Colored Pens

["Brian S. R. Bennett" <bb18+ -at- ANDREW -dot- CMU -dot- EDU>]

>Virginia Krenn wrote:

>     Supposedly, 10% of males are red/green color blind as are my father
>     and both of my sons. I used red pens to grade papers. And, I still
>     like red (or pink) to make notes on my own documents. But, now I
>     wonder what would be best for grading papers.

>     Blue would be difficult to use on papers that are written in blue ink.
>     Yellow ink on white paper doesn't have enough contrast. So, what is
>     the ideal color?

I am severely (more than just the usual red/green) color blind.  Color-blind
people lack the ability to see various ranges within the color spectrum.  As
a result, colors that are different to non-color-blind people are perceived
to be the same, or at least, not as different, by color-blind people.

To overcome this inability to use shades of color to differentiate between
colors, color-blind people rely heavily on contrast.  So, a darker color
such as dark blue or red, would be fine.  I don't think that pink would
provide enough contrast on white paper.  Green (unless it's very dark) or
yellow are definitely difficult for me to see.

If you want to use a color that contrasts with the color of the type, you're
probably out of luck when it comes to color-blind people.  I can rarely tell
the difference between blue, black, and red ink without putting my eyes
about four inches from the page and squinting.  Using a thick marker can
help, but can make the editing fairly messy.

Brian

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  Brian S. R. Bennett
  Senior Information Developer
  H. B. Maynard and Company
  Eight Parkway Center
  Pittsburgh, PA 15220

  Phone: 412/921-2400 ext. 123
    FAX: 412/921-4575
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