Blind customer called me out on my low contrast menu board at a diner in Omaha

I designed this new specials board for a diner downtown Omaha. Used a yellow background with white text thinking it looked clean. An older customer squinted at it for a minute then said straight up 'you trying to hide the prices from me?' Turns out the contrast ratio was like 1.5 to 1. Had to redo the whole thing with dark blue text. Anyone else had a customer spot a contrast problem before you caught it?

2 comments

2 Comments

christophermurray8d ago

Heard a story from my buddy who runs a bar in Lincoln. He spent a whole weekend making this fancy chalkboard menu with light gray writing on a beige background. Thought it looked artsy and cool. First night some guy walks in, squints at it for like ten seconds, and just goes "I can't read a damn thing on that board." My buddy got defensive at first but then had the guy stand next to him and yeah, from three feet away it was basically invisible. Had to scrub the whole thing off and start over with black chalk. Now he jokes about it being his "stealth menu" phase.

the_jenny7d agoMost Upvoted

Right, but here's what I'm wondering - did your buddy not test it out himself before the big reveal? Like, just stand back and see if he could read his own handwriting at different distances? I've definitely fallen into that trap where I'm so proud of how something looks that I don't check if it actually works (especially with lighting, you know, like dim bar corners). Did the guy who complained end up becoming a regular because of the interaction, or did he just peace out after that first awkward encounter?