Grey Means Global: Taking the message overseas

I've been fortunate to have Grey Means Go articles published in a variety of forms over the past few weeks, both local to international.

Columbia Missourian

My hometown newspaper in Columbia, Missouri, published a recent Grey Means Go blog on the bank drive-thru experience. In addition to the paper copy, the article is available on a website they've devoted to local writers: My Missourian.

Kleurenblind

At the other end of the spectrum, a colleague from The Netherlands recently translated a Grey Means Go article to Dutch and posted it to his website, Kleurenblind. Jurjen van Bolhuis has developed a site discussing colorblind issues in his country and around the world.

Readers around the world

I took a look at the readership of Grey Means Go and discovered the site has readers all over the globe. Of the last 500 page loads, 42% came from outside the United States, from as far away as Egypt, Singapore, and Lebanon.

These recent examples have urged me to think more about the global community and content sharing across languages. It seems that expanding beyond English-speaking readers is an important step to promote growth. I am embarrassingly mono-lingual, but I hope to learn more about available tools to share the message of Grey Means Go more effectively around the world.

Bank Drive-Thrus: Bane of the Colorblind Driver

I've often run into this situation at the bank drive-thru. I pull up, look at the lights above the lanes, and I can't tell for sure if the lane I want is open or closed. At this bank on my way home from work the green light is always on the right. As long as I remember that, I'm OK.


The other work-arounds I typically use:

1. If there are other vehicles, I'll get behind one. Sure, I passed up a number of open lanes with this strategy, but I never pull up to a closed one.
2. Always, always go to the window. If the drive-thru is open, the left-most lane is always open.

But I've found a better solution.

This drive-thru near my home developed a simple sign that is easier for all to see, and provides a significant benefit for color deficient drivers.

(Note the OPEN sign is on the left at this location)

Brilliant. If we were in 1992 and I still used the bank drive-thru (vs. online banking and the ATM, neither of which is ever closed), I'd seriously consider switching banks for this reason alone. Nice work, Boone County National. You've secured my hypothetical, fourth-dimensional business.

What other everyday, driving-around-town experiences have you had like this? I tend to forget about them since I've "worked around" them for so long, but I'm sure there are other common stories. Let me know.

See through colorblind eyes - new iPhone app

You can see what colorblind people see with a new iPhone app releasing this weekend. The Huetility Colorblind Simulator, the first of its kind on the iPhone, was designed to accurately model the different types of colorblindness.

According to the developers, Huetility simulates the different types of colorblindness so a user can compare the different views.

1. Normal color vision


2. Colorblind view (including red-green, blue-yellow, and complete color loss)


3. Error view highlighting the regions of the color image likely to cause a colorblind viewer the greatest problems.

The app is intended for designers, content creators and iPhone game developers who want to check that colors they have used are colorblind friendly. I foresee application to the world of transportation as well.

The most promising piece of the app, in my opinion, is the ability to take a picture with the iPhone and then see how that photo looks to a colorblind person. An engineer could take photos of traffic signals, signs, and other traffic control situations to learn how the design works for coloriblind road users.

Deal of the Day

The creators of Huetility have been generous enough to given Grey Means Go readers three free iPhone downloads. So here's the deal: the first three readers to send an e-mail to brian@greymeansgo.com with "Huetility" in the subject line will receive a code to download the app for free. I'll announce the winners next week.

If you don't get a free copy, Huetility is priced at $2.99 and can be downloaded HERE.

I'm very interested to hear comments from readers after you download and use this software. I have high hopes that it will be beneficial as we continue the relation of colorblindness to transportation. Please check it out and post your reviews here.

Can colorblind drivers see bicyclists?

Drivers often find it difficult to see bicyclists on the road, so extensive efforts have been made to increase bike-riders' conspicuity with hats, vests, jackets, and other high-visibility clothing. The researcher took a look at the color used for this apparel (often fluorescent green, pink, or yellow) to determine if it was visible to those with color deficient vision.

The results were neither statistically significant or overwhelming, but the author raises some interesting questions about the assumptions made by those producing, selling, and using high visibility garments. A photo example, using the Vischeck website to simulate color blindness, is telling:

The screenshot is from a website promoting high-visibility garments for kids. The "regular vision" screenshot is on the left. The "color-blind" simulation is on the right (I think).

I'm hoping this turned out well, because being colorblind, they look pretty much the same to me. I guess that's the point. According the author (whose word I'll take on this one),

"...most of it just doesn't work for people who are color blind. The
high-visibility green and orange hats become a light color that blends well with
the trees. The hot pink becomes grey."

I once led my state's work zone safety efforts for the Department of Transportation. It never dawned on me that I was seeing high-visibility vests very differently than those who were relying on them to stay safe in highway construction zones. With upwards of 5%+ drivers suffering from some color vision deficiency, it seems that colors most visible to the colorblind driver would be the most appropriate to use.

For the full report from Mr. Sullivan, click here.

A great colorblind website

Daniel Flück of Zürich, Switzerland, started Colblindor in 2006. It is a great overall website on colorblindness and how we as colorblind people deal with this deficiency.

The site includes colorblind tests, news, and tools to support life with color deficiency.

I highly recommend checking the site out when you get a chance: http://www.colblindor.com/

Grey Means Go: An Introduction

The issue of color vision deficiency been largely ignored by transportation professionals. An estimated 6-12% of the male population has some sort of colorblindness, meaning roughly 5% of road users are affected. The effects are not well documented, but what is known is that color deficient drivers suffer a disadvantage on the roadway.

The topic is important because 90% of what drivers use to navigate is visual, and much of that information is color-specific. Traffic sign types are denoted by color, and pavement markings in the United States have different meanings if they are striped white vs. yellow. Traffic signals’ red and green indications -- the two colors most often confused by color-deficient individuals -- provide drivers with opposite messages: Red means stop. Green means go.

But to a color-deficient driver, and even more so to a true color blind driver, the colors have little or no meaning.

Grey means stop. Grey means go.

The purpose of Grey Means Go is multi-faceted:

1. Describe the problem and share the small amount of research literature available on color deficiency in transportation and advocate for additional studies on the topic.

2. Share best practices that have been implemented – mostly outside the United States – to help colorblind drivers:

3. Encourage transportation professionals to consider color-deficient road users during design, construction, and operation of transportation facilities.

4. Encourage readers to share their stories of driving with color deficiencies, with the hope of increased community and discussion of this important issue.

So please take the time to read through the blog, make comments, and tell your stories. How does colorblindness affect you on the road?

I'm also always looking for guest bloggers, so feel free to contact me directly via e-mail at chandlerb22@gmail.com.

Helping colorblind drivers helps everybody

I previously referenced this study from the Kentucky Transportation Center regarding a number of low-cost safety measures for signalized intersections. Here's the complete document: http://tr.im/ikki

I took a closer look at it this week and noticed something interesting. A number of colorblind-friendly treatments also provided an overall benefit to the safety at signals.

Double Red Lights

This application creates a "Red T" at the top of the signal head. It's main purpose is to double the visibility of the red indication. For colorblind drivers, it provides additional information that it is the red indication (in addition to its placement at the top of the signal).

• Total crashes down 2 per year
• Angle crashes down 1.7 per year
• Rear-end crashes up 0.5 per year

Advanced Warning Flashers

I had not thought about this one before as a significant colorblind benefit, but I believe it could be. There are times that I don't always know if what I'm seeing three blocks ahead is a traffic signal or just ambient lighting from other sources. Signal Ahead signs (and particularly those discussed in the report with actuated flashers) give me the additional information I need to know what is coming up.

• Total crashes down 1.4 per year
• Angle crashes down 0.7 per year
• Rear-end crashes down 0.6 per year

Reflective Backplates

Backplate installation showed a crash reduction benefit for ALL drivers by adding conspicuity to the traffic signal.

• Total crashes down 1 per year
• Angle crashes down 0.4 per year
• Rear-end crashes down 0.3 per year
  

Crash Data

Though the reductions seem small, it's important to keep in mind the cost was also very low for these treatments. And though 0.5 crashes per year might sound insignificant, if multiplied times an entire state DOT or large city signal system (sometimes thousands of intersections), significant reductions could be achieved.

The best implementation plan may be modifying policy so any new signal installations (or updgrades) are put in with these measures. High crash locations could also be added to the mix, so that eventually every signal includes these improvements or something similar.