Color Blindness Vision Tests

Color blindness or Color Vision Deficiency is a term that refers to deficient perceptual sensitivity to certain colors. In simple terms, this means that you are unable to see the difference between some of the colors that others perceive. This deficiency is due to some inherited condition and has nothing to do with visual acuity. It might also occur due to brain, nerve, or eye damage. The most common vision deficiency is Red/Green color, wherein a person is unable to distinguish between the reds and greens.

There are vision tests available to check if you are able to differentiate between different colors.  The vision test procedure is quite simple. You are given a comfortable position to sit in and the test will be explained to you by your health care provider. Several symbols which are made of dot patterns (colored) are shown to you. Colors that are randomly mixed form the background for these dot patterns. The symbols will then have to be identified by you. One eye of yours is covered and the test plates will be shown to you. These testers are held about 14 inches from your face and you are expected to quickly recognize the symbol that is there in each color scheme.   

An adult need not prepare anything before this test. However, if you usually wear glasses, ensure that you wear them for the test. If your child needs to undergo this test, it might help if you explain to the child how the test feels. It can also be demonstrated or practiced on a doll. Explaining to your child what happens during the test and why it is done would definitely help him or her feel less anxious.  In the case of small children, the test may be a very simple one where he/she is asked to distinguish a red bottle cap from other caps that have a different color. A normal vision test and a vision test for color blindness are very similar.

As mentioned earlier, this test is done to figure out if you have an issue in your color vision. It is also done to find out if your optic nerve, the main nerve that connects the eye to the brain, works well. The first sign that you have a vision problem could be some changes as far as your color vision is concerned.

If your results are normal you will generally be able to differentiate all colors. Abnormal test results help in determining  problems such as Achromatopsia, where you are completely color blind and can see shades of gray;  Deuteranopia, where there is difficulty to differentiate between red/purple and green/purple; Protanopia, a problem differentiating between green/blue and green/red; and Tritanopia, which is a difficulty differentiating between green/yellow and green/blue. This test is completely safe and there are no risks involved with it.