Test Page for New Radar Colour Scheme

maquiladora

my3cents wrote: »

Is it accurate enough to have a zoom feature? We are out near the edge of it so expect reduced accuracy and it regularly shows it no rain when its raining here.

Netweather, Raintoday etc. have zoom functionality with the same radar data, but obviously it gets quite pixilated after a couple of zooms!

Storm 10

Way better now I like it especially as you can now see the red for heavy rain much clearer, well done

Tae laidir

I prefer the new colour scheme.
Any chance of including radar data from the UK Met Office station at Castor Bay near Lurgan, as the UK Met Office use data from Met Éireann sites in Dublin & Shannon on their Radar maps?
The quality of data in the Northwest is really quite poor.
Thanks

sdanseo

I like the new colours, much easier on the eye.

And as an aside, as regards both asking for and acting on feedback - this is how every government agency should be run. A stellar example of excellent interaction. (Not that every quango should have a boards account to do same but hey, it wouldn't hurt )

axe2grind

The later version of the test page is much better than the first version, but I still prefer the current offering with the blue going to green to yellow. However this for me is the most important comment on this thread

tricky D wrote: »

The old version is much better, not just in general but especially for colourblind users who make up 5-10% of your users. More colour contrast is your users' friend and the existing version has it in spades.

Whatever you settle on has to suit everyone. I'm not colourblind (my son is), but I'm quite happy to accept a version which may not be my first preference if it means its usable for those less blessed in their sight.

And I'm another who appreciates the interactive feedback.

ronnie3585

I think the updated version is an improvement on the first one, but I still prefer the original.

I don't really see the benefit of changing the colour scheme. As it stands it works very well. I like that the current colour scheme gives me an immediate snapshot of what's going on and what's coming in terms of intensity and volume. I do a lot of outdoor activities and find it particularly useful.

If it ain't broke...

Lumi

I still prefer the older version. There is not enough gradation in the new scale under consideration and it does not give a clear overview of rainfall intensity.
You should also take into account the comments made above about the shading of land and lakes because the current layout does not provide enough contrast.
This is really apparent when you compare it with, for example Netweather's offering.
Both screenshots taken at 11:00am - apologies for the quality, I'm on my phone & this was just cobbled together but you get the gist of what I'm saying

Oneiric 3

I have no problem with the lakes being included on the map as living near one of them, it gives me a good sense of scale of where I am specifically located on the map. I don't think it confuses things at all. If that is the case, then getting rid of the sea on the radar map would have to be an option as well. However, looking at the latest radar of those blue scale showers over sea, they still show up nicely and despite using the blue scale, the blues don't clash with the darker blue of the sea at all.

The white background used on the NW map I find too harsh on my eyes. I like the blue and green map used by M.E. It is simple, soft on the eye and compared to third party radar maps, much more aesthetically pleasing.

It would be great if you could include radar data from Caster Bay as Tee Ladier suggested above as much of the north and northwest is not covered well at all. Even here locally (NE Galway), the radar more often than not underestimates the rainfall intensity which I think is due to Shannon radar not covering the area well. It is only when the radar returns reach the Galway/Roscommon border that they start showing up as dark reds etc when rainfall is particularly heavy. I think including the Caster Bay radar would help rectify not only this but better coverage for the N & NW overall.

axe2grind

Here's what I'd like you to try. Keeping the top part of new version from 4mm. For the lower part I'd like the current(old) 0-3mm (blues and green), but with the bottom 4 blues flipped over, so the lightest rain is light blue getting darker blue till green starts at 2mm.

Supercell

The updated version with yellows coming in a little later gets my vote, a zoomable map like on raintoday.co.uk or on netweather.tv would be a really nice feature too, especially on showery days.
A future feature request would be precip type colour schemes as well (ala netweather.tv and metcheck.com), very useful in winter for the annual will it or won't it snow in my back garden frenzy.

cherryghost

As someone who is colourblind, the older radar is preferable to me and easier to read.


EDIT: I guess I should point out my greiveances with the new one. The blue shades all just blend in for me. The older radar is varied enough for me to notice the difference between light and light-med rainfall.

tricky D

The blues all look pretty much the same to me too with poor contrast.

Also and importantly, it's not just colourblind users, there's about the same percentage again, if not more, who have eyesight difficulties who may be adversely affected.

The site is poor enough for accessibility as it is and there's no accessibility policy stated on the site. Something you need to look at imho.

MetEireann

tricky D wrote: »

The site is poor enough for accessibility as it is and there's no accessibility policy stated on the site. Something you need to look at imho.

Yes. We plan to redesign the website next year and accessibility will be given greater priority.

pauldry

Lumi I agree

THe map is the problem not the rain

Make map a lot lighter in shading

Rain colour is great on new scheme.

Also hope rain coming from nw shows better

Some sites use orange for rain but the blue to pink is best

Well done

ronnie3585

MetEireann wrote: »

Yes. We plan to redesign the website next year and accessibility will be given greater priority.

Just wondering if you will be including a radar update every 5 minutes instead of 15?

Thanks again for your engagement.