Color Vision Deficiency, more commonly known as “color-blindness,” affects around 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women in the US. For the most part, people affected by the condition live relatively normal lives. It’s usually just small things that are affected, such as not realizing when your laptop is charged since the indicator hasn’t noticeably changed color.
A visit to the casino, whether physical or online, can also pose problems. Think about the clash of red and green at the roulette table, for instance. Or the different colors of chips used to bet in various casino table games. So what, if anything, do casinos do to assist color-blind people? Let’s find out.
More About Color Vision Deficiency
For most color-blind people, the world is not a black-and-white place. Most commonly, those affected can see every part of the spectrum — it’s just difficult to distinguish specific colors, usually red and green. So, in reality, the term “color-blind” is a misnomer. Color Vision Deficiency (CVD) makes more sense.
With roughly 13 million people affected in the US alone, it makes sense for businesses to make their services as accessible as possible to them; casinos are no exception. Here are some of the common measures taken by casinos to make life easier for CVD sufferers.
Playing Cards
Poker legend Mike Caro pioneered the idea of using a four-color deck, which debuted in 1992 at Foxwoods. It wasn’t popular to begin with, especially as gamblers are often superstitious. Whether it’s their favorite card design being seen as a lucky charm or simply a mistrust of anything new, there was pushback initially. But the idea has become more widespread in recent years across several card games.
In a four-color deck, hearts and spades remain red and black, but clubs become green and diamonds blue. This makes it much easier to distinguish the suits at a distance. But it’s especially useful when playing online casino games such as poker since it’s easier to spot potential flushes on a small screen and multiple tables.
For the time being, it’s still rare to see the four-color deck used in live casino games online, such as live dealer blackjack. It’s usually only a choice where RNG software is used with animated visuals. But as anti-discrimination laws continue to increase, one could expect an increasing number of live dealer casino games to offer the option in the future.
Betting Chips
Another hugely problematic area for those with CVD at the casino is online betting chips. In land-based casinos, it’s common to see chips without a number on them to denote their value. So, if you’re struggling to differentiate what color the chips are, there’s obviously huge potential for problems to occur.
To minimize the risk, most chip designs without numerical values do at least feature unique patterning on the edges. It may be spots, stripes or other recurring designs that provide a clear visual cue.
Of course, simply printing the value of the chip is the best possible action a casino can take. But some casinos are reluctant to do so since it will be expensive to change in the future if it becomes necessary. That said, it’s extremely common to see online casinos display the values because it can be changed quickly and easily at no expense.
Dice Games
When it comes to dice games such as craps, contrast is key. Since dice are usually small objects, it’s important to make sure that the spots don’t clash with the color of the actual die itself. For a casino that’s looking to be CVD-friendly, the best possible contrast is black and white.
Dark red is often cited as an alternative to black, but this runs the risk of clashing with a green table felt. However, some variety games involve multiple dice where it’s important to distinguish between the two. In such cases, starkly contrasting colors should be used; these are often red and blue.
Several live dealer games involve dice. Because these games are hosted in a studio and streamed online, there’s no need for the players themselves to cast them. As such, the designers are free to use oversized dice that are far bigger than usual. That’s a great way to aid visibility for anyone, not just those struggling with CVD.
Slot Machines
Online slots are well-known for their bright colors and engaging visuals. Naturally, designers want to be as creative as they can, to make an eye-catching and stimulating game. But, as far as people with CVD are concerned, it’s possible to go overboard and make things more complex than they need to be.
For instance, jackpot slots often have multiple prize pools. In order to trigger them, there’s usually a special symbol of some kind. Often, it’s a case of matching a higher number of symbols leading to a bigger jackpot. But in the past, there have been games where prizes are determined by identically designed symbols with different colors.
If your prize depends specifically on the color involved, but you’re unable to tell them apart, that’s clearly not an ideal user experience.
Where To Play if You’re Color-Blind
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