Color Blindness: Test for Color Blindness

"Color blindness" is the term commonly applied to a genetic defect that causes the inability to distinguish certain colors or shades of colors. Individuals can still see in color, but they might not be able to tell some colors apart. The most common type of color vision deficiency affects red-green perception, which means that a person may not be able to distinguish colors such as green from brown (brown is composed of red and green) or blue from purple (purple is composed of red and blue). For those web users that want to explore the scientific reasons for such a condition, the World Wide Web offers a broad array of sites that outline research studies and findings.

It is estimated that about 8 percent of men and .5 percent of women are color blind. Color blindness is a sex-linked genetic trait carried on the X-chromosome, therefore, mothers pass this condition onto sons. For a woman to have the trait, both parents need to have been carriers of the color blindness gene. That is why the problem is much more common for men.

As a result of its prevalence, it is good to have a child's color vision checked at an early age. The Internet offers thorough color blindness test online. The test is a series of 10 screens that prompt viewers to match a colored dot with other dots of similar colors. At the conclusion of the test, you are given results and an explanation of those results. While the test is not definitive, Internet users can use this test as an indicator of whether it is necessary to be checked by an optometrist or opthamologist. Any person, whether they are color blind or not, can venture to these web sites to get an understanding of a condition that many people do not understand.