Abstract
The study examined the effects of color combinations displayed on a VDT screen on work efficiency and fatigue in 16 female college students. Eight patterns of a blue hue background with varying levels of lightness and chroma were prepared in the positive display mode. The students were asked to perform a task on the screen for 30 minutes. When the difference between the lightness of characters and background was the smallest, the input error rate was significantly higher than when seven other color patterns were used. However, there were no significant differences in the workload and input error rate between these seven patterns, even though the character-background contrast ratio of five patterns did not comply with WCAG 2.0. The critical flicker frequency was significantly lower following the task, regardless of the color pattern. Three color patterns based on the WCAG 2.0, and the heart rates of students were significantly high after they performed the task using two of the three patterns with high lightness. The level of fatigue was inversely correlated with of the difference in the character-background contrast. Regarding their impressions of the screen, the functionality and beauty increased with the difference in contrast.
