Why are Traffic Lights Vertical?

So people with color vision deficiency can tell which light means “stop”.

(Stop is on top in most of the US.)

5-8% of male visitors, and up to 1% of women, have it. In exhibitions, accommodating differences in color perception is complex, because there are many types.

Here’s a primer.

Most common are “red-green” types: either certain greens look more red, or reds look more green, or red and green look the same. Hence traffic lights.

Less common “blue-yellows” are complex. One makes it hard to tell blue from green, and yellow from red. In the second type you can’t tell blue from green, purple from red, or yellow from pink.

Lastly, the rare “complete color vision deficiency” means seeing no colors at all.

And that was just a primer. Every type has a scientific name and much more to learn.

Here’s the thing:
More visitors than you might think can’t see color the same. We can’t change the colors of every collection object. But we can change how we create graphics, text and media.

If we remember the traffic light, we’ll make sure it’s never color alone that carries the message. 

Warmly,
Jonathan

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MtM Word of the Day: 

color vision deficiency. The correct term for color blindness — because most who have it can see some colors. There are many variations, each meaning you can't distinguish certain colors like most can. In rare types you can't see any.