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VOLUME 34 ISSUE
ENTINEL EXPRESSSC O M M E R C E C I T Y 50c I
VOLUME 34 WEEKOF JANUARY 6, 2022 VOLUME 32 TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2020
New COVID-19 restrictions will prohibit indoor dining, personal gatherings A little help seeing colors
Anythink showcasing glasses that help colorblind see shades
BY BELEN WARD BWARD@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM
By Ellis Arnold Colorado Community Media
As Denver metro counties continue to inch closer to local stay-at-home orders under Colorado’s system of coronavirusrelated restrictions, the state announced a new level of rules that prohibits indoor dining and personal gatherings — a change that applies to the majority of the Denver metro area and many counties in other regions. e state’s COVID-19 dial, which has been in e ect since September, is the set of di erent levels of restrictions that each
Ryan Oakes was born colorblind but it wasn’t until fi rst 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 Defi ciency - 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 defi ciency 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 fl owers would just blend,” he said. “With these glasses, I could see the red and the green fl owers, 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 fi rst time.
They’ve also posted photos and art in the library, with two versions of each piece. One ap- county is required to follow based on the A long line of cars outside the city of Brighton’s rapid testing site at Riverdale Regional Park. The site has had to close early many days in recent weeks due to high demand. Adams County’s 14-day test positivity rate pears 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 ofseverity of a county’s local virus spread. e dial grew out of the state’s safer-athome order — the policy that came a er was 15.9 percent, as of Nov. 17, according to Tri-County Health Department. fering the glasses so my wife got me these. When the statewide stay-at-home order this Brighton and Commerce City’s test positivity rates were both higher than you’re confronted with something normal to you, spring and allowed numerous types of 13 percent. Forty- ve people in Brighton and 29 in Commerce City have died from COVID-19 related health issues. To limit the spread of COVID-19, and then you see change on how the world is, it’s emotional.” It’s part of EnChroma’s Color Accessibility businesses to reopen. e state recently switched to color at least 15 counties moved to tighter restrictions that prohibits indoor and Program that helps schools, state parks, librar- identi ers — levels blue, yellow and personal gatherings. ies, museums, public venues and other organizations purchase and loan EnChroma glasses to orange rather than numbered levels — to avoid confusion. Until Nov. 17, level red colorblind students to help with homework and visitors to see colorful exhibits, and attractions. Seeing art Photo by Belen Ward meant a stay-at-home order. Now, level red — “severe risk” — is the second-
In 2019, the Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Please see RESTRICTIONS, Page 2
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 fi rst 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. Since 80% of information is processed visually it causes issues for color-blind students in school,
Ryan Oakes wearing the indoor EnChroma glasses viewing the Anythink Wright Farms Library art exhibit for people
with colorblindness to view and experience colors. PHOTO BY BELEN WARD
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
blindness. COURTESY PHOTO according to the study. EnChroma glasses are built with special optical fi lters that help the colorblind see the range of colors within the spectrum of colors more vibrantly with the accuracy of colors. The EnChroma glasses were invented by SEE COLORS, P6
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