Special Viewfinders at Virginia State Parks Let Colorblind Guests See Fall Foliage

Color blindness, also known as color vision deficiency, is a primarily inherited condition that prevents people from telling certain hues apart. While there’s no cure, Virginia is doing as much as possible to bring the full spectrum of fall foliage to individuals with the condition. It’s now the first state in the nation to install colorblind-friendly viewfinders in all 43 of its state parks.

Natural Tunnel State Park was the first to add the feature in June of 2023. Following its enthusiastic reception, the viewfinders were introduced to the rest of the parks system using guest donations made to Virginia’s Round-Up for Parks program.

The devices use special lenses from the brand EnChroma to help colorblind people differentiate between shades. In eyes that work properly, light wavelengths stimulate the color pigments in the retina’s cones. This process activates different sensations in the brain and allows people to see a variety of hues. When an individual’s cones don’t work properly, their color perception is limited, causing vision impairment or blindness. The most common type of color blindness comes from an excessive overlap of the green- and red-perceiving cones. This results in the otherwise distinct colors becoming impossible to distinguish.

EnChroma’s lenses specifically target red-green color deficiency. They do this by tricking the eye’s green and red cones into believing there is a greater contrast between the two colors than there really is. Colorblind individuals aren’t the only ones who can experience the technology. According to WVTF, Virginia’s public radio, park visitors without the condition will see especially brilliant autumn colors when looking through the viewfinders.

Virginia has quickly become a destination for blind or visually impaired nature-lovers. In August 2024, the state’s Natural Bridge State Park became the first park in the U.S. to introduce an audio app for the population. The RightHear Accessibility system guides users to key trail points with spoken instructions and directions.

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