STANDARD BLADE B R I G H T O N
SERVING THE COMMUNITY SINCE 1903
75cI
VOLUME 119
Issue 1
WEEK OF JANUARY 6, 2022
A little help seeing colors colors
Anythink showcasing glasses that help colorblind see shades BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
Ryan Oakes was born colorblind but it wasn’t until first grade when his mother discovered it. “My mom was watching me color the tree trunks green and the leaves brown. She said, let’s get you tested,” said Oakes. He’s in good company. One in 12 men and one in 200 women are colorblind totaling about 13 million in the United States, 30 million in Europe, and 350 million worldwide. EnChroma, a company that manufactures glasses that let the colorblind see colors, surveyed approximately 1,000 colorblind people and parents of colorblind children shared experiences on how their colorblindness - technically called Color Vision Deficiency - has impacted their education. “The evidence is overwhelming that colorblindness creates learning challenges for color-blind students. Parents, educators, and politicians must become more aware of the prevalence of color vision deficiency its impact, and take action,” said Erik Ritchie, CEO of EnChroma. Oakes tried a pair of Enchroma glasses two years ago, it was an emotional change. “When driving along the road flowers would just blend,” he said. “With these glasses, I could see the red and the green flowers, and also all the fall colors when traveling. The indoor contrast is different. It’s cool,” said Oakes. Anythink Library Wright Farms is hosting a program featuring the glasses this month, allowing colorblind members to borrow a pair and perhaps see color for the first time. They’ve also posted photos and art in the library, with two versions of each piece. One appears the way a normally-sighted person would see them. The other has been edited to show how a colorblind person would see them. “I was excited when I heard the library was offering the glasses so my wife got me these. When you’re confronted with something normal to you, and then you see change on how the world is, it’s emotional.” It’s part of EnChroma’s Color Accessibility Program that helps schools, state parks, libraries, museums, public venues and other organizations purchase and loan EnChroma glasses to colorblind students to help with homework and visitors to see colorful exhibits, and attractions.
Ryan Oakes wearing the indoor EnChroma glasses viewing the Anythink Wright Farms Library art exhibit for people PHOTO BY BELEN WARD with colorblindness to view and experience colors.
Seeing art In 2019, the Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art became part of the EnChroma Color Accessibility program, lending EnChroma glasses to visitors with colorblindness to experience the colors of art. Anythink Wright Farms was inspired by this program, according to Stacie Ledden, Anythink director of strategic partnerships. They began loaning the glasses to members in December, offering an EnChroma kit that includes the glasses and a book with colorful illustrations. The kits can be checked out for up to three weeks, allowing color-blind visitors to experience their homes and community in color. Anythink is also offering a limited number of MCA passes to its customers that check out the kits. “The library is responding to community needs by offering EnChroma glasses to Anythink Wright Farms customers,” Ledden said. “The glasses offer a new perspective on the world. By making glasses available for checkout to customers experiencing CVD, we have the potential of helping 17,845 men and 1,093 women in Adams County to see many colors for the first time.” Seeing red…and green People with normal color vision see over one million shades of color. The colorblind only see approximately 10 percent of hues and shades. Common colors that the color-blind are confused with are green, yellow, gray, pink, purple, blue, red, and brown appearing muted and dull.
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2 • District Attorney taps 3 Riverdale students art 7 display 12 • Page 3 14
SPORTS • A look back local high school sports in 2021
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One of the displays at Anythink Library at Wright Farms shows how Anythink’s bright orange mascot looks standing on green lawn with a red bicycle for normally sighted individuals, left, and those with color COURTESY PHOTO blindness.
Since 80% of information is processed visually it causes issues for color-blind students in school, according to the study. EnChroma glasses are built with special optical filters that help the colorblind see the range of colors within the spectrum of colors more SEE COLORS, P3
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