Colour blindness occurs when you are unable to see the full range of colours that are perceptible to the human eye. Most colour blind people are able to see things as clearly as other people but they are unable to fully ‘see’ red, green or blue light. There are different types of colour blindness and there are extremely rare cases where people are unable to see any colour at all.

Colour blindness is also known as colour vision deficiency. Colour confusion often happens when someone cannot distinguish between certain colours. In Australia, about 8% of males and 0.4% of females suffer colour blindness to some degree, it is usually a genetic (hereditary) condition. The exact physical causes are still being researched but it is believed that colour blindness is usually caused by faulty cones but sometimes by a fault in the pathway from the cone to the brain. To a colour blind person, their world still appears to have colours, — it’s just that their colour vision perception or range of colours are different in various degrees to that of about 90 per cent of the population.

People with colour vision defects may only find out by accident, such as when a friend compliments their red shirt that they in fact thought was brown. This shift in perspective can be disorienting and shocking for the person, to find out things are not as they appear to them. There is no cure for colour blindness, but we have created Australian designed and owned iRo lenses in glasses and contact lenses that help to alleviate symptoms of the condition and increase and enhance all colours.

The Ishihara Colour Test is commonly used to broadly detect a colour vision issue. It involves the patient looking at a series of images containing colours mixed together as clusters of dots, of specific colours and sizes to test if the patient can distinguish between them. The pictures contain a number or shape, people who have a colour vision defect will struggle to see the number or shape, or they might not be able to see it at all. Click here to try our test today.
Most people with a colour vision deficit have always been interested to know how other people see colour.

That is why iRo lens home testing kits are an easy first step in seeing true colour. The home testing kit has special filters that are similar to iRo lenses and you will see colour as if you are wearing colour vision glasses.
The next step is to visit one of our certified Optometrists for a complete colour vision check, they will assess the exact type and degree of colour vision deficiency that each person has and will prescribe the appropriate iRo colour vision glasses for you.