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Re: Outdoor captioning contrast

for

From: Chagnon | PubCom
Date: Mar 23, 2014 5:33PM

Karl Groves wrote:
" The top 3 choices should be
Yellow on black
White on black
Black on yellow "

Agree. However, in certain lighting conditions (such as bright sunlight),
white anything can glare and become illegible. And a low afternoon sun angle
(azimuth) hitting a jumbotron becomes very difficult to see.

Jay, you might want to check with your state's department of transportation
for format guidelines and research on transportation signage (not
informational signs, such as "Next Exit, New York City, but traffic
signage).

Karl, so glad you got your research trip across the country paid by the
client/employer (grin), but that research has been available for several
decades, as well as typefaces (it's "Highway Helvetica" in bold and
semi-bold weights). US Department of Transportation might also have
guidelines, especially for US Interstates and highways.

-Bevi Chagnon
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-----Original Message-----
From: <EMAIL REMOVED>
[mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Karl Groves
Sent: Sunday, March 23, 2014 6:10 PM
To: Cliff Tyllick; WebAIM Discussion List
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Outdoor captioning contrast

I'm probably better at explaining spooky action at a distance. ;-)

Actually I've done a bit of work on this while working on the Nextel Fanview
(which soon after became Sprint FanView). A very long story short they paid
us to go across the country doing field studies on the device. It turns out
that best practice color contrast in bright environments is not too
dissimilar from color contrast changes for low-vision users. The top 3
choices should be

Yellow on black
White on black
Black on yellow

Incidentally this is why you see so many of these combinations on outdoor
signage.




On Sun, Mar 23, 2014 at 11:18 AM, Cliff Tyllick
< <EMAIL REMOVED> >wrote:

>
> With apologies to those who might not know of the U.S. game show,
> Jeopardy!, "Subsidy for $1000, please, Alex!"
>
> Jay, I don't have an answer for you, but I do have an observation in
> the form of a question: At some point it must make sense for
> governmental agencies to stop giving guidelines on best practices to
> businesses free of charge and start saying, "Here's the problem you
> have to solve to achieve accessibility. Do it." Where is that point?
>
> There is a move afoot to create certification processes for
> accessibility professionals. But if all the best practices are
> available for free, it won't make sense for new people to consider the
> profession. To get work, you'll have to get certified, which will
> involve some kind of education and experience and won't be free, and
> then to keep work, you'll have to compete with all of this information
that is made available for free.
>
> So, where's the balance?
>
> Don't misunderstand. Ensuring that people with hearing disabilities
> can enjoy live football without missing out on the information given
> by the stadium announcer is a noble goal. But don't the Minnesota
> Vikings make enough money to pay for that advice, just as they would
> pay for advice to improve any other component of their new stadium?
>
>
> (Hmmm, come to think of it, I know of someone who might have just the
> information they need. He sometimes teaches "Viking Accessibility."
> Karl Groves, are you listening?)
>
> Cliff Tyllick
>
>
>
>
> On Thursday, February 27, 2014 12:20 PM, "Wyant, Jay (MNIT)" <
> <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> I have a question that is sort of outside of the usual topic areas.
> We're advising the local NFL franchise, which is building a new
> stadium, on how to make it fully accessible.
>
> Of course we want captioning. We currently plan to recommend that the
> captioning display be separate from the ginormous Jumbotron-style
> screens (and we will probably reference the ANSI A117.1 standards, as
> much as they are usable). Does anyone have any experience or research
> on the best form of high-contrast readability of such displays? We
> were thinking black text on white if feasible.
>
> We are also making recommendations re character height, etc. so
> thoughts are welcomed on those aspects. But I am most curious to learn
> if there is any research on the contrast - particularly at that
> distance and with the sort of arena lighting common to such venues.
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Jay
>
> JAY WYANT | CHIEF INFORMATION ACCESSIBILITY OFFICER MN.IT SERVICES,
> CENTRAL
> 651.201.1001 (w) | 612.825.8285 (m) | <EMAIL REMOVED>