----- Original Message -----
From: "Ineke van der Maat" <inekemaa(at)xs4all.nl>
To: <Rob.Fitzsimmons(at)Summit.Fiserv.com>
Cc: <hwg-graphics(at)hwg.org>
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 4:55 PM
Subject: Re: Websafe colors


>Web safe colors give you the certainity that these green and
> red  will not be rendered by any monitor when you want to take in
> account that fact.
>

With regard to colorblindness, the web safe palette is no guarantee of
anything.  The only guarantee of "equivalent alternative content" as
required by such things as the US Section 508 and other attempts at
accessibility standards, is to use colors completely opposite or one third
distance around the color wheel from one another.  Any color wheel, web safe
or not.

Designers can stick to the safety palette and still create a site that looks
like one continuous shade of beige or gray to colorblind individuals.  This
has as much to do with saturation and luminescence as with hue.

Colorblindness in and of itself is no argument for strict use of so-called
'web safe colors'.  'Non-safe' colors can work just as well or as poorly.

That said, I'm still a 95%-er on use of the safety palette.  It's a hard
habit to break, especially in large areas of single color, and *especially*
the first couple of times that you see your *beautiful* creation on a
client's monitor and see what a mess that can be  <cringe>.

The relationship between the colors is pretty predictable, regardless of
things like gamma and bits and all that jazz.  It may be darker, lighter,
but the red and blue that looked good together on your monitor still looks
good on someone else's.


Karin

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