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Colour deficient and colour-blind visitors to Australia’s Chau Chak Wing Museum are now being offered special glasses to see works of art in clear, vibrant colour for the first time
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 05 Jul 2022
EnChroma’s patented lens technology allows colour-blind visitors to see art in clear, vibrant colour Credit: Chau Chak Wing Museum/EnChroma
Colour blindness is a common problem that affects around one in 12 men and one in every 200 women. In a first for Australia, the Chau Chak Wing Museum - a museum of art, science, history and ancient cultures at the University of Sydney - has introduced a solution for its colour-blind visitors, colour correcting glasses.
While people with normal colour vision see over one million shades of colour, those with colour vision deficiency only see an estimated 10% of hues and shades. As a result, colours can appear dull, indistinct, and difficult to discern.
At the museum, since April this year, guests who are red-green colour blind can borrow a pair of glasses on entry to experience clear, vibrant colour, often for the first time.
Supplied by colour blind specialists EnChroma - a leading-edge eyewear company for colour blindness and low vision - the special glasses can correct a number of different types of colour blindness. The company’s patented lens technology is engineered with special optical filters that can enable people to see a significantly expanded range of colours.
“The accessibility of art and design is always top of mind at the Chau Chak Wing Museum and we are very pleased to be the first venue in Australia to offer this technology through EnChroma’s Colour Accessibility Programme,” said Dr Paul Donnelly, deputy director of the Museum.
“This partnership is another important step forward in our inclusivity goals, helping people who are colour blind to experience the full wonder and vibrancy of the exhibitions we have on offer.”
EnChroma’s Colour Accessibility Programme helps venues including schools, state parks, libraries and museums to purchase and loan EnChroma glasses to help make schoolwork, attractions and experiences that involve colour more accessible and enjoyable to the colour blind. Through this programme, EnChroma also partnered this year with Meadows Museum in Texas, US, also offering eyewear to visitors with colour vision deficiencies.
“Numerous tourist attractions already offer EnChroma glasses to colour-blind guests to help them draw more visitors, make the visits of colour-blind guests more colourful and memorable, and to promote accessibility and inclusion,” said Erik Ritchie, CEO of EnChroma, speaking to Planet Attractions.
“In addition to the Chau Chak Wing Museum in Sydney, our glasses are already in 50 museums worldwide. We’re working with several major attractions, as well tourism departments, in the US and in other countries, who want to offer our glasses to increase tourism and inclusion as part of the EnChroma Color Accessibility Programme.”
Museums and galleries
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