I noticed a huge shift in how flight maps show terrain data

I was booking a flight to Denver last week and pulled up the route map on two different airline apps. One still used green and red to show elevation changes, which I could barely tell apart. The other had switched to a blue to yellow gradient about 6 months ago. I remembered reading that the FAA started recommending better color choices for aviation displays back in 2021. It made a massive difference for me because I could finally spot mountains and valleys without squinting. Have any of you seen this change in maps or other data visualizations you use regularly?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_harper12d agoMost Upvoted

ngl I think the old green and red was fine and these new maps are just change for the sake of change. I've flown in and out of Denver a bunch and never had issues spotting the Rockies with the old colors. Feels like another case of designers overcomplicating something that worked for decades just to justify their jobs. Plus half the time the blue to yellow gradient makes the flat areas look like water on the map which is way more confusing.

kellyj2312d ago

And now every weather app does the same thing, making me wonder if colorblind users finally got listened to.