What Colors Should You Avoid for Color Blind?
Understanding Color Blindness
Well, if you or someone you know struggles with color blindness, it can sometimes feel frustrating, especially when it comes to designing or choosing colors for daily use. Color blindness isn't just one condition—it's actually a term used to describe a variety of visual impairments where people have difficulty distinguishing certain colors. I remember having a conversation with a friend recently who was trying to choose the right clothing colors and realized how tricky it could be for someone with color blindness.
Understanding what colors to avoid for color blind individuals is essential, not just for design, but for everyday tasks like choosing clothes, organizing a workspace, or even navigating apps and websites. In this article, I’ll break down what colors can be challenging for those with different types of color blindness and how to make life a little easier for them.
Types of Color Blindness and How They Affect Color Perception
Red-Green Color Blindness
Honestly, the most common form of color blindness is red-green color blindness. People with this type of color blindness often struggle to distinguish between red and green, and sometimes, brown and orange as well. It’s actually more common in men than in women. My friend, who has red-green color blindness, once joked about how he can never tell if the traffic light is red or green unless it’s super obvious.
For those with red-green color blindness, the colors that are hardest to distinguish are:
Red and green: These can appear quite similar or even indistinguishable, especially in dim light.
Brown and green: Another tough pair for those with red-green color blindness.
Yellow and green: This is also an issue for some people with red-green vision problems.
Blue-Yellow Color Blindness
For those with blue-yellow color blindness, distinguishing between blue and yellow shades can be quite challenging. This form of color blindness is rarer than red-green color blindness but still affects a significant number of people. People with this type of color blindness may have trouble telling apart:
Blue and yellow: These colors might appear similar to each other, particularly if they are light shades.
Purple and blue: Some may also confuse purple with blue since the blue component of purple may be hard to differentiate.
Total Color Blindness (Monochromacy)
Honestly, total color blindness, also known as monochromacy, is extremely rare. Individuals with monochromacy see everything in shades of gray, as they cannot perceive color at all. For these individuals, color choice doesn’t matter, as they can only see brightness and shades. Imagine trying to select paint colors when all you can see are different tones of gray! I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for someone to navigate the world without color.
Colors to Avoid for Color Blind People
Red and Green Combinations
For people with red-green color blindness, red and green combinations should definitely be avoided. These are two of the most commonly confused colors for them. So, if you’re designing something like a website or creating visuals, you’ll want to ensure that red text on a green background is something you steer clear of.
When I was helping a friend design a presentation, we accidentally chose a green background with red text, and it was impossible for her to read it, even though she’s not color blind. For those with red-green color blindness, it would’ve been much worse!
Blue and Yellow
For those with blue-yellow color blindness, mixing blue and yellow can make things tricky. A yellow text on a blue background can appear difficult to read or indistinguishable for someone with this type of color blindness. The contrast is important for readability. So, if you're picking colors for designs, choose hues that have stronger contrasts between them to ensure they're easily distinguishable for everyone.
Light Colors and Low Contrast
Another important thing to keep in mind is the use of light colors or colors with low contrast. For example, a light yellow text on a light gray background might be nearly invisible for people with any form of color blindness. From personal experience, I’ve found that high contrast is the safest bet when designing for accessibility.
A while ago, I was working on a website layout, and a colleague suggested using light pastel colors for the background. As soon as I previewed it, I realized how hard it was for me to differentiate text from the background—imagine how much harder it would be for someone with color blindness.
How to Design for Color Blindness
Use Color Combinations with High Contrast
One of the most effective ways to make designs more accessible is by ensuring that there’s high contrast between colors. Using blue and yellow, for example, can help people with red-green color blindness. And for those with blue-yellow color blindness, using red or green with blue (with careful attention to contrast) could work better. Black and white is also a reliable combo since it doesn’t depend on color at all.
Avoid Relying Only on Color
A mistake I made once while designing a chart was relying only on color to represent data. I realized later that it’s better to use text labels or patterns in addition to colors. This way, even if someone can’t distinguish the colors, they can still understand the information based on the patterns or labels.
Testing Tools
Actually, there are great tools available online to test how accessible your designs are for color blind individuals. Color Oracle is one such tool that shows how your designs will appear to people with different types of color blindness. I use it regularly, and it’s honestly saved me from many frustrating mistakes.
Conclusion: Thoughtful Design Can Make a Difference
Honestly, designing with color blindness in mind can be a bit tricky, but it’s absolutely worth it. By understanding the colors to avoid for color blind people—like red-green combinations, blue-yellow clashes, and low-contrast schemes—you can create designs that are more inclusive and accessible.
By taking simple steps like testing for contrast, using patterns, and ensuring that your color choices work for everyone, you’ll be making a significant difference. And trust me, as someone who works with design regularly, I’ve seen how a little attention to detail can make designs not only more inclusive but also aesthetically better for everyone!
How much height should a boy have to look attractive?
Well, fellas, worry no more, because a new study has revealed 5ft 8in is the ideal height for a man. Dating app Badoo has revealed the most right-swiped heights based on their users aged 18 to 30.
Is 172 cm good for a man?
Yes it is. Average height of male in India is 166.3 cm (i.e. 5 ft 5.5 inches) while for female it is 152.6 cm (i.e. 5 ft) approximately. So, as far as your question is concerned, aforesaid height is above average in both cases.
Is 165 cm normal for a 15 year old?
The predicted height for a female, based on your parents heights, is 155 to 165cm. Most 15 year old girls are nearly done growing. I was too. It's a very normal height for a girl.
Is 160 cm too tall for a 12 year old?
How Tall Should a 12 Year Old Be? We can only speak to national average heights here in North America, whereby, a 12 year old girl would be between 137 cm to 162 cm tall (4-1/2 to 5-1/3 feet). A 12 year old boy should be between 137 cm to 160 cm tall (4-1/2 to 5-1/4 feet).
How tall is a average 15 year old?
Average Height to Weight for Teenage Boys - 13 to 20 Years
| Male Teens: 13 - 20 Years) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 14 Years | 112.0 lb. (50.8 kg) | 64.5" (163.8 cm) |
| 15 Years | 123.5 lb. (56.02 kg) | 67.0" (170.1 cm) |
| 16 Years | 134.0 lb. (60.78 kg) | 68.3" (173.4 cm) |
| 17 Years | 142.0 lb. (64.41 kg) | 69.0" (175.2 cm) |
How to get taller at 18?
Staying physically active is even more essential from childhood to grow and improve overall health. But taking it up even in adulthood can help you add a few inches to your height. Strength-building exercises, yoga, jumping rope, and biking all can help to increase your flexibility and grow a few inches taller.
Is 5.7 a good height for a 15 year old boy?
Generally speaking, the average height for 15 year olds girls is 62.9 inches (or 159.7 cm). On the other hand, teen boys at the age of 15 have a much higher average height, which is 67.0 inches (or 170.1 cm).
Can you grow between 16 and 18?
Most girls stop growing taller by age 14 or 15. However, after their early teenage growth spurt, boys continue gaining height at a gradual pace until around 18. Note that some kids will stop growing earlier and others may keep growing a year or two more.
Can you grow 1 cm after 17?
Even with a healthy diet, most people's height won't increase after age 18 to 20. The graph below shows the rate of growth from birth to age 20. As you can see, the growth lines fall to zero between ages 18 and 20 ( 7 , 8 ). The reason why your height stops increasing is your bones, specifically your growth plates.