TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
HUMOUR: If Craig Shergold Wrote Dr Seuss Parodies...
Subject:HUMOUR: If Craig Shergold Wrote Dr Seuss Parodies... From:Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- FS -dot- COM -dot- AU> Date:Tue, 9 Apr 1996 16:49:56 +0800
Should we let users customise the colours in our software?
This is usually considered good practice -- the vendor supplies well-chosen
default colours, but users can change them for whatever reason:
- user's display is greyscale or only handles limited colours
- user is colour-blind, and the default colours don't work for them
- user is from another culture, where colours have different connotations
- user just likes red letters on a green background
What if a single copy of the software is shared by several users? There
are no user preferences; if one person changes the colours, everyone gets
the new ones.
What if the software uses colours to indicate relative severity, such as
blue for normal, orange for warnings, and red for serious alarms?
