Inspired by Ishihara plates — look at each image and identify the number hidden in the colored dots. Tests red-green and blue-yellow color vision deficiencies.
What number do you see?
Color blindness affects about 8% of men and 0.5% of women worldwide. The most common form is red-green color blindness (deuteranopia/protanopia), where red and green hues appear similar. The Ishihara test was designed in 1917 by Dr. Shinobu Ishihara of the University of Tokyo.
Also try the Color Perception Test to see how well you can discriminate fine hue differences.
"Color blindness" is a misnomer — almost no one with color vision deficiency is truly blind to color. The condition more accurately called color vision deficiency (CVD) affects approximately 8% of men and 0.5% of women worldwide. The most common forms are deuteranopia (reduced sensitivity to green wavelengths) and protanopia (reduced sensitivity to red wavelengths) — together accounting for over 95% of CVD cases. Both are X-linked recessive conditions, explaining the dramatic sex difference in prevalence.
Our test uses Ishihara-inspired dot plates: numbers embedded in fields of colored dots that are visible to normal-color-vision viewers but difficult or invisible to people with specific deficiencies. The original Ishihara test — developed by Japanese ophthalmologist Shinobu Ishihara in 1917 — remains the most widely used screening tool for red-green CVD, used in aviation, military service, and driving license assessments worldwide. Our digital version is a screening approximation and cannot replace clinical diagnosis.
If this screening suggests a deficiency, consult an optometrist for a full clinical assessment. For a related test of fine color discrimination without deficiency screening, try our Color Perception Test.