Support information conveyed by color with text
no. 033
Make sure information conveyed through color is also conveyed through text
Not everyone can easily perceive color differences: low vision and colorblind users can easily miss out on information when it is only conveyed through color indications or subtle color changes. Moreover, expecting a user to make a choice based on their ability to perceive colors will be impossible for anyone who can’t see the screen, unless that information is also provided through text.
To do so, simply make sure that whenever information is conveyed through the use of colors, such as “make a choice by selecting the green or red buttons”, that the equivalent information is also conveyed explicitly in text. While a truly accessible solution would be to avoid designing interactions that rely on colors alone, in an example such as the one above, both buttons could also display the color name inside the button, so users can easily tell them apart. Doing so would allow users who can’t tell green and red apart to make a choice based on the actual color name included in the button, rather than the color of the button itself.
User Story
As a colorblind user, I [...]