Abstract

This study explores how color vision deficiencies influence individuals’ wayfinding in complex interior environments. While research has addressed the needs of individuals with color vision deficiencies, comprehensive, empirically supported guidelines for inclusive design practice remain lacking. Critically, the absence of practice-ready methods and tools for assessing the color accessibility poses a significant limitation in wayfinding design practice. Using a building information modeling (BIM)-based healthcare building model and four CMYK color palettes, this study simulated color-palette perceptions across four color vision types: typical trichromacy, protanopia, deuteranopia, and achromatopsia. This approach aimed to balance experimental repeatability with ecological validity—incorporating 3D spatial context, dynamic lighting, and viewer navigation—in ways that photo-based color studies cannot provide. Rather than tuning individual hues, we assessed foreground–background contrast, information hierarchy, and visual coherence of the space, then iterated color adjustments at the palette level. Findings indicate that context-dependent, color-palette-based adjustments can enhance foreground–background distinction, improving the legibility of visual wayfinding cues and color accessibility across vision types, without compromising visual coherence in the simulated healthcare setting.