CCDI Consulting's New Wordmark & Colour Palette for New IDEA Journeys

We are thrilled to announce the next phase of our brand renewal, which aims to improve our digital accessibility and inclusivity. While there are several reasons for this, the primary motivation behind this change is our existing colour palette, which is not suitable for digital media. As a result, our websites, presentations, and other digital communications have not been as accessible and inclusive as we would like them to be.

To address this issue, we have developed a new colour palette that enhances contrast between the background and text, making it easier for all visitors and readers to access our materials. To ensure that our new colour palette meets the required accessibility standards, we consulted with one of our colleagues, Hajer, who has a Ph.D. in this area. Hajer recommended WebAIM, a free online tool that allows you to check your colours according to the WCAG AA and WCAG AAA standards. By using this tool, we found that our old primary blue colour did not pass the test, and neither did our other primary colours.

The impact of our inaccessible colour scheme is not limited to our website. We also provide a significant amount of DEI training and development to our clients, and we use the same colour palette for PowerPoint templates. Therefore, we are doing a disservice to some of our clients. To address this issue, we have added an underline to our links, providing a visual cue that is not directly linked to the colour scheme. We have also removed the use of red and yellow from our new palette as they can be triggering for some users. Instead, we have included dark blue, maroon, purple, and amber, which can have a calming and positive effect.

The new colour scheme aligns with our mission to bring positive change to organizations through people. It portrays wisdom, energy, optimism, and renewal, which are all crucial aspects of CCDI Consulting's work to support organizations in their inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) journeys.

In addition to the new colour palette, we are also introducing a new wordmark to replace the maple leaves logo that has caused some confusion among our clients and website visitors. The new wordmark is simple, classic, and elegant, reflecting our professional approach and using our new dark blue and amber colours. We have retained the font Arial, one of the clearest and most legible fonts available.

We appreciate that these changes will take time to implement, and we thank you in advance for your patience. We are excited to take this step forward in creating a more digitally accessible and inclusive organization.