The Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney is offering special glasses for colour blindness. It is the first Australian institution to provide EnChroma wearables.
Colour blind visitors can experience exhibitions in “vibrant colour thanks to a partnership with EnChroma”, the museum said. EnChroma glasses are also available at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver.
Guests who are red-green colour blind are able to borrow the EnChroma glasses can enjoy “a vast array of blue hues… in clear, vibrant colour for the first time”.
Paul Donnelly, deputy director of the museum, said “the accessibility of art and design is always top of mind at the Chau Chak Wing Museum and we are very pleased to be the first venue in Australia to offer this technology”.
“This partnership is another important step forward in our inclusivity goals, helping people who are colour blind to experience the full wonder and vibrancy of the exhibitions we have on offer,” Donnelly added.
According to a press release from earlier this year, one in 12 men and one in 200 women are colour vision deficient. That’s an estimated 350 million people across the world.
More than one million Australians are colour blind, and more than 3,500 of the 83,000 students and staff at the University of Sydney are colour vision deficient.
People with normal colour vision see more than one million shades of colour, while people with colour blindness only see an estimated 10 percent of hues.
Accessibility and inclusivity
“The mission of EnChroma is to enable those with colour vision deficiencies to access more of life’s colourful experiences through our specially engineered eyewear,” said Erik Ritchie, CEO of EnChroma.
“We are excited to collaborate with the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum to make its colourful works accessible to those with colour blindness. We encourage other museums, universities and public institutions in Australia to support accessibility as well.”
Elsewhere, Florida’s Peppa Pig Theme Park features accessible ride vehicles and attractions. In Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum has introduced a touchable scale model of the building to make a visit easier for blind and partially-sighted guests.
The Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven opened a multi-sensory exhibition with texts in Braille, scent interpretations, tactile drawings and soundcapes. This made the experience accessible to visually or hearing-impaired guests.
Images: University of Sydney
