Addressing the Need for Color Universal Design (CUD)

Background

There is much variation in the way people see color and it is believed that in Japan there are more than 3 million people (one out of every 20 men, one out of every 500 women) who have variant color vision. Globally, over 200 million people are believed to experience color differently; roughly the equivalent of the number of males who have blood type AB. In recent years, awareness of the importance to think of contrast, design and color usage taking into consideration people who experience color differently has been rising and this has led to the adoption of color schemes based on Color Universal Design (CUD) in everyday situations like, for example, the color palettes used in subway line maps.
Olympus firmly believes in the importance of designing products that are easy to use and identify by people with all types of color vision and has promptly obtained Color Universal Design (CUD) certification for its digital cameras. In the future we will continue to actively expand the adoption of Color Universal Design principles.

Examples of Applied Improvements

Improvements in the color palette used for exterior markings, in the GUI (graphical user interface) and the colors of indicators and lamps have resulted in overall product designs that are more understandable and easier to see for a larger number of people, regardless of their color vision abilities.