What's It Like To Be Color Blind?

Color blindness is fairly rare, it occurs in 8% to 20% of males and in about one half of 1% of females. Total color blindness is extremely rare. Many people think that color blindness means that the person can see only in black and white, but this is a misconception. In fact color blindness is actually a color deficiency, which means in almost all cases the color blind person is seeing everything in color, it's just their own version of color.

I am red/green color blind which means I see many solid colors the same way everyone else does. The more that certain colors are mixed together the more likely I am to see them differently than someone who isn't color blind.

To someone who is colorblind, the world looks completely normal to them because that's the way they have always seen it. It's not until I find myself arguing with someone over the color of a car or a sweater that I realize that I'm seeing it differently and that (maybe) I am the one who is wrong. I hate being wrong, even when I know I'm wrong.

After going through school vision testing in grade four I was informed that I would never be able to fly an airplane or work at an important computer job such as an air traffic controller. What they should have told me, is that I would never work as an Interior Decorator and I should avoid shopping for clothes alone.

Lately I've had quite a few emails from people asking me for my opinion on their website, since my color perception is distorted I am worried that I will give them the wrong advice. This is why I've decided to come clean and admit that I am color blind.

I have absolutely no problem being red/green color blind, I just hate asking for help or admitting that maybe I don't know what color I'm looking at. Therefore I avoid projects where my color judgment is needed, such as creating a website logo, changing color schemes, etc. And what I think may look cool, may actually not be as cool as I think. It also takes a few tries to fill out those number verification thingies when I'm leaving comments on blogs.

I've had a lot of help from my family and friends in choosing the colors of my websites, and I do appreciate it very much!


How the Color Deficient Person Sees the World


Do your see the number 2 in the circle?
If you are color deficient you will not be able to see the number.
Take more color vision tests. Visit Colorvisiontesting.com to find out more about color blindness.