Color Blindness Test
Test your color vision with Ishihara-style plates optimized for gamers.
Game
You just tested your Color Blindness Test — Try Color Palette + WCAG Checker next →
What Is a Color Blindness Test?
A colour blindness test screens for colour vision deficiency (CVD) using Ishihara-style dot plates — circles of coloured dots arranged so a number is visible to people with typical colour vision but hidden or altered for those with a deficiency. CVD affects roughly 8% of men and 0.5% of women, the huge gap being because the most common types are sex-linked recessive (the genes sit on the X chromosome). The deficiencies divide into three families by which cone cell is affected. Protan (protanomaly/protanopia) is weak or missing long-wavelength 'red' cones — reds look darker and muddy. Deutan (deuteranomaly/deuteranopia) involves the medium-wavelength 'green' cones and is the most common of all; reds and greens blur together. Together protan and deutan are the red-green deficiencies that make up the vast majority of cases. Tritan (tritanomaly/tritanopia) is the rare short-wavelength 'blue-yellow' type, affecting blue/yellow discrimination and, unlike the others, equally common in men and women. This test presents a series of plates and scores how many you identify correctly. It is a screening, not a clinical diagnosis — a true diagnosis uses calibrated tools like the Farnsworth-Munsell 100 hue test — but it reliably flags whether a professional eye exam is worthwhile.
How to Use the Color Blindness Test
Click start to view the first plate. Each plate shows coloured dots with a number embedded; type or select the number you see, or choose 'No number' if you cannot make one out. Work through all plates at your own pace — there is no time limit. After the last plate the tool scores you and indicates whether your results suggest typical colour vision or a possible deficiency. Display calibration matters more than people expect, because the test relies on precise colour separation. Set your monitor to its default sRGB profile and turn off blue-light filters and night mode, which warp the very hues the plates depend on. Two technical settings can quietly skew results. First, gamma — the curve mapping signal to brightness; the sRGB and web standard is gamma 2.2, and a miscalibrated gamma shifts mid-tone colours enough to change which plates you can read. Second, colour gamut — many modern displays default to a wide DCI-P3 gamut that over-saturates sRGB content, exaggerating reds and greens and making the test easier than reality. For an honest screening, use a standard sRGB mode at gamma 2.2, moderate brightness, and no glare.
Why Color Vision Awareness Matters for Gamers
Many games lean heavily on colour to carry critical information: enemy nameplates, team indicators, minimap markers, status effects, and loot-rarity tiers are often distinguished by colour alone. A player with undiagnosed CVD may struggle to tell friend from foe or miss cues without knowing why. Knowing your specific type — protan, deutan, or tritan — lets you pick the matching colourblind mode in your games, which remaps problem hues into ones you can separate. The same knowledge has broad design implications: it is exactly why accessible design never relies on colour alone. Good UI pairs colour with a second channel — icons, shapes, text labels, or patterns — so a red/green distinction survives for the roughly 1-in-12 men who cannot see it. This is codified in the WCAG 'use of colour' guideline, and it is why well-designed dashboards add a shape to a red error dot and games let you recolour health bars. Beyond gaming, CVD affects reading maps and charts, judging fruit ripeness, and interpreting wiring or status LEDs. A quick screening is the first step: it tells you which accessibility settings to enable and helps you understand a difference you may have lived with unexamined.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is color blindness?
Color blindness (color vision deficiency) affects ~8% of men and ~0.5% of women. The most common type is red-green deficiency, making it hard to distinguish red and green shades.
How does color blindness affect gaming?
Many games use red/green for enemy/friendly indicators. Color blind gamers may struggle with team identification, minimap colors, and loot rarity indicators.
Can games be adjusted for color blindness?
Yes! Most modern games have color blind modes (Deuteranopia, Protanopia, Tritanopia settings). These remap problem colors to distinguishable alternatives.
Use this tool inside a bigger workflow
These collections group follow-up tools and guides that commonly belong in the same job.
Browse same tags
Jump to other tools that share the same workflow, format, or use case.