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Indicator lights that change from green to red - or red to green - are still commonly used today on electronic devices, and this does not take into account that people who are color blind (actually, color vision deficient) cannot tell the difference between those two colors! This webpage suggests a do-it-yourself (DIY), practical solution for two different types of situations that may arise when faced with equipment with such an indicator light. (Manufacturers of such equipment should consider a permanent, safer solution for this situation by having two separate lights in different locations, e.g., next to each other, rather than just having one light in one location that changes color.)
This situation where only one indicator light changes color may create a serious problem when warning lights are set up in this way. To illustrate the basic idea that may possibly have severe repercussions for equipment in a business environment, consider an analogous, real-life example that involved my color-blind sons. My sons had handheld, electronic game devices that displayed a continuous green light when charged - and safe to continue to be used - but changed to red as a warning signal when the battery would soon die, causing loss of important data. Their problems with this situation stimulated me to come up with this DIY solution. Or, for another example, an indicator light on an electronic device may display red when charging and then turn to green when fully charged.
Of course, there is no biological remedy for color blindness, BUT here is a DIY solution worth your considering for use on electronic equipment that has a single red/green light to indicate a dichotomous condition, such as charging (red) versus fully charged (green).
| When you cannot distinguish the difference between the green and red indicator light, the solution is to tape a small piece of red vinyl over the indicator light. The red vinyl functions as a light filter and solves the problem. |
In particular, for a handheld game, when the battery indicator light is green, indicating a charged battery, the light does not show up at all through the red vinyl. However, when the battery indicator light turns to red, this is a warning that the battery needs to be charged, and the red light shows up brightly through the red vinyl filter - and is easily seen. You will then easily be able to tell when the red indicator light comes on and know that you need to recharge the battery. See II. below for more details for this example.
For a different type of an example, consider a device that shows red while being charged and changes to green when fully charged. In this case, the red light does shine through the red vinyl filter when the battery is being charged, BUT when the light changes to green, no light will shine through the red vinyl, which would then indicate that the battery is charged. See the photos below for this example with a small rechargeable flashlight. (ClickTap an image for a larger image.)
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Rechargeable 3" pocket flashlight. |
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Battery being charged through an attached USB cable - showing red indicator light. |
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Battery fully charged through an attached USB cable - showing green indicator light. |
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Initial proof of concept that the red light shines through the red vinyl. |
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Red vinyl filter taped to indicator light allowing red light to shine through brightly. |
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This particular flashlight also shows a little of the red indicator light through the front. Also note the red light showing on the table. |
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Red vinyl filter taped to indicator light preventing the green light
being seen, i.e., to be interpreted that the indicator light really is
showing green. (Note the green showing a little out the front - but not through the red vinyl.) |
 |
This particular flashlight also shows a little of the indicator light through the front. Also note the green light showing on the table. |
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The red vinyl material comes from a 4" square flag used in marking the locations of pipes or wires - or boundaries of plots. |
| Be aware that, using the same general principle, you could use a green piece of vinyl for the filter. In that case, a green light coming through green vinyl looks green – while a red light coming through green vinyl cannot be seen at all. |
From a Reddit comment about this webpage:
Not a bad idea ... . For large scales like a server room, I have a couple of
pieces of 3mm transparent red and green acrylic on my key ring. Same principle;
hold the red one over your eye and any red lights will jump out at you. If the
same light is strong through the green filter, it's amber. Cost next to nothing
to get, works brilliantly.
Click image to enlarge.
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My two sons are color
blind (technically color deficient) and cannot distinguish the
difference between the green and red battery indicator light on the
Nintendo DS. The solution for both the original DS and DS Lite is to tape a vinyl Red Dot on top of the
battery indicator light. (The battery indicator light is just to
the right of the orange charging light.) When the battery
indicator light is green, indicating a charged battery, the light does
not show up at all through the red vinyl. When the battery
indicator light turns to red, indicating the battery needs to be
charged, the red light shows up brightly through the red vinyl and is
easily seen.
The vinyl Red Dot functions as a light filter. My
sons can now easily tell when the red indicator light comes on and know
that they
need to recharge the battery. For the original DS I made the Red Dot by simply using a
paper punch to punch out a dot from a piece of red vinyl. For the
DS Lite cut the Red Dot in half and tape the half-dot over the battery
indicator light with the cut side toward the charging light (see the photo below
of the DS Lite).
Finding both the right color and thickness of vinyl that would work well was a project of trial and error. Finally I found some small four-inch-square vinyl flags (used to mark outdoor plots and transects) that had the right color and thickness for the desired effect. (If the vinyl is too thin, then both color lights shine through.) Finding a paper hole punch that would give a clean cut through the vinyl was also an initial problem to overcome. I finally found one in a craft store that cut cleanly and also provided a dot that was slightly smaller than the standard size. The smaller size works well on the original DS. The lights on the DS Lite are slightly taller, and a standard hole punch is better to get a Red Dot with an increased diameter. Cut this standard sized Red Dot in half, and tape it over the battery indicator light of the DS Lite with the cut side toward the charging light (see the photo below of the DS Lite).
After first experimenting with rubber cement under and around the edges of the
Red Dot, I found this worked OK for a while, however the dot would
eventually rub off. My original intent was to find a way to easily
remove the dot with no mark at all left on the DS. The rubber
cement did, in fact, leave no mark, however it would just not stay on
well enough with normal use. I finally just taped the Red Dot on
using heavy transparent tape, and this has worked well. I have not
tried to remove the tape, since it is more important to know whether or
not the light is green or red at this point, rather than knowing if the
tape may leave a residue or not if removed. Although that was one
of the original objectives, that secondary objective was abandoned in
favor of the primary objective being met for the long term. The
small piece of tape I used was the good, thick, transparent Scotch 375
tape, but any transparent tape should work fine. (The tape must
be thin enough for the DS Lite to close.)
|
Click image to enlarge.
© January 15, 2005 by Ray L. Winstead. All rights reserved.
This web page was first available January 15, 2005 (updated for DS Lite January
27, 2007).
!!!!!!!! If you are color deficient, also check out "Visolve" ( https://www.ryobi.co.jp/products/visolve/en/ ), the free software that transforms colors of the computer display into the discriminable colors for various people including people with color vision deficiency, commonly called color blindness. In addition to distinguishing colors and finding a specific color, it aims to help people with color blindness to guess a normal color, and to feel the color gradations in natural scenery etc. by their visual information.
Comments from other websites and webmasters
(Unfortunately, a website or link listed below may no longer exist.
Click on the square at the very bottom of the page and go to "Referrer Tracker
2" to verify that they once linked to this site.)
"Same solution could also be used for other red/green indicator lights -
check this one out!"
Colors for the Color
Blind
"That's a really great idea and I have
mentioned it on my web site!" listed as
a news item and "really caught our attention."
Bunch
of DS
"Color-blind Rejoice," "Find out the solution here!"
Duelscreen
"ingenieuze uitvinding" Dutch for "ingenious invention" Used a catchy, imaginary short
story to stimulate interest. Go to
http://world.altavista.com/ to
translate the page from Dutch into your language.
Only-DS
"This
article offers an easy to implement solution to help color deficient users
. . . ."
Society
for Technical Communication
"A simple
yet effective solution for color blind users of the Nintendo DS"
Nintendo
DS News on ds-gamer.com
"Best DS Invention
Ever!" "innovative solution which solves the problem"
"simple, yet brilliant fix"
DS
Mania
Other Comments (via email)
Thank you so much.
These worked perfectly . . . You have definitely made our gaming
life a lot easier.
Hello. I am a
color-blinded 16 year old who has once had the problem with the nintendo ds's
battery charge indicator light, but now I do not. This email is not for
questions, but rather a note of my sincerest gratitude for your clever idea.
Thank you. Thank you for not only creating this, but also for sharing it so
others, like me, can benefit from it as well. I really mean it. I can't explain
how relieved I am not to worry about or have to ask my brother if the light of
my ds is red yet. This simple yet effective idea has made this one high-schooler's
day. Thanks.
I can not express
to you the feeling of graditute I feel after trying out your idea for the
Nintendo DS. I am 17 year old I have a color defeciency in my eyes. I was never
able to tell when my DS was on low battery, forcing me to keep it plugged into
the wall at all times out of constant fear of it turning off unexpectedly during
my gameplay. After stumbling across your website and reading about how you were
able to find a solution to this problem my prayers seemed to have been answered.
No longer do I have to keep my gaming device plugged into the wall or have to
worry that my game would turn off in the middle of a level that I worked so hard
to get on just to be heart broken when it turned off. It was so easy to follow
the steps on how to do it and I feel alot more comfortable bringing it over to
my friends house or just outside the houes without worrying when it will turn
off. I can now play my Mario Kart Game DS outside my house without the plug
against my friends using the Wi-Fi feature without having to be worried that it
will turn off in the middle of a race and ruining the game for everyone else. As
you can you have made me so happy. I seriously can not thank you enought for
everything you have done. I am forever in you debt. This not only proves there
is a hope out there for kids who are "color blind" but there is hope for
humanity as a whole because there are people who care enough to help the little
people with the little problems. You truely are an American Hero in my eyes.
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Key words: Indicator light, Nintendo DS, Nintendo, DS, NintendoDS, DS Lite, color blind, color blindness, colorblind, color-blind, color deficiency, color deficient, red, green, battery light, battery light indicator, battery indicator light, battery indicator, battery, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP, GameBoy, Red Dot, Red Dots, Winstead
