Red-green color blind accessibility.

[Ye olde man]

Spotter flags

As a color-blind red/green person it makes more sense to have white as safe, black as OB. I have spotted for majors and when I see them side by side I can tell the difference but one at a time and with all the variations on red and green it can get difficult. In situations where it is not readily clear and it should be a card decision I always hold the flags in "X" formation indicating it is a card call. Sometimes that means they all gotta walk down and look Incase of a drop zone is required for the player who may or may not be out. It is never a spotter's decision in all situations and is always a card decision after all.

Also white baskets are best for our eyes. White or yellow discs are all I throw too.

 

[ThrowBot]

How else could spotter flags be improved in this regard? Are there other icons which would work better and communicate the idea unequivocally and without using text?

I forget who was commentating, but this is a suggestion that I remember hearing from tournament coverage and I like it:

Spotter just has a big "Thumbs Up" sign if the throw is in bounds, then they simply flip it upside down to signal "Thumbs Down" if the throw is OB.

(The original context of that idea was spotter paddles that indicated safe on one side and OB on the other. But if the spotter was between the players and the catch cam, the catch cam would see the wrong side of the paddle, possibly leading to confusion for the viewer. So the "big thumb" spotter sign concept can solve a variety of problems.)

 

[Nova P]

That's pretty clever! I like it.

 

[rocthecourse]

Spotter just has a big "Thumbs Up" sign if the throw is in bounds, then they simply flip it upside down to signal "Thumbs Down" if the throw is OB.

The spotters could wear foam hands.

 

[Motorpro]

I am red,green color blind. I think it is up to me to adjust to things. It is not everyone else's response ability to adjust to my problem. I try to pick discs a color I can find but if I can't pick out the color of a flag I can either ask someone if they saw it or find out when I get there if it's in or out. Everyone doesn't have to rewrite the rules or buy new flags for me.

 

[Shutrbug]

I am red,green color blind. I think it is up to me to adjust to things. It is not everyone else's response ability to adjust to my problem. I try to pick discs a color I can find but if I can't pick out the color of a flag I can either ask someone if they saw it or find out when I get there if it's in or out. Everyone doesn't have to rewrite the rules or buy new flags for me.

That's a great attitude. And it's also good that this discussion even happens... my wife is red/green color blind, and it embarrasses her to death. She sees it as something that makes her inferior. I tell her that I find it fascinating - everyone wants to know what things look like to her. So when she asks me what color something is, I never poke fun - that is a serious question to her.

So if we can all become aware of the issue, we won't be surprised when someone else asks us for help regarding color issues (OB lines or otherwise). I have to ask folks to help me find lost discs all the time because I don't have any depth perception due to eye surgery... sometimes I have no idea where my disc went because I walk past it frequently. I would never expect courses to make changes to accommodate me because it's a unique problem. To me, it's just how it is.

 

[Future_Primitive]

It is definitely more common than I originally assumed. A few of the guys I play rounds with around here are color blind. One time I played a casual round with two friends and one of their friends, come to find out all three were color blind. None of them could see orange and as luck would have it all my discs are orange so I was on my own finding my bad throws.

And running events has led us to stocking up more on white marking paint and avoiding orange whenever possible. Good to see this discussion taking place and definitely taking some notes to pass along to our club for future events. :thmbup:

 

[Steve West]

I am red,green color blind. I think it is up to me to adjust to things. It is not everyone else's response ability to adjust to my problem. I try to pick discs a color I can find but if I can't pick out the color of a flag I can either ask someone if they saw it or find out when I get there if it's in or out. Everyone doesn't have to rewrite the rules or buy new flags for me.

But if we can easily make something work for 99% of everyone, instead of just 80%, shouldn't we?

 

[Orioles_Lefty]

But if we can easily make something work for 99% of everyone, instead of just 80%, shouldn't we?

Yes.