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Re: Bright yellow as a navigational background color

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From: Judith Blankman
Date: Aug 21, 2017 12:29PM

Hi Joan,

Tried to see what I could find in design publications. If you want places to go digging, try A List Apart or Smashing Magazine.

Instead of specifically targeting accessibility, you might need to seek guidance about good design which advises some bright color but not too much or to combine bright color with neutrals. While this is definitely an accessibility issue, it's also a usability issue. Articles on color theory might also help.

Here's the closest I could find to some advice about adjacent bright colors.

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/02/color-theory-for-designer-part-3-creating-your-own-color-palettes/

In this example, they are complementary and bright, a red adjacent to a green. No anchor link, so look for this phrase, which somewhat passively advises against this approach:

'Another complementary color scheme with a wide range of chromas. Notice how placing the brighter red and green colors next to each other, a sort of 'vibrating- quality is achieved on their edges. Be aware of this in your designs and make sure it's done intentionally, if it all.-


Best,

Judith Blankman

From: WebAIM-Forum < <EMAIL REMOVED> > on behalf of Joan Preston < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Reply-To: " <EMAIL REMOVED> " < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Date: Monday, August 21, 2017 at 11:04 AM
To: " <EMAIL REMOVED> " < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: [WebAIM] Bright yellow as a navigational background color

Hi all,

A user is using bright yellow (#FFFF000) as the background for a navigational bar and the drop down. The background of the banner above it is orange (#FF4400). The yellow by itself is hard to look at, adding the orange above makes it even harder to view the page. I tried to find a site to reference why having these bright colors could be a problem for some users, but didn't find one that explained well. I did watch Jared Smith-Rethinking Color and Contrast video on YouTube and I thought it was great, but was hoping I could like to a web page instead.

Does anyone know if a site that explains the issues of using bright colors?

Thanks,

Joan Preston
Web Accessibility Coordinator
ITS - California State University, Long Beach
Usability and Accessibility go hand and hand