Color Vision

The Story Behind the Color Vision Store

Last week an interview with me appeared in the blog for SKMurphy, Inc., a sharp group of Silicon Valley business strategists led by Sean Murphy.  Sean is one of the few folks I know who really understands how to integrate a content rich blog into a company website--he gets that markets are conversations and they consist of people.  I can't say that we're at his level at the Color Vision Store, but every tip I've been able to integrate has had benefits. For an overview of what Sean, Theresa and Francis have had to say on the topic of blogging, click here.

Source: SKMurphy.com - Founder Story: John Nash, CEO Color Vision Store

Robert Hammerton’s Color Blindness Research Projects

by Zack Ybara

Robert Hammerton is a multimedia practitioner who’s currently blogging about his products and how he develops them. His current personal research project (PRP to him) involves the investigation of how color blind individuals experience surfing the web. His aim is to raise the issue of just how much web developers today consider the needs of color blind Internet users.

During the course of his study (which apparently began a mere few weeks ago), he has come across a free colorblind filter tool which he plans to use to illustrate how web pages look like to users with different types of color blindness. This colorblind filter is also currently under development, and the owner would appreciate feedback.

Presently, Robert insists that while color options for websites currently exist, having multiple color filters for websites or browsers will provide complete accessibility for color blind individuals. This is important, he says, as it would result in better user experience and improved company-user interaction.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on Robert’s work in the days to come.

Visicheck

by Zack Ybara

Kevin Flude, author of his cultural heritage resource blog And Did Those Feet, recently wrote of a lecture about web accessibility that he had the fortune to attend. It was given by Donna Haugh of University College London, and it tackled issues about web accessibility from a marketing point of view.

Donna pointed out that web accessibility shouldn’t be taken lightly by web developers today – after all, it ensures maximum exposure to their websites. She also insisted to put disclaimers and offers to help should some portions of a web site cannot be made entirely accessible.

Kevin goes on to give some of his own pointers regarding Internet users with dyslexia, those who cannot use mouses, and users with color blindness. For the last, he suggests using Vischeck, a free tool to check the visibility of images and web pages to users suffering from protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia. Unlike other similar tools, the Vischeck site also offers a way to fix images that may not appear correctly to color blind viewers. For serious webmasters, the tool is worth a check.

Etre’s Colour Blindness Simulator

By Zack Ybara

Etre, a user experience company in London, has a free tool on their website that simulates what an image would look like to individuals with protanopia, deuteranopia, and tritanopia. This Colour Blindness Simulator lets web designers upload JPEG images of up to 1000 x 1000 pixels, then compare how the image appears to a viewer with normal vision against another with color vision deficiency.

Etre’s Colour Blindness Simulator may be viewed here.

Despite being “a work in progress,” Etre’s Colour Blindness Simulator has earned nods from web developers worldwide, and has recently been featured in the latest book by Snub Communications’ Craig Grannell, The Essential Guide To CSS and HTML Web Design. Craig describes Etre’s Colour Blindness Simulator as a useful tool for weeding out common design errors.

Etre is on the mark in acknowledging that more than 1 out of every 20 individuals worldwide suffer from a form of color blindness. With their track record, you can bet we’ll be hearing more about Etre and their accessibility tools down the line.

More Accessibility Tools For Web Designers

By Zack Ybara

A few days ago we featured Cal Henderson’s Color Vision Palette as a tool for web designers who want to ensure that their websites can be viewed by everyone, including those of us with color vision deficiency. We applaud Cal Henderson’s efforts in making the Internet more color blind friendly, and we fervently hope the trend continues to pick up speed down the line.

Well, here’s more good news. VirtualHosting.com recently posted a collection of freeware accessibility tools for web designers. These freebies tackle various Internet accessibility issues, such as contrast problems, web browser incompatibilities (if you know how some websites show up differently in different browsers), and of course, tools to make websites more accessible to color blind individuals.

Web designers will have a field day trying out every one of the 25 tools presented. They’re all effective and helpful – and best of all, they’re free. Check them out here.

Are You Color Blind?

Guest post by Zack Ybara

One in every twelve people in the world is color blind. It’s a pretty high statistic, don’t you think? It might make you wonder why you don’t hear about it too often. Perhaps you might be color blind and not know it?

Color blindness isn’t a disease – it’s more of a genetic thing. It runs in families, so if you have a relative who’s color blind, it means you (and the rest of your family) have higher chances of being color blind.

So how do you know you’re color blind? There are many types of color blindness out there, and you may not even know about it (and what you’re missing out on) until you check yourself. The easiest way to find out is to take the test developed by Dr Shinobu Ishihara in 1912.

Kate Schneider presents a simple Ishihara test in her blog. She also tells us about Australian Cricket player, Chris Rogers, who manages to play despite being color blind. With all these developments that make sports and many other aspects of life more accessible to us, I guess the future is colorful no matter how we see it.

Firefighting and Color Blindness

by Zack Ybarra

Many color blind individuals suffer some form of frustrations in their careers – their condition causes employers to hesitate in hiring them for certain positions. Usually, there are good reasons behind these employers’ decisions – meat inspectors, for instance, have to be able to spot blemishes, jewelers have to recognize impurities, and bus drivers have to see the traffic lights. In addition to this, color blind individuals also find it difficult making their way through a career in the police force. But should color blind individuals also be barred from being firefighters?

I disagree. And apparently, so does Daniel Flueck, author of the Colblindor website. He recently wrote an article about one of his readers who expressed his frustrations over the difficulties he was having in pursuing a career in firefighting. In it, he tells us why, and offers advice for those of us who’re considering being one of our country’s bravest one day.

You can read Daniel’s words of wisdom here.