Charts that survive without color

Color is the default encoding in many chart libraries and often the first one to fail. This prototype explores a set where hue carries no load-bearing information.

The constraint

Every chart had to remain fully readable in grayscale, under the common forms of color vision deficiency, and when described by a screen reader. Hue could reinforce a distinction but never be the only thing making it.

What changed

Series separation moved onto position, shape and direct labeling. Legends mostly disappeared, because a legend is a lookup table that a reader has to hold in memory, and direct labels remove that cost for everyone.

Removing legends also reduces the lookup step for sighted readers. This is a design rationale to test with users, not a completed comparative study.

What carried over

The palette and direct-labeling defaults inform rhizae’s design system and prototype work described in Reporting and decision systems. Validation should follow the accessibility testing approach.