PilotAware
British Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: frankmcm on February 01, 2021, 12:13:19 am
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I was pleased to see that it could be possible to receive useful weather reports via PAW. Really pleased. And then quite irritated to learn that I, along with ~8% of the UK population can’t use it. Because red/green colours are used to display critical information.
Surely this is a case where other visual effects could be relatively easily employed. Take your pick of the hundreds of text options in a word processor .... just please drop the red/green thing!
You might just make it possible for me to pick out a useable airfield some day when the clouds start rolling in.
Best regards
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Hi Frank
are you referring to the METAR text display or the radar display?
There was quite a discussion on this matter here
http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php?topic=1772.0
thx
Lee
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Text is in black, colours are background only.
Does the background colour prevent reading of the text in black?
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Metar text is fine. I see 2 shades of blue and lots of red. And should there be adjacent red & green lines I could possibly tell the difference. But there might be green lines in there! I just can’t tell.
Your PAW radar display has isolated text in separate locations, on a black background, so I would find it very difficult to be sure what colour they are.
I don’t want to come across as making ridiculous and impractical demands, with a huge cost in terms of coding, but there is something in this issue that I need to ventilate.
Imagine a public venue is inaccessible to wheelchair users because the available entrances are all turnstiles. And moreover, it cost relatively little to provide a suitable door. Wheelchair users wouldn’t remain silent and excluded for long.
The disability analogy is inaccurate however, because colourblindness is only a disability when the specified standard colours ignore the realities of colour vision in so many pilots.
I use PilotAware and SkyDemon every time I fly. Both are awesome contributors to flying safety. Last week I became aware that SD is also introducing a weather feature on their display, and guess what....red/green is used to display go/no go information !
I would urge you to “consider” a few options. Can you make the red text on your radar screen flash, or use a different font, / outline text, use your genius to make me go away......
Rant over. Peace !
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Can you make the red text on your radar screen flash
That's a question for PAW developers.
Flash? In red?
The worse colour for PSE? Not a good idea...
Harding would advise against it, IMO...
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Hi
Could I suggest that a possible solution to this for all users would be to have a box at the start of the Metar line to depict the colour code (possibly using the distance box rather than adding another one) and maybe the colour in text abbreviations at the end of the metar, as in many of the mainly, (I think,) military Metars
I have to admit that I find it hard to read the thin black text on the colours without zooming them and I'm not colour blind.
Feel free to ignore me if this is a massive amount of coding. ;D
Regards
Alan
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I like Alan's idea. Just a small, coloured box, followed by the METAR. I really do not need the whole line filled with colour and also have more difficulty reading the text through the colours than if it was on a white background.
Perhaps in the 'box' of colour you could have a B, G, R, Y for those who can't make out the colours very well.
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Perhaps in the 'box' of colour you could have a B, G, R, Y for those who can't make out the colours very well.
Or the abbreviations VFR, MVFR, IFR & LIFR.
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How about this ?
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How about this ?
I think that's absolutely excellent. Colour distraction behind detailed text is removed for those with colour impairments, and there is a maximum of four letters in the coloured boxes.
The need to remember colour codes is gone.
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Looks good to me Lee, but re-reading the OP and his subsequent post, I guess we need to consider how we display ‘flyability’ on PAWRadar as well. Interesting developments in this area going on in SkyDemon Betas, though not sure they are colour vision friendly.
Regards
Peter
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Works for me too Lee, now I have to have a word with Rob Weijers about his insipid colours for the airport Metars in EV4. ;D
Regards
Alan
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I do like the metar screen. All the information and no distraction.
The radar screen remains an issue, although I’m not sure how often I would be depending on it to get out of trouble.
I have been agitating on SkyDemon about this issue, but their planning screen effectively surrounds red areas with a yellow margin, so there are sufficient clues there to guide me away from bad weather. However theirs is explicitly not an airborne facility, unlike PAW radar.
My early suggestion to use flashing red should be taken as a more general plea to consider other formatting methods. ( Steveu sorry I’m not familiar with Harding) This forum reply box has bold/ italic/ underline /.etc.etc etc Maybe there is an emoticon that would work. ?
I appreciate the fact that you are at least giving the subject some consideration.
Regards
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I much prefer that METAR screen and think it is significantly more readable :D
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My early suggestion to use flashing red should be taken as a more general plea to consider other formatting methods. ( Steveu sorry I’m not familiar with Harding)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harding_test (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harding_test)
Key extracts:
Photosensitive epilepsy affects approximately one in 4,000 people and is a form of epilepsy in which seizures are triggered by visual stimuli that form patterns in time or space, such as flashing lights, bold regular patterns, or regular moving patterns. In 1993, an advert for Pot Noodles induced seizures in three people in the United Kingdom, leading to the then regulator the ITC introducing these guidelines.
and
The algorithms behind PSE testing look at video frames from second to second and analyse for potentially provocative image sequences. Luminance flashes, Red flashes and spatial patterns over prescribed amplitude and frequency limits are then logged. Any such over limit violations give rise to the media being failed.
It's spoken about in the context of trelevision but applies to all screens.
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frankmcm, Thanks for your responses.
I have to say that the METARs Screen is my ‘go to’ to check flyability where necessary en route, or should a divert became appropriate - especially as the METARs provide the additional detail required to assist in deciding which of potential alternatives is likely to be the best option. In that respect I really like Lee’s proposal if it addresses frankmcm’s concerns and IMO makes the rest of the text easier to read. The METARs Screen has also been very useful on those (odd) occasions where I have forgotten to check and reset QNH before leaving an unfamiliar field :-\ .
We have to remember though that a lot of people will fly with the PAW Radar Screen, either as their Primary Display or as a ‘Traffic Only’ display on a second device (usually in or very close to line of sight). This being the case, the presence and colour coding of the ICAO Airfield Designators on the Radar Screen is IMO extremely important as it provides immediate reference to relative position and flying conditions. I am therefore keen to ensure that we continue to provide the METAR info via this screen in the most suitable way for those who have colour vision issues as well as those (myself included) who find reading small print in a bouncing aircraft increasingly difficult. Accepting that we don’t want to use random colours and don’t want to make changes for the sake of making them, would simply enlarging/bolding the text be a worthwhile improvement? (It was certainly beneficial when we did this on the Aircrew Display). I would welcome your views.
Best Regards
Peter
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Hi Peter
One possible test would be to mock up a few example screens to check readability / serviceability / acceptability etc . My guess is that it would take very little tweaking of font attributes to make a noticeable difference without being distracting.
I now understand the epilepsy reference. However the flash rate could perhaps be chosen so as to minimise this issue.
I don’t know how much work would be involved, and whether the investment would be considered worthwhile. I’m always happy to be involved with feedback if someone else does the coding. We have been COVID grounded here for so long now that I scarcely remember what the cockpit environment feels like. Moreover, I don’t know if we yet have the ground facilities here ( EGAD )to use weather data.
I believe that the PAW radar screen could be a lifesaver. Sorting the colour issues would be awesome.
Regards
Frank
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Just to bring this thread back to life as we are always asking but not often enough giving thanks when we get what we asked for.
The new METAR screen is even better. Thank you very much.
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Oh yes, that looks a lot better. Much clearer and I hope more distinguishable for those with colour vision snags.