Bug 97112

Summary:	[accessibility] simulate red-green colorblindness
Product:	[Plasma] kwin	Reporter:	Frieder Ferlemann <frieder.ferlemann>
Component:	compositing	Assignee:	KWin default assignee <kwin-bugs-null>
Status:	RESOLVED INTENTIONAL
Severity:	wishlist	CC:	angel_blue_co2004, mboquien, mwoehlke.floss
Priority:	NOR
Version:	unspecified
Target Milestone:	---
Platform:	unspecified
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Frieder Ferlemann 2005-01-16 01:09:26 UTC

Version:            (using KDE KDE 3.3.2)
Installed from:    Unspecified

It would be nice if programs/pictures/icons etc. could be easily tested for having "enough contrast" when seen by f.e. red-green colorblind users.

[Some ways to implement]
a) as a (short interval) screensaver
b) color "table" selectable by mouse wheel/function key
c) as windows/desktop/X server/whatever property
d) as a funky mouse pointer
e) as magnifying glass
f) others

I'd prefer approach a) as it doesn't need explicit user interaction, seems relatively easy to implement and would have an additional benefit:
Users with color perception deficiency could tune that screensaver "the other way round": let it show screen contents with a different red/green ratio after a while. 

(There are other forms of color blindnesses too, with red-green being the most common one)

[Impact]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_blindness states:
"Among Americans, approximately 10% of males suffer from some form of color perception deficiency"

Comment 1 Médéric Boquien 2008-11-09 06:01:43 UTC

Hi,

I think this could be implemented as a kwin effect.

Thanks.

Comment 2 Matthew Woehlke 2008-11-12 00:20:41 UTC

> I think this could be implemented as a kwin effect. 

Not without shader support, it can't; the conversion algorithm is far from trivial. However...

> e) as magnifying glass 

...this is already done (I think as of 4.0 even). It's in kmag, and does all three cone deficiencies plus monochrome.

Doing "the other way around" is actually in the official feature plan, but I haven't had a chance to get around to it :-(. Feel free to submit patches, though.

Comment 3 Angel Blue01 2009-03-14 17:22:30 UTC

Yep, this is present in Kmag in 4.x which us good enough for me, but having it in Kwin would nice I guess...

Comment 4 Martin Flöser 2012-03-11 07:50:57 UTC

My understand of this feature request is that something should be implemented to see the world as someone who is red/green blind. The request is not about writing a filter so that red/green blind users can use the desktop in a better way?

While I hope to understand the motivation of the request, I'm sorry to say that this is nothing which makes sense for a window manager. It does not add any value to the application. No color blind person is helped by this feature. Also the intention to test the applications do not work.

There are many different kinds of color blindness and it is not possible to just transform the screen in one to fit all. This implies that it is not possible to have a color scheme which will suit all users with and without color blindness the same way.

The only solutions are to add a proper filter to give color blind users a way to change all colors at once or just to adjust the color scheme to have something pleasant for their eyes.

Comment 5 Frieder Ferlemann 2012-03-12 22:14:25 UTC

> The request is not about writing a filter so that red/green blind users can use the desktop in a better way?

Yes, that's correct. The request was about testing programs/pictures/icons.

> There are many different kinds of color blindness and it is not possible to just transform the screen in one to fit all.

I'm not aware anyone made that claim (no-one responding, not the OP (me) nor wikipedia 2005).


Having kmag with its color options is likely good enough (so option e was taken. And the application requested here is even mentioned its help text:)