Read colour through another language.
If a game, map or pencil relies on colour alone, not everyone receives the same information. ColorADD adds a compact set of symbols to identify colours. The colour stays. A second way of reading it makes the same object more accessible.
PT PortugalIn practice. A licensed colour-symbol system with documented applications, including Mattel’s 2017 UNO ColorADD edition.
What to keep in view
A symbol code still has to be learned and rendered clearly. Adding it cannot compensate for illegible print, poor contrast or information that is unavailable to someone who cannot see the symbols.
Give colour a second way to be read
Created by Portuguese designer Miguel Neiva, ColorADD uses basic graphic symbols that combine to represent colours and tones. The organisation dates its first public-space implementation to 2010. Mattel’s UNO ColorADD, released in the United States in 2017, provides a tangible example: players can match colours using the added symbols. The code is applied through licensing rather than being an automatically adopted universal standard.
An accessibility intervention can add a shared layer instead of creating a separate version of an experience for every user. When the same code appears on different objects, learning it once may become useful elsewhere. The value lies in preserving the activity while reducing dependence on a sensory distinction that not everyone can make.
Carry the code across everyday objects
Colour becomes one channel of identification rather than the only channel.
Read next.
A sign that can find its voice.
Both add a readable layer to visual information. One uses a camera and audio; the other uses a graphic code to communicate colour without requiring colour discrimination.
Let a place be explored by touch.
Both translate visual information into another readable form. A graphic language for colour and a tactile representation of a place support different ways of perceiving.