Northern California has been dealing with catastrophic seasonal fires for the last couple of years. Its deadly blaze has killed over 85 and destroyed 18,804 homes in 2018, according to USA TODAY. If you remember, this year’s wildfire was extremely severe, and it lasted for a couple of months until it got under control. During this devastating time, millions of people had to be very cautious about the disaster. Especially for the people who live in the area close to the fire, they had to consistently stay up to date with the latest news in case they need to be vacuated. I am sure you have seen or familiar with these fire monitor maps – a map uses different colors to track the severity of a particular region.
Sure, these maps are nicely made and continuously being updated by the media. These maps give out information that helps people to understand the situation right away and make people feel secure for a moment. However, these maps the majority sees are NOT accessible for people with color blindness. Additionally, color blindness is more common than you think – there are over 300 million color blind people worldwide! This means if the color blind people could not figure out the color on the fire monitor map in time, their lives could literally be in danger. So why don’t we see two different versions of these maps (or any colored map) on the internet when the vital information gets out to the crowd?
I think it is crucial and ethical to always keep accessibility and inclusivity in the back of our heads when we design. If designers were neglecting accessibility in their design, a simple mistake could literally put people’s lives in danger. Also, not being mindful of creating something could bring tremendous inconvenience to disabled people’s lives. For example, the recent election had been a long race for everybody because people had to consistently go online, refreshing, and checking the election result map because of the suspense. However, there are no other maps available other than the red and blue (sometimes they have pink and orange in it to show the unfinished result) map on Twitter or Google. I wish there could be an option for showing the color blind filtered version for the color blind people. Otherwise, how else would people with color blindness to view the result every 30 minutes? Putting the map into a color-blind filter every 30 minutes? I don’t think so.
I am genuinely curious about how color blind people navigate themselves through these circumstances because I know not everyone could afford or have access to color-blind glasses. The only technology I know so far that has a color-blind filter/feature is Apple. They allow users to have the option to choose color themes that fit their needs. This whole accessibility for color-blind people theme has really been hitting me hard. Whenever I came up with some system maps or some visuals emphasized by colors, I always think about how a color-blind person perceives this. Next time, try to design the same map(visuals) in two different versions, one for regular people and one for color-blind people. You never know if a person comes to cross your design one day who has color blindness, and you might just did the right thing to make their day!
Reference
May, A., & Bacon, J. (2018, November 12). California wildfires: What we know now about death tolls, damage. Retrieved December 02, 2020, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/11/12/california-wildfires-death-tolls-damage-camp-woolsey-hill-what-we-know/1974551002/
I have to admit that Apple company did an excellent job on the color blind filter.
Wow, what a sharp title! Before you mentioned the example of the color that used to present fire, I totally didn’t have a sense about the color-blind users. The designers, I believe, didn’t consider this user group either. Tell the truth, there is a long way for accessible design.
I really appreciate that you decided to highlight color-blindness! Thats one disability that I didn’t think to address, but is incredibly important to do so. Great job!