About

This tool is a rigorous Chromatopsia Auditing Engine designed for UI/UX engineers and accessibility specialists. It simulates how visual signals are processed by the human eye under various photopigment deficiencies, ensuring compliance with WCAG 2.1 standards (Distinguishable Content). Unlike simple overlay tools, this application utilizes GPU-accelerated SVG Convolution Matrices to transform linear RGB signals into perceived colors for 8 distinct ocular conditions.

Inaccessibility in color design leads to critical usability failures, particularly in data visualization and alert systems. For example, Protanopia (missing L-cones) causes red traffic signals to appear indistinguishable from streetlights. This simulator enables real-time verification via webcam and offers Daltonization algorithms - mathematically shifting confusing hues into the visible spectrum of the observer to restore information density.

Formulas

The simulation relies on mapping the standard sRGB color space to the LMS Color Space (Long, Medium, Short cone responses). A transformation matrix T is applied to the RGB vector v.

{

C_sim = T × C_orig

For Protanopia (Simulated), the transformation removes the L-cone contribution and projects it onto the remaining M and S axes:

0.5670.4330.0000.5580.4420.0000.0000.2420.758

Daltonization (Correction) involves calculating the error vector E between the original and simulated image, then shifting this error into a visible spectrum (e.g., shifting red information to blue luminance):

C_final = C_orig + (Shift × (C_orig − C_sim))

Reference Data

Condition	Defect Type	Affected Cones	Population (Male/Female)	Confusion Lines
Protanopia	Dichromacy	L-Cone (Long/Red) Missing	~1.0% / 0.02%	Red, Orange, Yellow, Green appear as similar shades of yellow/blue.
Deuteranopia	Dichromacy	M-Cone (Medium/Green) Missing	~1.0% / 0.01%	Red, Orange, Yellow, Green appear as similar shades of yellow/blue.
Tritanopia	Dichromacy	S-Cone (Short/Blue) Missing	~0.003% (Rare)	Blue and Green appear indistinguishable; Yellow and Violet blend.
Protanomaly	Anomalous Trichromacy	L-Cone Mutated (Weak Red)	~1.0% / 0.03%	Reduced saturation of red; reduced ability to discriminate red/green.
Deuteranomaly	Anomalous Trichromacy	M-Cone Mutated (Weak Green)	~5.0% / 0.35%	Mildest but most common; distinct from Deuteranopia but similar shifts.
Tritanomaly	Anomalous Trichromacy	S-Cone Mutated (Weak Blue)	Rare	Reduced saturation of blue; difficult to distinguish blue/green.
Achromatopsia	Monochromacy	No functional cones	1 in 30,000	Complete lack of hue; vision is purely varying levels of luminosity.
Blue Cone Monochromacy	Monochromacy	No L or M cones	1 in 100,000	Can only see Blue and white/black/gray. Severe visual acuity loss.

Frequently Asked Questions

We utilize SVG feColorMatrix filters because they are processed by the browser's compositor on the GPU. This allows for 60FPS real-time processing of high-resolution video feeds (Webcam) without the CPU bottleneck associated with pixel-by-pixel Canvas manipulation.

Daltonization is a digital image processing technique used to improve accessibility. It doesn't restore color to the viewer; rather, it shifts the hues that the viewer cannot distinguish (e.g., Red) into frequencies they can see (e.g., Blue or brightness variations), preserving the information contrast.

No. While this tool uses medically derived transformation matrices (Vienot et al. 1999, Machado et al. 2009) to approximate the experience, monitor calibration and individual biological variations mean it cannot be used for diagnosis. It is a design audit tool, not a medical device.

Use the "Grayscale / Achromatopsia" mode. WCAG contrast ratios are calculated based on relative luminance. If two elements have sufficient contrast in Grayscale mode, they generally pass the color independence requirements of WCAG 2.1 AA.