{"id":2955301,"date":"2026-02-18T05:27:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:27:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2955301"},"modified":"2026-02-18T05:27:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T13:27:31","slug":"revisiting-color-schemes-always-room-for-improvement","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/mapping\/revisiting-color-schemes-always-room-for-improvement","title":{"rendered":"Revisiting Color Schemes: Always Room for Improvement"},"author":360352,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[22941],"tags":[28911,26451,777872,176452,300972],"industry":[],"product":[36561],"class_list":["post-2955301","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mapping","tag-accessibility","tag-cartography","tag-color-scheme","tag-mapping","tag-mapping-and-visualization","product-arcgis-pro"],"acf":{"authors":[{"ID":360352,"user_firstname":"Lauren","user_lastname":"Tierney","nickname":"Lauren Tierney","user_nicename":"ltierney","display_name":"Lauren Tierney","user_email":"ltierney@esri.com","user_url":"http:\/\/laurenctierney.com","user_registered":"2024-08-19 13:31:34","user_description":"Lauren Tierney is the Senior Product Manager of Mapping and Cartography at Esri. Before joining Esri in 2024 she was a Senior Graphics Reporter at The Washington Post, as well as a Graphics Editor at National Geographic Magazine. She has a masters degree in geography from the University of Oregon. Lauren is a cartographer who enjoys telling stories with maps and specializes in mapping environment, climate, wildlife, and adventure topics.","user_avatar":""}],"short_description":"How to test your mapping color schemes in ArcGIS Pro with the Color Vision Deficiency Simulator accessibility tool","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Last\u00a0<\/span>year I published a blog post<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that featured a map of a\u00a0snow storm, using\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span>continuous color scheme<\/span><\/a>\u00a0I designed in ArcGIS Pro. At the time,\u00a0I was really excited about this color ramp, with its bright magenta and turquoise.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About a week after\u00a0I published the blog,\u00a0I realized I never\u00a0checked the map to make sure the\u00a0color scheme was legible for\u00a0different color\u00a0vision\u00a0deficiencies.\u00a0Rookie\u00a0mistake.\u00a0I circled back to\u00a0my project in\u00a0ArcGIS Pro and used the\u00a0<\/span>Color Vision Deficiency Simulator tool<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2956388,"id":2956388,"title":"colorvisionsimulator","filename":"colorvisionsimulator.png","filesize":25418,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/colorvisionsimulator.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/mapping\/revisiting-color-schemes-always-room-for-improvement\/colorvisionsimulator-2","alt":"Image of Color Vision Simulator tool in ArcGIS Pro","author":"360352","description":"","caption":"","name":"colorvisionsimulator-2","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2955301,"date":"2026-02-17 18:23:43","modified":"2026-02-17 18:24:01","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":234,"height":296,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/colorvisionsimulator-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/colorvisionsimulator.png","medium-width":206,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/colorvisionsimulator.png","medium_large-width":234,"medium_large-height":296,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/colorvisionsimulator.png","large-width":234,"large-height":296,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/colorvisionsimulator.png","1536x1536-width":234,"1536x1536-height":296,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/colorvisionsimulator.png","2048x2048-width":234,"2048x2048-height":296,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/colorvisionsimulator.png","card_image-width":234,"card_image-height":296,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/colorvisionsimulator.png","wide_image-width":234,"wide_image-height":296}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

 <\/p>\n

It turns\u00a0<\/span>out,<\/span>\u00a0t<\/span>he\u00a0<\/span>color<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>scheme<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I\u00a0<\/span><\/span>designe<\/span>d\u00a0<\/span><\/span>was<\/span>\u00a0difficult to read for three of the four most common\u00a0<\/span>color vision deficiencies.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2956590,"id":2956590,"title":"OriginalRamp_COMPARISON","filename":"OriginalRamp_COMPARISON-scaled.jpg","filesize":666696,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OriginalRamp_COMPARISON-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/mapping\/revisiting-color-schemes-always-room-for-improvement\/originalramp_comparison","alt":"Image of five maps with a previous color scheme, showing different version viewed through the Color Vision Simulator tool in ArcGIS Pro","author":"360352","description":"","caption":"","name":"originalramp_comparison","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2955301,"date":"2026-02-18 13:05:09","modified":"2026-02-18 13:05:47","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1756,"height":2560,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OriginalRamp_COMPARISON-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OriginalRamp_COMPARISON-scaled.jpg","medium-width":179,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OriginalRamp_COMPARISON-scaled.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1120,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OriginalRamp_COMPARISON-scaled.jpg","large-width":741,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OriginalRamp_COMPARISON-1053x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1053,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OriginalRamp_COMPARISON-1404x2048.jpg","2048x2048-width":1404,"2048x2048-height":2048,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OriginalRamp_COMPARISON-319x465.jpg","card_image-width":319,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/OriginalRamp_COMPARISON-741x1080.jpg","wide_image-width":741,"wide_image-height":1080}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

 <\/p>\n

High values and low values are legible for\u00a0normal color vision and Tritanopia, but\u00a0they are difficult to tell apart for Deuteranopia, Protanopia, and Achromatopsia.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A little over a year (and another snowstorm) later, I decided to design two new color schemes. My goal was to improve the legibility of the highest and lowest values across vision types.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Improving color scheme accessibility<\/h3>\n

First,\u00a0I started with the original color\u00a0scheme and\u00a0incrementally changed colors and tested them\u00a0with\u00a0the\u00a0Color Vision Deficiency Simulator\u00a0tool.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This tool is <\/span>one of a number of accessibility features<\/span><\/a> in ArcGIS Pro. The ArcGIS Pro user interface can also be adjusted to make it easier to read for users with color vision deficiencies. The <\/span>Use Color Filters\u00a0documentation<\/span><\/a>\u00a0was added recently to help set this up\u00a0in a Windows environment.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the end, I landed on two new color schemes that better differentiated the high and low values for different vision types.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The new color schemes<\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2956591,"id":2956591,"title":"NewRamp_COMPARISON","filename":"NewRamp_COMPARISON-scaled.jpg","filesize":562799,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NewRamp_COMPARISON-scaled.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/mapping\/revisiting-color-schemes-always-room-for-improvement\/newramp_comparison","alt":"An image with ten maps, showing two different color schemes and what each looks like through each version of the Color Vision Simulator in ArcGIS Pro.","author":"360352","description":"","caption":"","name":"newramp_comparison","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2955301,"date":"2026-02-18 13:06:03","modified":"2026-02-18 13:06:51","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1097,"height":2560,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NewRamp_COMPARISON-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NewRamp_COMPARISON-scaled.jpg","medium-width":112,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NewRamp_COMPARISON-scaled.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1792,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NewRamp_COMPARISON-scaled.jpg","large-width":463,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NewRamp_COMPARISON-658x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":658,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NewRamp_COMPARISON-878x2048.jpg","2048x2048-width":878,"2048x2048-height":2048,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NewRamp_COMPARISON-199x465.jpg","card_image-width":199,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/NewRamp_COMPARISON-463x1080.jpg","wide_image-width":463,"wide_image-height":1080}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

 <\/p>\n

While\u00a0<\/span>New Color Scheme #1<\/span><\/i>\u00a0is my personal favorite, it is not\u00a0easy\u00a0to decipher\u00a0the\u00a0highs and lows for Achromatopsia.\u00a0Therefore,\u00a0I\u00a0designed\u00a0<\/span>New Color Scheme #2<\/span><\/i>,\u00a0where the highest value is\u00a0now\u00a0the darkest\u00a0to\u00a0accommodate for\u00a0this vision type as well.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then,\u00a0I\u00a0<\/span>saved all of\u00a0my color schemes to styles<\/span><\/a>, so now when I map snow depth in the future, I can easily search for previous creations.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2956389,"id":2956389,"title":"search_color_scheme)PRO","filename":"search_color_schemePRO.png","filesize":31458,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/search_color_schemePRO.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/mapping\/revisiting-color-schemes-always-room-for-improvement\/search_color_schemepro","alt":"","author":"360352","description":"","caption":"","name":"search_color_schemepro","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2955301,"date":"2026-02-17 18:25:15","modified":"2026-02-17 18:25:53","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":584,"height":296,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/search_color_schemePRO-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/search_color_schemePRO.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":235,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/search_color_schemePRO.png","medium_large-width":584,"medium_large-height":296,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/search_color_schemePRO.png","large-width":584,"large-height":296,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/search_color_schemePRO.png","1536x1536-width":584,"1536x1536-height":296,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/search_color_schemePRO.png","2048x2048-width":584,"2048x2048-height":296,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/search_color_schemePRO.png","card_image-width":584,"card_image-height":296,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/search_color_schemePRO.png","wide_image-width":584,"wide_image-height":296}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

 <\/p>\n

Check out this short video\u00a0to learn\u00a0more about\u00a0accessing\u00a0this capability:\u00a0<\/span>Search for Colors and Color Schemes in ArcGIS Pro<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Revisiting past\u00a0maps and\u00a0keeping\u00a0an open mind about\u00a0areas of improvement\u00a0is all part of\u00a0the learning.\u00a0Don\u2019t\u00a0be afraid to revisit past work\u00a0and find ways to improve and\u00a0grow in\u00a0your cartographic\u00a0journey.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2956399,"id":2956399,"title":"Mid-Atlantic-Snow","filename":"Mid-Atlantic-Snow.jpg","filesize":4053365,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Mid-Atlantic-Snow.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-pro\/mapping\/revisiting-color-schemes-always-room-for-improvement\/mid-atlantic-snow","alt":"Map of snow depth in the Mid-Atlantic on January 26, 2026","author":"360352","description":"","caption":"","name":"mid-atlantic-snow","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2955301,"date":"2026-02-17 19:01:28","modified":"2026-02-17 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mapping","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"designing-and-testing-for-accessibility-in-gis-and-mapping","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-05-16 10:09:47","post_modified_gmt":"2024-05-16 17:09:47","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2329432","menu_order":0,"post_type":"blog","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":1637992,"post_author":"4491","post_date":"2023-02-02 11:19:26","post_date_gmt":"2023-02-02 19:19:26","post_content":"","post_title":"Working with Enhanced Contrast basemaps to improve accessibility","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"working-with-enhanced-contrast-basemaps-to-improve-accessibility","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2024-05-15 14:59:15","post_modified_gmt":"2024-05-15 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