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You are probably going to need a blend of solutions. Whatever color the main user is best able to identify shades in should be the primary ramp for your most-represented zones - probably residential. So say it's yellow or blue and you have 4 or 5 residential zones, go from very light to very dark to represent density as that's a primary zoning map function. Green and red are typically very difficult for people with color blindness and if you could avoid them or at least add a pattern to one that would probably help a lot. Next you'll probably need to differentiate your commercial and industrial zones. This would be a good time to bring in some sort of pattern (stripes of varying width are easy to interpret over a color background) for one and shades of gray for the other. If you have a few odd zones you could consider a dashed or checkered outline with a light interior where they would be easy to identify yet not distract from the overall scheme. Finally your labels will be extremely important. I would certainly use a mask on your labels to make sure they don't lost among your color and pattern compensations. If you have an area on the map that is crowded and difficult to represent with respect to the primary user's color-blindness you could include a inset map of the area. If the text on the map is minimal you could perhaps underline or italicize some of the labels to represent a certain category but that could quickly lead to a map that's hard to read. When you're done with your map save it as a .jpeg and open up a photo editing application and see what it looks like when you convert it to a black and white image. That will help you make sure there's enough contrast between your colors and shades and they don't get too muddied up. And lastly, if you show parcel lines just keep them very fine and gray because you seem to more than enough to contend with already! Hope this helps! Meg McGaffin GIS Analyst City of Milford, CT<http://www.ci.milford.ct.us/> 203-783-3232 [log in to unmask] CT GIS User Network<http://ctgis.uconn.edu/index.htm> P.S. Zoning maps are my favorite From: Northeast Arc Users Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Adam Kurowski Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 12:33 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [SPAM] color blind friendly mapping Importance: Low The Project: To replace a black and white, paper zoning map that is designed with hatch, line, and marker symbols with a colored version made with GIS that easy to keep updated. The Problem: One of the main staff members who will use the map is color blind. The map would require 10+ colors and the color blind friendly color ramps, can't handle that many variations in relation to this person's type of color blind. I have looked at many resources<https://blogs.esri.com/esri/arcgis/2011/02/23/color-tools-for-map-makers/> and they have helped, but the number of zones and overlays still make the map hard to distinguish for the color blind person. I would love to make one all-inclusive product, but that may not be possible. The Questions: 1. Does any have experience or advice to help make this municipal zoning map color blind friendly? 2. Can anyone offer a creative solution, simple or high-tech, that could help this one staff member access the zoning information in another manner? 2a. Is that an acceptable alternative and is it maintainable? 3. Should I follow the KISS rules and just convert the map to GIS and stick with a black and white hatch, line, symbol map? Thanks! I'll compile and share the results. Adam ------------------- Adam Kurowski, Systems Analyst / Director of GIS Town of Arlington 730 Massachusetts Ave Arlington, MA 02476 phone: 781-316-3385 email: [log in to unmask] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This list (NEARC-L) is an unmoderated discussion list for all NEARC Users. If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from this list, you can remove yourself by going to http://s.uconn.edu/nearcsubscribe. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This list (NEARC-L) is an unmoderated discussion list for all NEARC Users. If you no longer wish to receive e-mail from this list, you can remove yourself by going to http://s.uconn.edu/nearcsubscribe.