ColorADD

ColorADD is a sign code for aiding color blind people to recognise colors, developed by Portuguese graphic designer and professor at the University of Minho, Miguel Neiva. It consists of geometric shapes representing colors and color combinations. The app won the accessibility category of the 2013 Vodafone Foundation Mobile For Good Europe Awards.

Code


The code is based on five base signs: two triangles (one angled upwards and the other angled downwards), one diagonal line, one solid square box and one empty square box representing black, white and the primary colors: red (magenta), blue (cyan), and yellow. Colors derived from other colors have the symbols of the combined colors, creating derivative colors (orange, green, purple and brown) and dark or white tones. Metalized colors like silver or gold are shown with a left parenthesis on the symbols.

Uses and recognitions


Since its creation, ColorADD has been applied in various services, mainly in Portugal:

It was also recognised by Buenos Aires University and TEDx Oporto.
 * Hospitals: on patient wristbands, pill bottles and path lines
 * Schools: Viarco coloring pencils and students' note books
 * Transports: subway maps, traffic lights and parking lots
 * Accessibility: paint cans, groceries, postage services, energy monitoring

In September 2017, Mattel launched a colorblind-friendly version of Uno that utilizes ColorADD.

Fees and usage restrictions
This system is not in public domain nor free licensed and it's copyrighted. Usage must be licensed by the for-profit private company Miguel Neiva & Associados - design gráfico, Lda. and fees are not public. According to ColorADD "license fee is adjusted to the partner's profile". There is a pro bono model only for schools and universities managed by the nonprofit NGO ColorADD.Social.

Orientation dependency
One of the main criticisms of the ColorADD system is that, similar to how the six (6) and nine (9) [Arabic numerals] are mirror images of each other, some of the color symbols can be confused if they are inverted. For example, the symbols for red and blue both use the same triangle oriented in a different direction. Given the composability built into the system, the symbols for green and orange are also mirror images of each other.

In some uses, this problem has been addressed by adding a baseline to indicate where the bottom of the symbol is. This is similar to what is done with the six and nine Arabic numerals (see [Regional handwriting variation]). This still adds noise to the design and can slow down the identification of some ColorADD symbols. While Arabic numerals came into existence centuries ago, the much more recent ColorADD system could have been designed with this in mind.

Colors used as codes
In many cases, colors are used as a code for something else. In these cases, the choice of color is often arbitrary. The use of color symbols can add an unnecessary layer of indirection and other more direct symbols are better choices.

For instance, the colors assigned to lines on a transport map are arbitrary. As well as a color, they are often assigned a letter or number. Instead of repeating the ColorADD symbols, it would be preferable to repeat the letter or number throughout the map or to choose a colorblind-friendly palette. Another example is the color coding of [waste sorting] bins. In this instance, symbols representing what can be put in each bin would be more useful.