The Oklahoma City Museum of Art (OKCMOA) has announced a partnership with EnChroma to improve accessibility for visitors with color blindness. The initiative, launched during International Color Blindness Awareness Month, allows guests with red-green color blindness to borrow specialized EnChroma glasses at no cost while visiting the museum.
Color blindness impacts a significant portion of the population, affecting about 8% of men and 0.5% of women in the United States, according to estimates. This equates to approximately 13 million people in the U.S. and 350 million worldwide. The glasses are designed to help users see a wider range of colors and enhance detail and depth perception.
Chris Dykes, CEO of EnChroma, said, “Artists use color to tell a story and to evoke emotion, but much of this intent and information is unavailable to millions of people who are color blind. We are delighted that the Oklahoma City Museum of Art is supporting the needs of red-green color-blind visitors and enabling a better understanding and appreciation of art for them.”
The glasses can be borrowed from the museum’s front desk during operating hours. While they do not cure or correct color blindness, EnChroma’s patented lenses use special optical filters that work for about eight out of ten people with red-green color blindness. Many users have reported seeing colors more vibrantly after using them.
Neely Simms-Peters, Senior Manager of Programs and Board Relations at OKCMOA, stated, “As a museum dedicated to enriching lives through the visual arts, we are excited to offer visitors with red-green color blindness the chance to experience the full vibrancy of color. Through our partnership with EnChroma, these visitors can engage with art in a new, more meaningful way, making their time in our galleries even more memorable.”
The museum encourages visitors with color blindness to try out the glasses during their visit. They especially highlight an upcoming exhibition titled “Paul Reed: A Retrospective,” which opens on OKCMOA’s third floor in November.
EnChroma is based in Berkeley, California and produces eyewear for those with color vision deficiencies as well as other solutions related to low vision. The company was founded in 2010 and combines research from neuroscience and lens innovation in its products.
More information about accessibility offerings at OKCMOA can be found at https://www.okcmoa.com/accessibility/.
