Hi Everyone,

I just wanted to share with you that Today was the official public launch of Colorblind Friendly (www.colorblindfriendly.com). It is something I do actually have a passion for - I'm red-green & blue-yellow colorblind! I am doing my best to promote it - so hopefully you will hear about it on the news at some point. The site will be more and more refined as time continues.

From the home page:
"This is a site to promote colorblind awareness. Specifically, it is our goal at colorblindfriendly.com to see all companies and organizations shift towards using colorblind friendly colors or techniques to allow all people to view their materials. Every company has the capability and resources to use colorblind friendly materials; however, many people are simply not aware of the impact colorblindness has on others." Basically, raising colorblind awareness in the corporate setting and abroad.


I just wanted to share.

Enjoy!

- Spencer Clark

By the way - one way colorblind affects me in everyday life - RED FOCAL POINTS!!!!!! ROAR! (Ok, not a real roar . . . it was for dramatic effect) But honestly, red focal points? If the red focal point blinks infront of anything green (and there is a lot of green) I have a very slim chance of noticing it. This often times leads to either me having something out of focus (luckily, I check such things from time to time as I realize when I am infront of something green) or I have to pay -extreme- attention to the focal points to see which one lights up. Unfortunately, I can't just see which one lit up at a glance. I really wish they used yellow as a focal point indicator.

AWESOME!!
I'll pass this on to my husband!!!

please don't take this the wrong way - i'm actually really intrigued by all of this. how do you correct white balance or color correct on the computer if you are red-green/blue-yellow colorblind?

i have a cousin who is colorblind, and i've seen some of the color dot tests and what they look like to "you guys" and it just trips me out. i admire you for being able to do what you do (photography!)

Honestly, I have a very hard time. But, I must admit - I had a much harder time when I was in web design (and on my own)! I actually rely heavily on my wife, Anna - she is really great. She is great about letting me know which colors are where.

Now, one thing that supposedly us colorblind-folk have over people who are not colorblind is our tone perception. While we cannot differentiate colors all the time - we normally can differentiate tones. With this, it is actually easier at times for me to pick out complementing colors (tones) compared to others. But, normally, it is not.

Being colorblind definitely reflects in my photography. I go after action, motion, events/happenings, people - rarely will an amazing color attract me (as I cannot see it or don't notice it most of the time). (Quick Aside: Many bushes, such as gardinias, are just boring to me. Even when in full bloom, I see a shaggy, green bush.)

Now, ways to cope with this - I use any and every tool that will tell me how much of a color is in a picture. Any graphs are useful. White balance, well, I can see a curve just fine. And, in lightroom or any other editing feature, I can see how much of a color is on a picture. Now, sometimes others think I was being artsy with the color ... when, in reality, well, I thought I had it right! I wasn't trying to have an artistic look at all. I do recall hearing stories of how all my skies in K-3rd grade or so were either purple or green. Yep, I failed colors too way back then.

Colorblindness is genetic - passed down from the grandfather through the mother. So, my mother's father was very colorblind as well. However, he was quite a remarkable artist and inspirational person. In a like manner, I go with things - either I make it big, or a fail big.

I've come to realize more and more that colorblindness really is a handicap. While it isn't as detrimental as other handicaps, it is something that actually does hinder me and something which I cannot avoid. There are no cures to colorblindness. The 'solutions' that are out there only shift the spectrum. There are some contacts that allow me to see red & green just fine, but then I can't see brown and purple (example, I don't really remember which colors it shifts). It isn't a cure at all though.

The one time where it really hit me was when I was playing a video game with Anna (silly as this sounds). I simply couldn't get better. I've definitely grown up in the video game generation - played them since I was six starting with the good old NES. Normally, I am much better than Anna in games. Well, in this one game on the Nintendo 64 (Pokemon Puzzle League), I actually -couldn't- get any better. She beats me every time. And, the worst part of it is that I am actually better at it (the strategy) than her!

Let me explain a little bit. The game works by having a screen full of four different colored blocks. You can move these blocks around. When three or more of the same colored blocks touch eachother, they dissapear and you gain points. If the blocks that were ontop of the ones that just dissapear land and touch three or more like colored blocks below, then you get double points and send additional blocks over to your competitor. It can continue up to 5 or 10 times with this - a type of domino effect.

Well, I am actually better than Anna at setting up the domino series of blocks that dissapear, which cause more to dissapear, and so on. However, I really can't even see the difference between them - at least not at a glance. The entire screen looks the same color to me if I simply glance - so, I must individually look at each block (they do have small symbols in them) to figure out what type it is. It is actually very frustrating to me. I simply cannot get better at it. I have tried many times.

It is silly, but this is one of the first times I encountered a situation being colorblind that I could not compensate for. In other areas, such as photography, there are normally other ways to compensate. With web design, I memorized all of the color numbers so that I could pick out colors easily. If you notice on our site, it is in gray. I can see gray and I can work with it quite easily - ok, we were also going for a classy feel, but still.

If I am not sure of a color, I normally turn to my wife, my friends, or my family. They understand I honestly can't see the color and that I am just asking a quick question so that I can continue on with what I have been doing. If no one is available, well, I have to move on to somehting else.

Over time, I have realized more and more of the impact it has on my everyday life. Commercials, Television shows, various products (electronically and not) ... all of these and more - I am aware that I am not seeing all of what is there. I can't tell you what I don't see, but I do know that I don't see it. The main things that I normally can't see are road maps or maps with any type of color key. But, I am quite sure I am missing out on many other things as well.

So, I've made Colorblind Friendly. I know I'm not the only one affected by colorblindness. And, while it may not be the worst handicap in the world, it is something that businesses should be aware of. For example, why not offer a colorblind friendly camera with bright yellow focal points? There are many simple solutions that companies could incorporate into what they produce that would allow colorblind people to view their work the same as others.

Well, I am certain this is one of the longest posts I've written in quite some time. Thanks for reading. Hope this explains a little bit more about colorblindness. And, of course, no way I am not about to do something I enjoy (photography) just because I am colorblind!

- Spencer Clark

Edit: Forgot to answer this: "how do you color correct on the computer if you are red-green/blue-yellow colorblind"

I don't. I let Anna do it. Or, I can use the spyder color correction thing ... wish we had one. It'll correct it for me!

My dad is very colorblind. I thank my lucky stars for being very sensitive to color. One of the first color exercises in photo school was to print a B&W negative on color paper and get it neutral. It was both a cursory look at filter packs/dichro heads/subtractive printing and a chance to see who might suffer colorblindness (which is a guy thing). I found I was able to see color down to a 1/2 point on a print. Color me lucky. And happy.

Marc