What's new
By:

Not important but is there enough variety in the software colour palette?

The three on the right are optimised for different variations of colour blindness (presumably based on some standard guidelines).
 
DavidJ said:
The three on the right are optimised for different variations of colour blindness (presumably based on some standard guidelines).
Click to expand...
I always thought high contrast was required. In any case, if that is the aim, surely the User should be offered the facility of defining their own palette?
 
The three on the right are not about contrast - the colors used avoid colors people with those types of colorblindness have trouble seeing. They have been out for a while and we haven't received negative feedback on them (to my knowledge) - however if there is a way they can be improved we are certainly open to it. Or, if there is another kind of visual impairment which a "super high contrast" mode would help, we would be willing to take a look at that, but if that's the case please be as specific as possible about what it is / name / etc. so we know the constraints of developing a color palette.

A user-defined color palette for iconography isn't a straightforward thing to expose and would take a lot of work - work I'm sure everyone would prefer we spend on CAD functionality - so best to let us develop it for you which is much faster.
 
There seems to be a misunderstanding about colour-blindness. Typically, a colour blind person can see most of the visible spectrum, same as anyone, but the colours are not necessarily seen the same. For example, I have a brother who is a colour blind electrician. For good reason, mains electric cabling uses primary colours. He does not see the colours as we do (red seen as brown etc) but it doesn't matter because they are distinctive - we see red and call it red, he sees brown and calls it red (it is red). When it comes to soft colours (like light grey), a colour blind person can distinguish between them as well as anyone can because the difference is determined by contrast, light/darkness. So, as I said, it doesn't matter, but the three on the right, being so similar, seem OTT.

Can any colour blind Alibre users chip in?
 
Well they can see everything but cannot necessarily distinguish everything. Our approach is guided roughly by this image's intent (not this image specifically, just for illustration):
1780488140055.png

Duet/Prot have similar perceptions - in that regardless of how and what color we see, they can see varying shades of browns, blues, and yellows. Tritanopia folks can see pinks, reds, and turquoise-like blues. So rather than rely purely on contrast, we pick the color palettes directly from the colors that are visible to people with various colorblindness types. That at least has been our approach so far.

Normal OK buttons (for features that succeed) are green. For colorblind palettes, no one can see green effectively - but all can see blue - so they are various shades of blue.

Question - you say "virtually no difference between the 3 on the right" - It is true that Deut and Prot are nearly identical - you can see from the color palette above their perceptions are also nearly identical. However there is a massive difference when using Tritanopia. So I'm wondering if you've actually tried them out, or are basing that assertion purely on the little icons above the color palette names.
 
Not directly related to colour blindness - more to high contrast colours. From my exposure to industrial control systems, I know that high contrast screens can be very tiring to observe for long periods. Often much less stark colours are deliberately chosen to reduce eye strain - high contrast is reserved for alarm/fault conditions, and even then typically for the more significant cases.
 
Max said:
Well they can see everything but cannot necessarily distinguish everything. Our approach is guided roughly by this image's intent (not this image specifically, just for illustration):
View attachment 47359

Duet/Prot have similar perceptions - in that regardless of how and what color we see, they can see varying shades of browns, blues, and yellows. Tritanopia folks can see pinks, reds, and turquoise-like blues. So rather than rely purely on contrast, we pick the color palettes directly from the colors that are visible to people with various colorblindness types. That at least has been our approach so far.

Normal OK buttons (for features that succeed) are green. For colorblind palettes, no one can see green effectively - but all can see blue - so they are various shades of blue.

Question - you say "virtually no difference between the 3 on the right" - It is true that Deut and Prot are nearly identical - you can see from the color palette above their perceptions are also nearly identical. However there is a massive difference when using Tritanopia. So I'm wondering if you've actually tried them out, or are basing that assertion purely on the little icons above the color palette names.
Click to expand...
Blue and Gray do not seem to have any difference between icon colours, just borders. Dark mode changes icon red to pink. For Deuteranopia, icon colours blue and yellow are darker, red is a dark orange. There doesn't seem to be any significant difference between the icons for Deuteranopia and Protanopia, but perhaps there isn't a fully useful solution for those types. For Tritanopia, the icon yellow is changed to pink - Does this actually make a difference? Isn't it the case that Tritanopia confuses yellow and pink? Anyway, perhaps this post has gone too far. If a colour blind person needs a different palette, at least we know Alibre are willing to support them.
 
Dark mode generally desaturates the colors - highly saturated colors on very dark backgrounds cause eye strain and are hard to see.
 
I just wasted half an hour searching for the colour palette settings (v29) and completely missed it several times in the color scheme tab because I expected the different palettes to be visible right when entering the tab instead of only when clicking on the drop down.

I have three suggestions:

1:
have all options visible at the same time with a selection below (similar to all the options in the design viewing settings)

2:
have a preview of the window in different colors as it would appear if the option would be active.
Either again like the design viewing settings, or the color scheme preview for the canvas color scheme.

3:
let people create their own color schemes
 
adding to 3:

I especially would like to change the Icon color, as the yellow appears a bit harsh in dark mode. (in the backend it appears to be possible anyways, as the Tritanopia scheme shows)
 
It's important to note that these palettes are not for regular folks - either you need to use it, or you do not. They are not intended, though nothing can stop you, from recreationally choosing to use them, but they are distinct conceptually from the Gray/Blue/Dark mode palettes in that they are not a style choice, they are a medical necessity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top