[coreyp_1]

I didn't even realize that the red/green was present until you mentioned it!

I do actually perceive it, now that you draw attention to its existence, and can tell the difference, but you are correct: thin lines are aggravating to deal with!

And it's not just the red/green issue: it's also in distinguishing them from grey when the lines are thin.

Side issue: when I was a kid, my math teacher insisted on grading using those thin BIC red pens. The problem is that it was indistinguishable from my own writing (at a glance), and it took forever to find my mistakes that were "clearly marked" by the teacher. Thin red lines are pointless to me. I guess it's a good thing that I'm naturally good at math!

[gketuma]

So is the fix to remove the underlines? Or to stop using red/green color combination? Trying to learn as well. Thanks

[coreyp_1]

For me, it's not just an "underline" issue. In my case, it's a "thin line" issue, and letters are usually made up of thin lines, especially the monospace font used here. But that's just me. (Side note: I still use monospace fonts in programming, I just choose one that has thicker lines in relation to the character size.)

For example, when I saw the website in question, I did not notice the red or green text color at all. I did see the underline, though. I didn't know it's significance, however, because the key is at the bottom of the examples (5 rows of blocks of text examples) rather than the top. Oddly enough, in this particular instance, the green of the text looks more like a light grey, and I can see the red better than the green. Normally it's the other way around, but it might have something to do with the particular shades involved.

Importantly, there are different forms of red/green colorblindness. For some people, the colors are literally indistinguishable. They look exactly the same.

Mine is a form of reduced sensitivity. I can see it if it's a large area. E.g., if you're wearing a red shirt, then I know it's red, and it looks completely different from a green shirt. If it's just a thin line of red, though, then I might not pick up on it unless I concentrate. It just doesn't stand out when the lines are thin.

Fabric can be weird for me. Some fabrics cause issue because they will use red threads interspersed throughout the cloth in order to achieve a red/pinkish overtone, and I won't notice it at all (unless I really concentrate on it). It's because the red is coming from thin lines. I have to be careful with tweed, for example.

But again, that's just my experience.

[messe]

I have the same kind (IIRC it’s called deuteranomaly).

I find increasing the brightness of the display helps, but it’s still a pain in the arse to distinguish the two when the lines are thin in this example.

Just for fun, can you make out the lettering in this image posted to the fediverse: https://mathstodon.xyz/@csk/109786201604517074

If you have deuteranopia or deuteranomaly, you should be able to just about make it out. With normal colour vision, on the other hand, it’s meant to be nearly impossible to see.

[Daneel_]

Yeah, I definitely can't see it with my 'normal' colour vision. I did notice down in the comments there's a processed version that lets you see where the letters are, but even with that knowledge it's still impossible.

[bryanrasmussen]

actually when I look at the processed version I can then make the outer ring of the O and about 70% of the last two letters. Like I can see oh there is that part of the letter - basically in the orange.

[coreyp_1]

LOL, that's great!

[illiarian]

> because the key is at the bottom of the examples (5 rows of blocks of text examples) rather than the top.

It's worse in mobile. It's several screens of example blocks before you get to the key.

[capableweb]

Depends on the use case. If you want to signal deletion, strikethrough can be more appropriate than coloring. If you really have to use color, I've heard brown-blue combo should be easier, or at least blue-yellow color blindness is a lot rarer than red-green, so it'll be more accessible.

But the most accessible would be to use appropriate structure (together with appropriate semantic structure for those that cannot see at all) rather than appropriate coloring.

[datagram]

The W3C has lots of documentation and guidance on how to deal with this issue, since it's part of their Web Content Accessibility Guidelines: https://www.w3.org/WAI/WCAG21/Understanding/use-of-color.htm...

[yuchi]

The solution from literature is “use color as much as you want (within the limits of sufficient contrast for readability) but nether rely exclusively on it, always add some other visual device, such as icons or (even better) textual additions”.

[heisenbit]

Make color areas bigger and use higher contrast light/dark versions to keep some distance between red and green. Generally avoid thin red to signal anything important.

[MisterTea]

The fix is "designers" need to understand that there are people with visual disabilities and take steps to stop discriminating against them.

[nativeit]

Wait, so just no more using red? Anywhere, at all, in any facet of design? What about other differentiated abilities. Should “designers” stop using anything under 18-pt font? 24-pt? How accessible must an interface before you will grant “designers” their un-quoted status as designers?

[dragonwriter]

> Wait, so just no more using red? Anywhere, at all, in any facet of design?

The usual advice I’ve seen to avoid discriminating against people with reduced ability to differentiate color is “don’t use color distinctions alone for any purpose”. If you want to make things recognizable as different at a glance, and are inclined to use color for it – do that, but also use some other visual distinction. If its text, use a non-color stylistic distinction as well as color.

[nativeit]

Sound advice. All that strike through is going to look horrible, and diminish the overall readability for a much larger population. I’m not sure there’s a very good solution for this particular case. Should they trash the entire idea rather than accept some lesser accessibility?

I’m certainly not against broader accessibility in any sense, I have had multiple sclerosis for 22-years, I was really more against using “quotes” to question a professional’s credibility for what seems like a fairly sensible choice.