Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!mcsun!ukc!mucs!r1!pjc
From: pjc@r1.uucp (Peter Crowther (CAG ra))
Newsgroups: comp.cog-eng
Subject: Re: The use of Red and Green
Message-ID: <1017@m1.cs.man.ac.uk>
Date: 28 Feb 90 12:23:02 GMT
References: <44532@lanl.gov> <5468@bgsuvax.UUCP> <3037@draken.nada.kth.se>
Sender: news@cs.man.ac.uk
Reply-To: pjc@r1.UUCP (Peter Crowther (CAG ra))
Organization: University of Manchester, UK
Lines: 43

In article <3037@draken.nada.kth.se> ianf@nada.kth.se (Ian Feldman) writes:
>In article <5468@bgsuvax.UUCP> maner@bgsuvax.UUCP (Walter Maner) writes:
>>From article <44532@lanl.gov>, by jwk@lanl.gov (John W. Keller):
>>> I am developing a computer based instructional system that uses
>>> the colors green and red for, what would seem to be, the obvious
>>> ... 
>>> It was brought to my attention that since the most common color
>>> blindness is red/green that it would be difficult for some people
>>> to use the visual score.
>>> 
>> I applaud your sensitivity.
>> The obvious solution is to allow full user customization of colors.
>
>  Actually, full user customization, especially of permanent- or
>  default-changing type, is definitely not the answer.  User A dis-
>  covers the customization feature and replaces the defaults with what
>  she finds "nice" and "pleasing" colors.  User B is then called upon to
>  use the same computer/ the same copy of the program but never gets
>  around to read the manuals, and even if she did, wouldn't know how
>  to proceed anyway.  Thus she is forced to use someone else's defaults,
>  rather than the primary well- or better-balanced ones.

**** MILD CHILI-LEVEL FLAME ON ****

Oh, come on! Do you SERIOUSLY mean to say that the defaults are the same
for EACH USER? Give 'em all a local work space and let them do what the
hell they want within it. Multi-user but single-username systems are
THE most irritating systems to work with.

It should cost about 1 day's programming, plus the user entering
a unique username (let 'em use christian+surname, plus initials to
disambiguate. No silly system-allocated names to remember then. Oh yes,
no password - unless there's really confidential info in there). I
consider the results to be well worth that expenditure.

**** FLAME OFF ****

		- Peter

Peter Crowther, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, University of Manchester,
		Manchester M13 9PL, England.
Internet: pcrowther@r1.cs.man.ac.uk	Janet: pcrowther@uk.ac.man.cs.r1
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