BeyondColor: Functional Color Accessibility for Telecom Interfaces

Many digital platforms technically meet accessibility requirements under WCAG 2.2, EN 301 549, the European Accessibility Act, and ADA, yet still fail real users in practice. This is especially true in color heavy and dynamic interface elements such as alerts, status indicators, dashboards, and customer support flows, where visibility depends on how people actually perceive color rather than on static contrast ratios.

BeyondColor is a perception based accessibility engine that evaluates functional color visibility instead of relying only on mathematical pass or fail checks. The platform is grounded in clinically validated color vision methods, including Ishihara-based screening and hue discrimination testing, and translates this science into validated color perception archetypes that represent real classes of users with different perceptual limits.

These perception profiles are built using data from a working prototype and a hospital-based clinical study involving over 70 participants, along with 80+ customer discovery interviews conducted through the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Innovate2Market program, USA and the NSF I-Corps Regional Course at SPIE,USA. This ensures the system reflects real world perception rather than theoretical models or AI-only assumptions.

For this hackathon, the project will demonstrate how telecom interfaces can be evaluated against validated vision profiles to simulate functional visibility across dynamic UI states such as hover, focus, gradients, and layered backgrounds. The system flags high-risk color patterns early and generates clear, actionable guidance that design and product teams can use without compromising brand identity.

Beyond telecom applications, the same perception based framework can support K–12 education and occupational screening, where color is widely used in learning materials, assessments, dashboards, and safety-critical tasks. By enabling early, functional color perception screening and tailored accessibility guidance, the platform supports fairer educational access and more evidence based decisions in workforce and licensing contexts.