COLOUR BLINDNESS

Generally speaking, about 1 male in 12 (8%) and 1 female in 250 (0.4%) is colour blind. This is an invisible handicap, and those who are afflicted by it don’t usually shout about it from the rooftops. The ‘silence’ surrounding the issue is probably the main reason why the needs of this anonymous group of people are for the most part ignored, and why the problem only ever comes to light in a negative way – for instance, as a specific exclusion on a job description.

Colour blindness

For the colour blind, road maps become illegible, graphs and tables in textbooks often appear incomprehensible and the buttons and dials on ticket machines can be impossible to fathom. Lines marked out on floors (eg, for sports) can simply disappear from view, as can highlighted lines of text and icons on a computer screen.

These difficulties might be brushed off as minor inconveniences, but there can of course be very serious consequences of failing to distinguish colours correctly. Think of misreading traffic lights for example…or confusing the colours of the different wires in the domestic electricity supply. For those who cannot tell one colour from another there are potential dangers everywhere –on/off buttons on machines, warning labels on medicine and toxic substances, pills that are identified by colour – these are just a few obvious examples.

The potential problems have multiplied in recent years with the proliferation of electronic colour displays and the growth in the use of colour-coded information and warning panels not only in the home but in the places we work and spend our leisure time.

Many product developers, IT and graphic designers appear to be woefully unaware of this problem and through their failure to recognise the implications of their functional colour choices they are making like unnecessarily difficult for those who suffer from colour blindness. This really is a sorry state of affairs, considering that it is perfectly feasible in most circumstances to use colours that the colour blind are able to deal with. In short, inconsiderate and inappropriate use of colour is making life far more difficult for those with this handicap than it might otherwise be.

road maps

Blind Colour

An initiative of a scientist and a businessman, the latter afflicted by colour blindness himself, led to the creation of BLIND COLOR. This is an organisation that aims to make industry and society at large more aware of the problems relating to colour blindness. Wherever possible, BLIND COLOUR recommends solutions and demonstrates how those problems can be overcome.

BLIND COLOR advises many organisations, from the European Central Bank (for the colour of the Euro bank notes), to the producers of road maps and GPS navigation systems.

SCAN^TM CODES

SCAN is the name for Crown Paint's colour codification system in which colours are scientifically measured and assigned a unique six digit SCAN^TM code.

Current DDA (Disability Discrimination Act) legislation suggests differentiation in lightness between significant surfaces and features, to assist navigation. We are very pleased that this can be immediately determined using the 'Lightness numbers', the middle two digits of the SCAN^TM code