persons with disabilities and enable their full participation and acceptance in the professional and social fabric of the world in which we all live. This means design color experiences that are qualitatively equal for all persons regardless of where they fall on the color-ability spectrum.
Note: approximately 40% of the U.S. population will experience some form vision disability in their lifetimes (not including situational and environmental limitations).
Legal Requirements: ADA Compliance
WCAG A: 1.4.1: Color should not be used as the only means of conveying information, because blind users are not able to see colors, and colorblind or older users may not see colors correctly.
WCAG AA: 1.4.3: text color must have a minimum ratio of 4.5:1 for small text and 3:1 for large text: with its background: to optimize readability for all sight-abilities and environmental conditions.
WCAG AAA: 1.4.6: text color must have a minimum ratio of 7:1 for small text and 4.5:1 for large text: with its background: to optimize readability for all sight-abilities and environmental conditions.
WCAG AA 1.4.11: Color combinations for graphical elements must have a minimum contrast of 3:1: to optimize usability for all sight-abilities and environmental conditions. Visual objects refers to:
User Interface Components: Interface components that do not have accompanying text must adhere to the contrast rule. Inactive components are exempt.
Graphical Objects: Graphics such as charts and graphs, unless a particular presentation of those graphics is essential to convey its information.
Not required, but important: Color combinations must have a maximum contrast ratio of 16:1: to avoid graphical vibration and eye strain for persons with Photophobia and Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome.
Neither the Office of Disability Employment, the ADA, Rehabilitation Acts, nor the CVAA require accommodations for persons with color-blindness. Defined as 'color vision deficiency' 'CVD", accommodations are not required for any occupation. Some employers require a CVD test (the most well known being the Ishihara test), for which failure is a legal and reasonable reason to deny consideration of an applicant, according to several cases that have been upheld by courts.
There are 16 occupations in the U.S. that require color-typical sight.
This affects about 11 million jobs. They can be split into 2 categories; Those caused by color design choices and those grounded in the natural world.
Given that there will be around 160 million people employed in the U.S. in 2023, 11 million represents only about 7% of those that will be tested for color-blindness (color vision deficiency). We may think, well, there are plenty of other occupations that a color-blind person could pursue. But this offers no comfort for someone who is precluded from pursuing their dream profession due to their color-blindness.
How did we get here? I believe the requirement for color acuity in about half of these occupations is a result of designers, over many decades, choosing to use color, exclusively, to differentiate information necessary for professionals to do their work.
It’s an example of the impact that inaccessible and non-universal design can have on our society.
Grounded in the natural world
These occupations rely on workers to be able to quickly react to colors that occur in the natural world. They affect about 5.9 million workers.
| Law Enforcement Officer | Welder | Medical doctors and nurses | Ophthalmologist | Radiologist | Surgeon | Some Military |
Some examples of the cited need for color-typical vision in these occupations include:
A police officer may need to be able to identify a suspect’s clothing, the color of a vehicle, or other color-specific evidence.
Firefighters must be able to differentiate between various colors of chemical compounds contained in hazardous materials, as well as different colors of smoke and flames.
Welders must have the ability to discern the color of a flame, metal, or spark in order to accurately assess the temperature of the weld, as well as identify the different colors of a welding flame, which can help them identify the type of fuel being used, and the composition of the metal being welded.
Physicians and nurses must be able to discern between varying hues of skin pigmentation and tissue samples in order to accurately diagnose illnesses.
Radiologists must be proficient interpreting color medical images, such as those used in radiography and computed tomography.
Ophthalmologists must possess the ability to accurately discern between different shades of color in order to properly diagnose and treat eye diseases.
Surgeons identify different types of tissues, organs, and other internal anatomy based on their color when performing surgery.
Military field service personnel must have the ability to identify smoke and fire types, as well as the color systems employed by enemy military forces and civilians.
Caused by design choices
These occupations rely on color coding to facilitate the effective use of control panels, signage, and graphical user interfaces, affecting approximately 5.3 million workers, and include:
| Air Traffic Controller | Anesthesiologist | Automotive Technician | Commercial Driver | Electricians | Flight attendant | Medical Assistant | Some Military | Pilot | Railroad Engineer |
Some examples of the cited need for color-typical vision in these occupations include the ability to differentiate colors contained within:
various instrument control panels
airport runway lights
signs and signals
radar displays
wiring and insulation colors
package labels
pill colors
diagrams.
Solutions
Employing design solutions that involve text, pattern, and other types of visual differentiation besides color as well as developing color-identifying smart-glasses technology can start to break down occupational barriers for color-blind persons.
Sources
| U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics | International Association of Fire Fighters | US Department of Justice | Federal Aviation Administration | Electrical Training Alliance | American Welding Society | American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association | American Academy of Ophthalmology | American Medical Association | American College of Radiology | American Society of Anesthesiologists | National Institute of Standards and Technology | Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration | U.S. Department of Defence