EYES on seeing the difference

At EYES on St Albans, we love a good splash of colour – you might have noticed our particular fondness of yellow!  But for people with colour vision deficiency (CVD), the world can look a little less vibrant. Everyday experiences – choosing ripe fruit, matching socks, reading colour-coded charts – can be surprisingly tricky.

Most people think of colour blindness as seeing in black and white (thank you, 1950s telly), but in reality, it’s usually a difficulty distinguishing certain colours – most commonly reds and greens, or blues and yellows. Around 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women in the UK have some form of colour vision deficiency, so it’s far more common than many realise.  When you break it down, statistically there is one child in every classroom that will be affected.

“Are these the same colour?”

If you’ve ever found yourself baffled when someone says a jumper is definitely burgundy and not brown, or if traffic lights seem more about position than pigment, you might be one of the many people who navigate the world without seeing colour in the same way as others.

While it’s not usually classed as a disability, colour vision deficiency can have a real impact – from school experiences and career choices to safety and confidence. Some people don’t even realise they have it until adulthood. It’s just how the world has always looked to them.

But what if you could see colours more clearly? Not just guess or compensate – but actually see the colours you’ve never been able to before?

Enter EnChroma.

We’ve been working with EnChroma since we opened – and we don’t stick with things if they’re don’t hit the EYES on St Albans standards.  EnChroma glasses are specially engineered to enhance colour perception for people with red-green colour blindness. And we’re not being dramatic when we say – they can be life-changing.  We’ll also say that occasionally, we’ve got a bit teary when we’ve seen the difference that they’ve made.

These lenses use clever optical filters to separate overlapping colour signals in the eye, making it easier for the brain to distinguish between reds and greens. The result? A much richer, more vibrant view of the world. Think reds that pop, greens that glow, and purples that stop being confusing altogether.

The first time someone with CVD puts on a pair of EnChroma glasses can be emotional. We’ve had clients stand in our shop and realise that the buses are purple & pink, M&S flowers are so vibrant and that nectarines and apples are completely different.

It’s not a cure – but it’s a game changer.

It’s important to say that EnChroma glasses don’t “fix” colour vision deficiency or work for everyone in the same way. Some people notice a dramatic difference immediately, while others experience more subtle changes over time. But for many, they provide a level of colour perception they’ve never experienced before – and that’s no small thing.

Plus, they look like regular (and rather stylish) specs or sunnies – no bulky add-ons or sci-fi goggles here.  We can have them fitted into any of the frames that we have in the shop – with or without prescription.

Want to see what you’re missing?

At EYES on St Albans, we offer colour vision testing and can talk you through whether EnChroma glasses might be right for you (or someone in your family – they make a fantastic gift!). We’ve seen first-hand how much joy and wonder these glasses can bring – especially for children and young people who may have been struggling silently.

Intrigued?  Pop in to find out more