Keep your guide readable
Make sure colours, contrast and text choices work for every guest, including in bad light and on small screens.
Updated
A guide is read in worse conditions than you design it in. Readability is worth more than style.
Contrast
Whatever colour you choose needs to be legible against white. Very pale colours look refined in a swatch and disappear on a phone screen outdoors.
If you are unsure, look at your guide on a phone at low brightness. If anything is hard to read, it is too pale.
Do not rely on colour alone
Some guests cannot distinguish certain colours, and everyone struggles in bright sunlight. If something is important, say so in words rather than signalling it only with colour.
"Important: the bins go out on Tuesday" works. A red heading alone does not.
Text size and length
Text size is handled for you and adapts to the device. What you control is length — and short paragraphs are easier to read than long ones on every screen.
Write for someone in a hurry
Assume your reader is tired, holding luggage, and looking for one thing. That means:
- Put the answer first, explanation after
- Use lists rather than prose for anything with steps
- Keep sentences short
Guests using accessibility tools
Some guests use larger text, screen readers or high-contrast modes. Guides work with these, but they work better when your content is well structured — real headings, real lists, and meaningful link text rather than "click here".
