Practical Tips for Using Color in Accessible Documents
Whether you’re a business owner, employee, or individual, you likely create content that is consumed digitally and/or in person. From memos to logos, you hope your content conveys meaning.
But what if your meaning was lost because your content was hard to read?
Today, we’re going to consider the need for documents to be accessible and easily readable for everyone, even if they have vision, technological, or connectivity issues. Color plays a key role in accessibility. To highlight this principle, let’s first consider one of the most basic documents that should be highly accessible—your resume.
Contrast and Colorful Resumes
If there is one document we all have in common, it’s the resume. You may have never coded a webpage or laid out a magazine spread, but you’ve almost certainly written a resume.
Just like a public-facing document, including those posted online, resumes must be accessible to the reader—otherwise, you won’t get the job.
That means the resume must be easy to read. So, what is the best color for your resume?
Contrast is the first and most important consideration. Imagine if this page had white type on a sunshine yellow background. Would it be easy to read? No. The reason is that the contrast would not be high enough.
Black text on a white field provides the most contrast—the font and background colors are as different as possible. The opposite is also true—white text on a black background. This “dark mode” is often an accessibility feature on devices as it can be easier on the eyes.
Does that mean your resume has to be black and white? While this is considered classic, formal, and dignified, you can also use color.
The best way to ensure the colors you choose that have enough contrast is to print the document in black and white. If you can read it easily, you’re good. If the text blends into the background, choose different colors.
Link Colors
Hyperlinks are often underlined and highlighted in blue. This signals to the reader that it is a clickable source of further information.
Some websites like to experiment with other colors or no change at all. This can be confusing to readers and reduce the number of clicks. Again, you should make sure that the link text has sufficient contrast with the background.
Color Psychology
Most internet users will be familiar with the use of color psychology even if they don’t realize it. In games, apps, and even real-world situations like sitting at a traffic light, for example, green indicates a safe situation while red calls for caution and action.
These colors will indicate the same to your readers—green means go, and red means stop. Yellow or orange are also attention-getting.
Think carefully about how you use these colors. Indiscriminate use could confuse your readers.
In addition to conveying information, color psychology can also affect the reader’s mood. Blues and greens are known to be soothing, while red can foster strong emotions. If you’re using a great deal of color, make sure its effects mesh well with the purpose of the document.
PDFs for Document Integrity
So far, we’ve discussed the need for high contrast and attention to color psychology in accessible documents. However, it must be noted that different devices display colors differently.
For example, I use two monitors in my office. They are different brands, and I can notice a difference in color if I drag an image from one screen to the other.
In addition to differences in display, different screen sizes can wreak havoc on formatting, graphics, and images. The solution, though, is a simple one—make important digital documents available in PDF format.
PDFs are “locked in,” so to speak. They won’t change when opened with different programs or on different devices. They’ll appear and print as true to color as possible.
Additional Means of Making Colors Accessible
What, though, for individuals who use screen readers due to poor eyesight or blindness? Can they possibly benefit from the colors you choose for your accessible documents?
Yes, they can, if you put in the effort needed. Provide detailed and descriptive alternative text for any visuals you use. Don’t forget to mention colors. After all, knowing that a photo is in sepia can help communicate that it is old, or an illustration might convey sadness or anger through colors like blue or red. Conveying this in the alternate text preserves the intended meaning.
Key Takeaways
Resumes, government documents, and public-facing business documents all require easy accessibility. This can be accomplished in part through a savvy use of color.
Make sure there is enough contrast between text and other elements. Follow accepted standards for hyperlinks and alternative text. When in doubt, offer documents in PDF format. And perhaps most importantly, remember that colors have the power to communicate meaning and influence emotion.
