Color vs B&W

[Jim Gettys]

Note there are recommendations on this topic in the Sugar HIG (Human
Interface Guidelines)....
                                - Jim


On Sat, 2007-05-19 at 12:37 -0400, Kent Quirk wrote:
> Some of the resources you might look into are related to designing for 
> colorblind users. I believe the stats are that 10% of men and 2% of 
> women have some level of colorblindness.
> 
> The key thing is to make sure that you differentiate colors by 
> saturation and value, not just hue.
> 
> I tell designers to print out their images on a black and white laser 
> printer -- if it still looks good and you can read everything, you have 
> a reasonably safe design for a colorblind user. The nice thing about the 
> XO is that there's a button to see it in context without having to go to 
> printouts.
> 
>     Kent
> 
> 
> Hal Murray wrote:
> > If we are serious about taking advantage of the black/white mode of the 
> > display, there is a lot of work to be done.  Turning off the backlights does 
> > save a lot of power.
> >
> > As an example, I challenge anybody to play Block Party in B&W mode.  :)
> >
> > Sorry for the clutter if this is already on the radar.  Is there a checklist 
> > for things like this?
> >
> >
> >
> > Now that I think about if a bit....
> >
> > When was the last time you saw a B/W display?  I think it was pre-web for me, 
> > maybe 15 years ago.  Are there any good web pages on designing UIs for B/W 
> > displays?  Maybe some hints on designing for color-blind people might be 
> > helpful.
> >
> > Is there a simple high-level API so a program can tell if it's running on B/W 
> > or color?  I'm guessing a few applications might be willing to have two modes.
> >
> > This feels like a giant can of worms.  I'm embarrassed that I didn't notice 
> > it when I first saw something about the dual mode display technology.
> >
> >
> >   
> 
> 
-- 
Jim Gettys
One Laptop Per Child