First, I'll point out that I have color-deficient vision, which means that my color vision is different than other people's(and not that I don't see color), so that could cause or exacerbate the problem; I think that since my eyes had a tendency to misidentify colors, any time I would say that I thought something was one color, other people would say that it was a different color, so although I can look at things and say that I think they are some particular colors, my brain never learned to categorize things by color. It's just not something my brain thinks of when thinking up how to categorize things.
I'm capable of using Linux-based operating systems, Macs, Windows, Android, and iOS. I can actually administer each, and can write apps/programs for them, but I have always had problems understanding the semantics of icons in computer interfaces. I can stare at icons for a long time and not understand the meanings behind them. This has been a problem in Microsoft apps, particularly after they got rid of menus in Microsoft Office and in most of Windows. This has been even more difficult when using smartphones, because iPhones and Android devices use so many icon-driven interfaces instead of text menus or icons + text menus(and icons + text menus seem beneficial to me). When I am looking for a particular icon I can look at even just a few icons, like 2-4, and not be able to identify which icon I want. It's only the text which allows me to locate the icons I'm looking for. I get really frustrated sometimes looking at a screen full of icons that have no meaning to me other than the picture that's on them.
I was wondering if anyone else here understands what I'm describing and relates to it?
19 May 2014, 5:14 am
