What it's like to be color blind

[Huntn]

Yes, in all sorts of minor ways.

Here are some examples, some of which I've mentioned before:

• My coworkers know not to highlight messages (such as in an email) in red to get my attention. If they forget, I have to remind them.
• Somebody recently told me that cranberry sauce is red; I always thought it was dark blue, but never really thought about it and never asked.
• I have a pretty good system for picking out clothes to wear, but Mrs. Q lets me know now and then when I goof and put on a mismatched set.
• Devices like my wireless headphones have chargers that glow one color when they are charging and another color when they are fully charged. Since I can't tell which color is showing, I have to wait until I know it's been long enough, or ask somebody else for help.
• Apple's Airport devices have solid or blinking LED lights to tell you the status. I can tell if a light is blinking, but not if it's amber or green.
• I sometimes have to skip over printed charts and graphs, such as in TIME Magazine, because I can't tell the shades apart.
• I can't tell a raisin bagel from a chocolate bagel.
• If I want to do any electrical wiring, I use a translucent piece of red plastic. Putting it in front of a red wire causes it to look white, so I know it's red.
• I see strange wording on billboards, e.g., "Get the now!" with a space between "Get the" and "now," because the background is dark and there's a red word in the phrase that I can't see.
• Perhaps the most annoying inconvenience is when I play board games with kids. Games almost always have four or more colors of tokens or cards or markers of some kind. There are invariably at least 2 that I can't tell apart. Everyone has to let me pick mine first, so I can choose one that I can identify. Then I know which token is mine, but I still may not be able to tell the other players' tokens apart during the game. How can I beat the kids if I'm at a disadvantage like that?

• If I want to do any electrical wiring, I use a translucent piece of red plastic. Putting it in front of a red wire causes it to look white, so I know it's red.

That’s really interesting, why red in front of red would look white versus seeing the red wire by itself as white too?
It reminds me of the scene in The Abyss where, Ed Harris has descended into the trench needing to cut a wire to disarm a nuke, trying to distinguish the color of two wires looking at them under a red (?) light.

 

[I7guy]

Interesting thread. My father was color blind, I'm not. Both my sons are color blind (although I can't remember the extent) and they have adapted.

 

[Clix Pix]

My maternal grandfather was colorblind.....I don't know if my mother were tetrachromatic or if I am or not, and no siblings with whom to compare, but I have always been acutely aware of color and differences within the same color family and hues.....

 

[Doctor Q]

Interesting thread. My father was color blind, I'm not.

Fathers don't pass color blindness to their sons, so that makes sense.

Both my sons are color blind (although I can't remember the extent) and they have adapted.

You didn't say that your wife is color blind, so she must be a carrier, with a color-blind X gene from her mother or father.

 

[Thomas Veil]

I haven't read this whole thread, so apologies if I'm duplicating, but...

I think red-green blindness received a huge boost in awareness a couple years ago when the NFL started that "color rush" uniform experiment, and aired a game between an all-red-uniformed team and an all-green-uniformed team -- and red-green colorblind fans had a hell of a time telling the difference. As I recall, everyone looked grey to them, so after each snap it was hard to tell who was on what team. It's become a rather infamous game. 😄 The complaints were voluminous.

 

[Doctor Q]

The ad-blocker web browser extension named uBlock Origin has a "Color-blind friendly" checkbox in the Settings tab of its Dashboard.

I was hoping that it was intended to assist color blind people in viewing websites, but apparently it's just a way to customize the color-coding features used for uBlock Origin's own displays about what's being blocked.

 

[skunk]

My son has given me a pair of Enchroma "colour-correcting" glasses, which I am expecting any minute, virus permitting. I am not 100% convinced (though the statutory excursion to the greengrocer opposite with a sample set was eye-opening), but will report in due course. I have gone for the mildest of the three options, as I have no wish to be living in a cartoon.

 

[jeyf]

I haven't read this whole thread, so apologies if I'm duplicating, but...

the thread is 15 years old

 

[Scepticalscribe]

the thread is 15 years old

But, unlike some zombie threads, the issues it raises and discusses and explodes are still relevant to people wth this condition (and those who live with them).

Moreover, - and also - unlike some zombie threads, the OP is still posting about this, which also serves to ensure that it remains relevant.

 

[Thomas Veil]

the thread is 15 years old

No wonder I haven't read the whole thing.

Who's got that kind of time? 😄

 

[Doctor Q]

June 5 article in the Wall Street Journal: Colorblind Users Push Technology Designers to Use Signals Beyond Color

The article reports that there are 300 million people with color vision deficiency and that many of them have trouble with products and services, such as reading maps online or identifying the LEDs on a Wi-Fi router. I've had this problem myself with Apple's Airport products.

It mentions Apple's Differentiate Without Color setting in iOS and several other companies that have or have not made accommodations for color vision issues.

Two advocacy organizations are mentioned: We Are Colodblind in the Netherlands and Colour Blind Awareness in the U.K.

 

[mollyc]

June 5 article in the Wall Street Journal: Colorblind Users Push Technology Designers to Use Signals Beyond Color

The article reports that there are 300 million people with color vision deficiency and that many of them have trouble with products and services, such as reading maps online or identifying the LEDs on a Wi-Fi router. I've had this problem myself with Apple's Airport products.

It mentions Apple's Differentiate Without Color setting in iOS and several other companies that have or have not made accommodations for color vision issues.

Two advocacy organizations are mentioned: We Are Colodblind in the Netherlands and Colour Blind Awareness in the U.K.

My son has trouble with chargers that change from orange to green, rather than blinking to solid.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

.I don't know if my mother were tetrachromatic or if I am or not, and no siblings with whom to compare, but I have always been acutely aware of color and differences within the same color family and hues.....

I don't know whether any ancestral males were colour-blind, but, exactly as you have commented, despite having poor eyesight, I have an exceptional awareness of colour, and have always been acutely aware of colour and of different hues, shades and tones within the same colour family.

 

[yaxomoxay]

As I recall, everyone looked grey to them, so after each snap it was hard to tell who was on what team.

Didn't know this story...
Let's admit it, it would've made a fantastic "fan reactions video"!

 

[Thomas Veil]

My son has given me a pair of Enchroma "colour-correcting" glasses, which I am expecting any minute, virus permitting. I am not 100% convinced (though the statutory excursion to the greengrocer opposite with a sample set was eye-opening), but will report in due course. I have gone for the mildest of the three options, as I have no wish to be living in a cartoon.

Say your pwayers, wabbit! 😁

So...how’d it go?

 

[mollyc]

My son has given me a pair of Enchroma "colour-correcting" glasses, which I am expecting any minute, virus permitting. I am not 100% convinced (though the statutory excursion to the greengrocer opposite with a sample set was eye-opening), but will report in due course. I have gone for the mildest of the three options, as I have no wish to be living in a cartoon.

Say your pwayers, wabbit! 😁

So...how’d it go?

I'm also curious to know your thoughts. My 12YO son has been asking for some.

 

[skunk]

I'm also curious to know your thoughts. My 12YO son has been asking for some.

Not bad, actually. Everything is a little pinker, and red buses are really red. It’s not going to change my life, but it’s certainly different.

 

[nbs2]

Not bad, actually. Everything is a little pinker, and red buses are really red. It’s not going to change my life, but it’s certainly different.

Besides, it’s the thought that counts, right?

My recollection is that you don’t normally wear glasses. On the chance that I am incorrect, how awkward was it to wear the fitovers? On the website they don’t seem like they’d be comfortable or useful outside of driving.

 

[skunk]

Besides, it’s the thought that counts, right?

My recollection is that you don’t normally wear glasses. On the chance that I am incorrect, how awkward was it to wear the fitovers? On the website they don’t seem like they’d be comfortable or useful outside of driving.

Indeed.

Your recollection is accurate, but a decade old! I gave in to reading glasses a year ago, so the culture shock is not too severe. They aren’t fit-overs, they’re proper prescription specs. Great for driving, and rimless, so one’s field of vision is not circumscribed. I hate that.

 

[MHenr]

I've read through some of this thread and what surprises me is that a lot of colour blind people (I'm one) see certain colours different than what they really are.
Now I'm wondering if this is also the case for me? Nobody has ever told me that I might actually see different colours.

My issues are mainly (or how I perceive them as issues) that I cannot name certain colours because I cannot tell for certain if something is red or brown, or purple or blue, or certain shades of green and orange, etc.
I usually know it's one of those 2 options, but I can't say for certain which of the 2.
Usually I'm wrong

Other examples:
Status leds on electronics are awful, but also often graphs in magazines/presentations.
Black text highlighted in red is simply unreadable to me.
I was completely sure that a certain flu marker color was yellow for 20+ years.
Someone finally told me it's actually bright green. I never knew.
...

 

[JoyBed]

I also have the same diagnose like you, I cant see anything in that image.

 

[JoyBed]

I like to laugh at my own color mistakes, such as mismatching my socks or talking about my "blue duffel bag" that turned out to be purple.

At least im not alone constantly mismatching my socks.

 

[nbs2]

Indeed.

Your recollection is accurate, but a decade old! I gave in to reading glasses a year ago, so the culture shock is not too severe. They aren’t fit-overs, they’re proper prescription specs. Great for driving, and rimless, so one’s field of vision is not circumscribed. I hate that.

I get that feeling. After LASIK about 10 years ago, first on my list of things to do was a pair of wraparound sunglasses. After getting away from the edge blur, the last thing I wanted edge light.

Gadzooks! Just took a look at the pricing for kids with prescription. I guess it makes sense as an idea once your eyes are stable. I’m hard pressed to see the value though when you’ll be needing new lenses in a year (or replacing lost/broken frames) unless you are in the 1% and have money to burn.

 

[skunk]

I get that feeling. After LASIK about 10 years ago, first on my list of things to do was a pair of wraparound sunglasses. After getting away from the edge blur, the last thing I wanted edge light.

Gadzooks! Just took a look at the pricing for kids with prescription. I guess it makes sense as an idea once your eyes are stable. I’m hard pressed to see the value though when you’ll be needing new lenses in a year (or replacing lost/broken frames) unless you are in the 1% and have money to burn.

They’re certainly not cheap (and I had to lend my son the money to make his generous gesture!) Given a free choice, frankly I wouldn’t say they were worth the money.

 

[BlankStar]

I wanted to become a fighter pilot and discovered I'm color-blind during the medical tests of the Air Force. Was a real disappointment back then. I still joined, but obviously not as a pilot. My love now is looking at the jets soar in the sky above and I accepted it years ago. In my day-to-day live it doesn't bother me that much since I don't care wearing two different socks or stuff like that ;-)
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List of Color Blind MacRumors Members

I did some forum searching and discovered other members who mentioned they are color blind or partially color blind. I also found a thread named need help from colorblind members or vision docs and this thread by NoMemory.

The MacRumors Color Vision Deficiency Club apparently includes all of these members or their family members:

... the list ...

Note: I've been updating this list as more people posting later in the thread identify themselves as color blind or partially color blind, or mention it elsewhere in the forums.

Guess I can be member 87. Green-red crap. (always forget the fancy name)