How to Use the Accessibility Setting of the Color Filters Window
Many modern operating systems and applications include settings that make them more accessible to color-blind (or color- deficient ) users – here’s how you can adjust these settings in the four most recent versions of Windows: 11, 10, 8, and 7.
How to set up Windows 11 or Windows 10 for color blind people
Of all the versions of Windows still supported by Microsoft, both Windows 11 and Windows 10 make it easy to customize your PC with a color blind filter.
In both versions of Windows, color blind people are supported through the “color filters” feature. You can access this feature in one of two ways : either by opening the Start menu and searching for “color filters,” or by selecting Settings and choosing Ease of Access ( Accessibility in Windows 11) and then choosing ” Color Filters” .
After activating color filters, one of the six available color filters will be applied automatically. If you’ve never used this feature before, Windows activates the Grayscale color filter by default.
In addition to grayscale, you also have the option to choose from two additional color filters or one of three color blind filters for a total of six filter options. Currently, both Windows 10 and Windows 11 offer red-green (green weak / deuteranopia), red-green (red weak / protanopia), and blue-yellow (tritanopia) filters in addition to the three color filter options.
The correct filter will depend on your personal needs. About 8% of Caucasian men suffer from some form of color blindness, which can impair their ability to distinguish red from other colors. For this segment of men with color blindness, protanopia or a weak red-green filter is best suited.
Clicking on any of the filter options will automatically configure it for your computer. If you want a preview of how the filter will look when used, you can use the color wheel at the bottom of the color filters page in Windows 10 (or in Windows 11, the color wheel that appears at the top of the page). along with a palette and image corresponding to the colors of the wheel.
On Windows 10, you can also activate the shortcut for the color filter from this page, which is useful if you have an app with your own color blindness settings that you prefer. By default, this is the Windows + Ctrl + C keyboard shortcut .
Accessibility settings in other versions of Windows
If you are using an earlier version of Windows, you still have options; however, you may be limited to simply changing the color of your Windows theme. Both Windows 8 and Windows 7 have a high contrast mode that increases the contrast of the screen, making it easier to distinguish different colors.
Windows 8
In Windows 8, you can turn this mode on or off by going to Settings > Ease of Access > High Contrast . You can turn this mode on or off at any time using the keyboard shortcut Alt + Shift Left + Print Screen .
Windows 7
In Windows 7, the process looks similar. In Control Panel, select Ease of Access Center> Make my computer more visible . From this menu, you can activate High Contrast Mode and select a High Contrast Theme. As with Windows 8, you can activate or deactivate High Contrast at any time with the keyboard shortcut Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen .
Other options for setting your PC for color blindness
If the available high-contrast themes don’t provide what you’re looking for, you may find success with a third-party application that provides filtering similar to what Windows 10 offers. Tools like the Visolve standalone apps or the Firefox extension ColorBlindExt can provide filters that can make it easier for users with color deficiencies to distinguish between different colors.
An increasing number of apps and video games are also starting to implement color blindness features. Typically, if these features are available, you will be able to access them through the video or accessibility section in the application’s settings menu.