You've selected a palette of colors for your eLearning project, so your concerns about color are over, right? Not exactly. Simply picking a handful of colors doesn't mean they will complement each other and guide the learner through your course. What's that you say? You didn't know that color can be an eLearning guide? Absolutely, it can.
I'm designing a course (I always start in Adobe Illustrator but these tips apply for any application) and I have selected this lovely green as one of the colors to use for elements (buttons, etc.) within my course.
This color can be useful for drawing attention to certain areas of a slide, but it can also distract the learner if overused or covering a large area.
In the image below I've used the green as a slide background. In my experience, the green is too bright and covers too large an area.
Adjusting the color value
The "value" or the color, or "brightness," can be toned down to make it more effective. Here's how to achieve this in Illustrator.
In the Swatch panel of Illustrator (Window > Swatches), choose the color you wish to work with by doubling-clicking it.
When I double-click a swatch, I see the Swatch Options dialog box.
You can choose to name the color and double check that it's set to Process and RGB.
To alter the value of the color, hold down Command (Mac) or Control (Windows) and drag one of the RGB sliders. Because you held that key, the three sliders interact together and the value changes without altering the ratios. Dragging to the left darkens; dragging to the right lightens. (If you don't hold down that key and drag the sliders, you will change it to a completely different color.)
Look at the variations I got while using this method on my green swatch. Lovely!
Let's compare the original slide and the new one with the darker value. I think it works much better, is far less distracting. Below you can see I lightened the text in the final version. By making the text a light "value," it draws more attention to it.
A Lesson on Distraction
In this example, I have three bright squares in the grid, and the rest are a dark gray.
Notice that all three squares are vying for your attention. I find it hard to focus on just one thing. Remember this when you are laying out your slides: too many bright elements can cause confusion for the learner. Always keep the focus of the slide in your sights, and design accordingly. Limit the number of brights, or adjust the values to tone down the other elements on the slide.
Value Affects Accessibility & Readability
And finally, the color value affects readability and can cause disabled people to be unable to view your content. Keep it high contrast so everyone–including the disabled–can access it.
People with a visual or motion impairment might use a machine called a "screen reader" to access your online content. The screen reader relays the description of the content back to the learner. If the content is too low contrast, the screen reader cannot decipher it. FAIL.
Here is an example of "high contrast" which has excellent readability.
This one is "low contrast," which makes it difficult to read or translate.
Red is considered by many to have negative connotations. So unless it's part of the brand and you cannot alter it, considering darkening the value.
This is a darker red, with a darker value. It still draws attention but it far less threatening to the learner.
Summary
Remember to consider all factors about a color before choosing it. Ensure it works well with the other colors, and be sure you have a nice mixture of bright and darker values for really effective eLearning.
Hope you found this information on color "valu"able!
