Colorblindness

[Paul Albright]

The color scheme in Office 2007 creates an unusual but frustrating problem
for me. I can't tell which application, window or dialog box is active
anymore. The active window is not easily distinguishable from others. I have
closed the wrong window many times and often enough been extremely aggravated
when I discover the "Save changes?" prompt was because I was closing the
wrong window. Imagine my anger when I realize later that I didn't want to
say, "No I don't want those changes." and should have been answering, "Cancel
that, I got the wrong window, AGAIN."

The problem promises to get worse with Microsoft Windows 7.

Does anyone have some idea what I can do? Or has Microsoft ignored this
disadvantage that 7% of American males suffer with. Without considering the
..4 percent of females that is 3.5% of the population. This seems like a
significant oversight for a substantial user interface designer (Microsoft
Windows, Microsoft Office, etc). Aren't there standards concerning usability?

 

[James Silverton]

Paul wrote on Tue, 2 Mar 2010 12:46:01 -0800:

> The problem promises to get worse with Microsoft Windows 7.

>Does anyone have some idea what I can do? Or has Microsoft ignored this
>disadvantage that 7% of American males suffer with

I think it's a valid request to make the shapes of the icons more
distinctive. I suppose you mean red-green colo rblindness but there's
also blue-yellow Daltonism.

--

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

Email, with obvious alterations: not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

 

[DL]

It would seem from your post that you assume MS designs only with the US
market in mind, theres a whole wide world out there

"Paul Albright" <PaulAlbright@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:779E3B59-1474-467F-A1FF-6D8D4FA7B123@microsoft.com...
> The color scheme in Office 2007 creates an unusual but frustrating problem
> for me. I can't tell which application, window or dialog box is active
> anymore. The active window is not easily distinguishable from others. I
> have
> closed the wrong window many times and often enough been extremely
> aggravated
> when I discover the "Save changes?" prompt was because I was closing the
> wrong window. Imagine my anger when I realize later that I didn't want to
> say, "No I don't want those changes." and should have been answering,
> "Cancel
> that, I got the wrong window, AGAIN."
>
> The problem promises to get worse with Microsoft Windows 7.
>
> Does anyone have some idea what I can do? Or has Microsoft ignored this
> disadvantage that 7% of American males suffer with. Without considering
> the
> .4 percent of females that is 3.5% of the population. This seems like a
> significant oversight for a substantial user interface designer (Microsoft
> Windows, Microsoft Office, etc). Aren't there standards concerning
> usability?
>

 

[Zaidy036]

In article <779E3B59-1474-467F-A1FF-6D8D4FA7B123@microsoft.com>,
PaulAlbright@discussions.microsoft.com says...
>
> The color scheme in Office 2007 creates an unusual but frustrating problem
> for me. I can't tell which application, window or dialog box is active
> anymore. The active window is not easily distinguishable from others. I have
> closed the wrong window many times and often enough been extremely aggravated
> when I discover the "Save changes?" prompt was because I was closing the
> wrong window. Imagine my anger when I realize later that I didn't want to
> say, "No I don't want those changes." and should have been answering, "Cancel
> that, I got the wrong window, AGAIN."
>
> The problem promises to get worse with Microsoft Windows 7.
>
> Does anyone have some idea what I can do? Or has Microsoft ignored this
> disadvantage that 7% of American males suffer with. Without considering the
> .4 percent of females that is 3.5% of the population. This seems like a
> significant oversight for a substantial user interface designer (Microsoft
> Windows, Microsoft Office, etc). Aren't there standards concerning usability?

One of the available tab add-ins for office might help.

I have been trying OfficeTabv on 64 bit Win 7. It has a lot of flexibility.

Available from http://lifehacker.com/5345338/officetab-adds-tabs-to-microsoft-
office

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Have you looked at any of the accessibility features of Windows? I don't
know if they would suffice, but there are many display options that can be
manipulated for people with visual (--sorry--) "impairments".

I don't have Windows 7 installed at present, but in Vista they can be found
under "Ease of Access" (Start | Programs | Accessories | Ease of Access).

--
Susan Ramlet
**please reply to the newsgroup so others may benefit**


"Paul Albright" <PaulAlbright@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:779E3B59-1474-467F-A1FF-6D8D4FA7B123@microsoft.com...
> The color scheme in Office 2007 creates an unusual but frustrating problem
> for me. I can't tell which application, window or dialog box is active
> anymore. The active window is not easily distinguishable from others. I
> have
> closed the wrong window many times and often enough been extremely
> aggravated
> when I discover the "Save changes?" prompt was because I was closing the
> wrong window. Imagine my anger when I realize later that I didn't want to
> say, "No I don't want those changes." and should have been answering,
> "Cancel
> that, I got the wrong window, AGAIN."
>
> The problem promises to get worse with Microsoft Windows 7.
>
> Does anyone have some idea what I can do? Or has Microsoft ignored this
> disadvantage that 7% of American males suffer with. Without considering
> the
> .4 percent of females that is 3.5% of the population. This seems like a
> significant oversight for a substantial user interface designer (Microsoft
> Windows, Microsoft Office, etc). Aren't there standards concerning
> usability?
>

 

[LVTravel]

"Susan Ramlet" <shramlet@SPAMISBADmanitscoldhere.com> wrote in message
newsE6374E6-3F91-4443-9C4E-50AD4E572718@microsoft.com...
> Have you looked at any of the accessibility features of Windows? I don't
> know if they would suffice, but there are many display options that can be
> manipulated for people with visual (--sorry--) "impairments".
>
> I don't have Windows 7 installed at present, but in Vista they can be
> found under "Ease of Access" (Start | Programs | Accessories | Ease of
> Access).
>
> --
> Susan Ramlet
> **please reply to the newsgroup so others may benefit**
>
>
> "Paul Albright" <PaulAlbright@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:779E3B59-1474-467F-A1FF-6D8D4FA7B123@microsoft.com...
>> The color scheme in Office 2007 creates an unusual but frustrating
>> problem
>> for me. I can't tell which application, window or dialog box is active
>> anymore. The active window is not easily distinguishable from others. I
>> have
>> closed the wrong window many times and often enough been extremely
>> aggravated
>> when I discover the "Save changes?" prompt was because I was closing the
>> wrong window. Imagine my anger when I realize later that I didn't want to
>> say, "No I don't want those changes." and should have been answering,
>> "Cancel
>> that, I got the wrong window, AGAIN."
>>
>> The problem promises to get worse with Microsoft Windows 7.
>>
>> Does anyone have some idea what I can do? Or has Microsoft ignored this
>> disadvantage that 7% of American males suffer with. Without considering
>> the
>> .4 percent of females that is 3.5% of the population. This seems like a
>> significant oversight for a substantial user interface designer
>> (Microsoft
>> Windows, Microsoft Office, etc). Aren't there standards concerning
>> usability?
>>
>

The OP does have a valid point about being color blind to certain colors.
With the few choices of color pallets available with Office '07 and also '10
and Vista and Win 7 even I with out having a color vision problem do not
always see what I need to see on a screen because of the lack of contrast.
The high contrast setting of Vista is absolutely unusable (white on black
just doesn't cut it.)

With XP and earlier versions (and to a certain extent with Vista and I
believe 7) you can change the colors of most of the desktop items.

What you can't really change is the Office colors to a slightly higher
contrast color. You have three color combinations with '07 and three with
'10 (Blue, Silver and Black. ) None are really good contrast with the
lettering on the ribbon bar. I think '10 is slightly better than '07.

One of my original pet peeves with Office '97 to '03 versions was the gray
border in Word in page layout view where the cursor would "get lost" unless
you changed the default cursor to something else. Simple things like that
should not happen with any decent programming skills. It only took
Microsoft 10 years to get rid of that simple glitch.

 

[ybS2okj]

"Paul Albright" <PaulAlbright@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:779E3B59-1474-467F-A1FF-6D8D4FA7B123@microsoft.com...

> Does anyone have some idea what I can do? Or has Microsoft ignored this
> disadvantage that 7% of American males suffer with. Without considering
> the
> .4 percent of females that is 3.5% of the population. This seems like a
> significant oversight for a substantial user interface designer (Microsoft
> Windows, Microsoft Office, etc). Aren't there standards concerning
> usability?
>

No M$ hasn't ignored the disadvantage of 7% of American males. This matter
is under constant review but there isn't any feasible solution yet. The
only solution people like you have come out with is to work with your
partner/spouse and sort it out that way. Susie hasn't got a clue either
despite her hanging out here whole day long!

Have you thought of looking for medical solution? Under Obama you may be
eligible for free treatment!

hth

 

[ybS2okj]

"DL" <notvalid@spoofaddress.co.uk> wrote in message
news:uW8gyWluKHA.2436@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> It would seem from your post that you assume MS designs only with the US
> market in mind, theres a whole wide world out there
>

So what is your point? You are jobless drug junkie so you can't have any
contribution to make to resolve this.

hth

 

[sandypeter111]

ybS2okj;3661898 Wrote:
> "DL" notvalid@spoofaddress.co.uk wrote in message
> news:uW8gyWluKHA.2436@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...-
> It would seem from your post that you assume MS designs only with the
> US
> market in mind, theres a whole wide world out there
> -
>
> So what is your point? You are jobless drug junkie so you can't have
> any
> contribution to make to resolve this.
>
> hth

how come it can be said like this?




--
sandypeter111

 

[Bob I]

sandypeter111 wrote:

> ybS2okj;3661898 Wrote:
>
>>"DL" notvalid@spoofaddress.co.uk wrote in message
>>news:uW8gyWluKHA.2436@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...-
>>It would seem from your post that you assume MS designs only with the
>>US
>>market in mind, theres a whole wide world out there
>>-
>>
>>So what is your point? You are jobless drug junkie so you can't have
>>any
>>contribution to make to resolve this.
>>
>>hth
>
>
> how come it can be said like this?
>

Please ignore the rude anonymous poster.

 

[Paul Albright]

It is responses like those of ybS2okj that make newsgroups like this
only half as valuable as they could be.

Half because of the need to wade through useless ramblings offered by
those who either don't understand the issue posted or don't have
anything of value to say and are here because no one will give them the
time of day to spew their dribble elsewhere. This clearly demonstrates
that they know absolutely nothing of value about anything that isn't
within their own shallow self-centered self-absorbed existence.

I appreciate the rest of the responses and will investigate them, again
in some cases. What I have seen written or described about accessibility
features is centered on the ability to see this color versus that color.
I was interested to see that in some cases it seems you can actually
change the system RGB value. Like saying from now on show purple where
it is supposed to be blue.

I apologize if some readers felt slighted when I used US population
statistics. That was not an oversight so much as a convenience. The
easiest statistics to Google came from the CDC.

I would like to clarify what my particular problem is. As LVTravel
mentions, the difficulty stems from the lack of contrast or gradient in
the color of the active window, not the actual color itself. Regardless
which color scheme is chosen the problem is the same. Incidentally, I am
green-brown colorblind.

Perhaps my real aggravation is that this has never been a problem and
Microsoft's decision to lock down color options makes the interface look
more and more like the original Apple/Mac interface, lifeless and drab,
intuitive but ugly.

Thank you again.

 

[Susan Ramlet]

Thanks for this--

I don't think you can adjust individual colors in the manner you
suggest--only by changing individual elements in the display theme, which
isn't as you describe. But it's a very interesting idea, IMO. I think the
Accessibility features in Windows are more for those who require high
contrast to distinguish screen elements. You would likely lose some of the
display elegance that you might currently enjoy, but it might be worth a
look if it makes the system usable for you.

--
Susan Ramlet
**please reply to the newsgroup so others may benefit**


"Paul Albright" <Paul.Albright.47a8hl@no.email.invalid> wrote in message
newsaul.Albright.47a8hl@no.email.invalid...
>
> It is responses like those of ybS2okj that make newsgroups like this
> only half as valuable as they could be.
>
> Half because of the need to wade through useless ramblings offered by
> those who either don't understand the issue posted or don't have
> anything of value to say and are here because no one will give them the
> time of day to spew their dribble elsewhere. This clearly demonstrates
> that they know absolutely nothing of value about anything that isn't
> within their own shallow self-centered self-absorbed existence.
>
> I appreciate the rest of the responses and will investigate them, again
> in some cases. What I have seen written or described about accessibility
> features is centered on the ability to see this color versus that color.
> I was interested to see that in some cases it seems you can actually
> change the system RGB value. Like saying from now on show purple where
> it is supposed to be blue.
>
> I apologize if some readers felt slighted when I used US population
> statistics. That was not an oversight so much as a convenience. The
> easiest statistics to Google came from the CDC.
>
> I would like to clarify what my particular problem is. As LVTravel
> mentions, the difficulty stems from the lack of contrast or gradient in
> the color of the active window, not the actual color itself. Regardless
> which color scheme is chosen the problem is the same. Incidentally, I am
> green-brown colorblind.
>
> Perhaps my real aggravation is that this has never been a problem and
> Microsoft's decision to lock down color options makes the interface look
> more and more like the original Apple/Mac interface, lifeless and drab,
> intuitive but ugly.
>
> Thank you again.
>
>

 

[LVTravel]

"Paul Albright" <Paul.Albright.47a8hl@no.email.invalid> wrote in message
newsaul.Albright.47a8hl@no.email.invalid...
>
> It is responses like those of ybS2okj that make newsgroups like this
> only half as valuable as they could be.
>
> Half because of the need to wade through useless ramblings offered by
> those who either don't understand the issue posted or don't have
> anything of value to say and are here because no one will give them the
> time of day to spew their dribble elsewhere. This clearly demonstrates
> that they know absolutely nothing of value about anything that isn't
> within their own shallow self-centered self-absorbed existence.
>
> I appreciate the rest of the responses and will investigate them, again
> in some cases. What I have seen written or described about accessibility
> features is centered on the ability to see this color versus that color.
> I was interested to see that in some cases it seems you can actually
> change the system RGB value. Like saying from now on show purple where
> it is supposed to be blue.
>
> I apologize if some readers felt slighted when I used US population
> statistics. That was not an oversight so much as a convenience. The
> easiest statistics to Google came from the CDC.
>
> I would like to clarify what my particular problem is. As LVTravel
> mentions, the difficulty stems from the lack of contrast or gradient in
> the color of the active window, not the actual color itself. Regardless
> which color scheme is chosen the problem is the same. Incidentally, I am
> green-brown colorblind.
>
> Perhaps my real aggravation is that this has never been a problem and
> Microsoft's decision to lock down color options makes the interface look
> more and more like the original Apple/Mac interface, lifeless and drab,
> intuitive but ugly.
>
> Thank you again.
>
>

ybS2okj is a person who is leaching off of (stealing) computer system time
in the UK and has posted under numerous names such as Anonymous and 201002xx
where the number xx was changed to the current posting date. Depending on
where the person can steal computer time that is where the person is posting
from. One college location is currently looking for the person in question
to have it charged with theft.

Once in a while ybS2okj actually does post correct information and possibly
could be a valuable asset to this and other newsgroups but only if the
sarcasm and other incorrect comments would be withheld. With the immaturity
of some of the comments the valuable information provided is lost.