About Color Blindness Simulator

Simulate how hex colors appear under different color blindness types. Part of the DevTools Surf developer suite. Browse more tools in the Fun / Niche collection.

Use Cases

• UI designers verifying color palettes are accessible to all users
• Frontend developers testing button states for color-blind users
• Game designers ensuring critical gameplay cues are distinguishable
• Data visualization engineers checking chart color accessibility

Tips

• Test all three major types: protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia
• Compare simulated colors side-by-side with originals
• Ensure sufficient contrast remains under each simulation

Fun Facts

• Approximately 8% of men and 0.5% of women of Northern European descent have some form of color vision deficiency — deuteranomaly (reduced green sensitivity) is the most common type.
• John Dalton published the first scientific paper on color blindness in 1794, describing his own condition — color blindness was called 'Daltonism' in many languages for over a century.
• The Ishihara color blindness test, created by Shinobu Ishihara in 1917, uses 38 plates of colored dots and remains the most widely used screening test over 100 years later.

FAQ

Which types does it simulate?

All eight: protanopia, protanomaly, deuteranopia, deuteranomaly, tritanopia, tritanomaly, achromatopsia, and blue-cone monochromacy.

How accurate is the simulation?

Uses the Brettel-Viénot-Mollon color-space transformation — the most-cited approximation. Real vision varies per individual; this is an average.

Is this for accessibility testing?

Yes — the primary use case. See which UI color pairs become indistinguishable under each CVD type. Aim for designs that work for all eight.

Does it simulate images?

This tool does hex colors. For full-image CVD simulation, browser extensions (ChromeLens, Coblis) apply the transform to whole pages.