Tools / Color Blindness Simulator
Color Blindness Simulator.
Paste the colors you're shipping and see them the way users with the four main color-vision deficiencies do. If two swatches collapse into one in a row below, that pair is a problem — add a non-color cue.
Studio
Checking this on something other than your screen
A simulation is only as honest as the display showing it. Where the colour is going decides what it needs next.
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...onto paper
Start here if the palette gets printed. Screen colour and ink colour are not the same colour, and this is the deck that translates between them.
Pantone
Color Bridge Guide — coated
Listed on Amazon as Pantone Color Bridge Guide Coated | Pantone to CMYK, RGB & HTML Color Matching Fan Deck for Graphic Design, Branding & Print | GG6103B
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...onto a screen you can trust
Start here if it stays digital. An uncalibrated monitor is the single most common reason a palette that looked right on your desk looks wrong everywhere else.
Calibrite
Display Plus HL colorimeter kit
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite Video Photo Kit with Display Plus HL Colorimeter and ColorChecker Passport Video 2, 10,000 Nit Monitor Calibration, Camera Color Matching
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...by hand
Start here if you are mixing it. Wada's plates were flat printed colour; gansai pans are the closest everyday medium to them.
Kuretake
Gansai Tambi 36
Listed on Amazon as Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI Watercolor Paint Set 36 Colors
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Designing for color vision deficiency
Around 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women see color differently. The simulation here applies the Machado (2009) model — the same approach used by professional accessibility tools — in linear-light sRGB.
The red-green pair matters most
Deuteranopia and protanopia together account for the overwhelming majority of CVD. The classic failure is a red/green status system — "error" and "success" can become indistinguishable. Check those rows first.
Never rely on color alone
WCAG 1.4.1 requires that color isn't the only way information is conveyed. Pair hues with text labels, icons, shape, or position, and keep adjacent swatches far apart in lightness — lightness contrast survives every CVD type.
Need to check a live webpage, a printed brochure, or your whole screen instead of just a palette? See how this tool compares to five others in color-blind simulator tools, compared.
Common questions
- How common is color blindness?
- About 1 in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women have some color-vision deficiency. Red-green types (protan and deutan) are by far the most common; blue-yellow (tritan) is rare; total color blindness (achromatopsia) is very rare.
- Which CVD type should I design for?
- Deuteranopia and protanopia (red-green) cover the large majority of affected users, so a palette that stays distinguishable under both is a safe baseline. Never rely on color alone — pair it with labels, icons, or patterns.