The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has teamed up with Rothco to create a campaign to help Ireland’s colour-blind fans see all the action in Japan. The IRFU’s new campaign tells the story of one such fan. Bobby Blakeney (above), a rugby supporter for 74 years, suffers from severe colour-blindness and cannot accurately distinguish between green and red.
Bobby rarely attends matches and can mistake players for those on the opposing team when watching – even when he’s at home. The IRFU and Rothco, part of Accenture Interactive, set out to change this. To help Bobby – and all 250,000 colour-blind fans across the country – see the emerald green of Ireland, the ‘See Green’ Google Chrome extension was built.
The tool allows colour-blind users to apply a colour overlay to a video by adjusting the hue, saturation, and contrast. As colour blindness varies from person to person, the tool needed to be simple to use but capable of delivering a personalised experience. Thus, a slider-based solution, calibrated by using the IRFU logo, easily alters the shade contrasts on screen.
The extension can be used on desktop for any matches that are being streamed legally, enriching the experience across all forms of colour-blindness. Although only five per cent of Ireland’s population is colour-blind, the IRFU says they are as important as any rugby fan, deserving to stand #shouldertoshoulder with all those who love the sport.
Over 250,000 Irish fans are colour-blind: one in 12 men, one in 200 women.
Watch the video at https://youtu.be/XC4kEf3O05o
