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• To step
• Part 1 of 3: Using other senses to describe colors
• Part 2 of 3: Using numbers to describe colors
• Part 3 of 3: Find out more about the disability

People who are not visually impaired know what a particular color looks like, but how would you describe a color to a blind person? When you think that even people who see people perceive colors differently, this subjective task becomes very challenging. Still, many colors can be associated with smells, tastes, sounds or sensations. Here are some tips for describing a color to a visually impaired person.

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Part 1 of 3: Using other senses to describe colors

1. Use touches to describe colors. Have the person hold certain objects while you tell their color. You can use objects that almost always have the same color.
   • Have the person hold several pieces of wood, touch a tree bark, or hold dirt and explain that all of these things are brown.
     • Say, "Brown feels like the earth or the dead parts of things growing out of the earth."
   • Give the person some leaves or blades of grass and explain that they are green. Green feels like the living parts of plants, because when plants are green, they are alive. You can even give some dead leaves and explain the difference between green and brown.
     • Say, "The softness and suppleness of the leaves feels like green. Green feels like life. But if the leaves crack like the others, they have turned brown and are no longer alive. "
   • Place their hands in a bowl of cold water and explain that water is blue. Say that some of the water is light blue, almost without color, and that much of the water, such as the rivers or the ocean, is deep blue.
     • Say, "That what you feel when you swim in the water, that cool, soothing wetness, that's how blue feels."
   • Explain that heat, like fire, a candle flame, or a hot stove, is red. Red can often be imagined as heat or when you've gotten yourself burnt.
     • Tell the person, "If you have a sun stroke, your skin will turn red. If you were shy and blushed, the heat on your jaw was red. "
   • Explain that concrete, such as on walls or sidewalks, is gray. Metal is also gray. Say that gray often feels harsh and can be cool or hot, depending on whether the sun is shining on it.
     • Say, "Gray is very hard and strong. It feels solid like a road under your foot or the wall that you can lean against, but it doesn't live or grow and it has no feelings. "
2. Use scents and flavors to use colors. Certain smells and tastes can certainly be associated with colors.
   • Explain that spicy foods and the red peppers used for this are often red. Other red foods are strawberries, raspberries and cherries. Explain that these flavors are very sweet and that red looks like that too.
     • Say, "Just as you can feel red from the heat, you can taste it when you eat something spicy."
   • Give the person an orange and explain that oranges are orange. Let them discover the smell and taste.
     • Say: "Oranges are often described as refreshing, sweet and tropical. The sun is orange and a lot of food that is orange needs a lot of sun to grow. "
   • Do the same for a lemon and a banana and explain that lemons and bananas are yellow. Although the flavors differ, both are yellow and yellow can taste sour and citrusy, as well as being sweet and nutritious.
     • Say, "Yellow food needs a lot of sun, it's light and happy."
   • Give the person lettuce leaves (lettuce and spinach) and explain that they are always green. Greenery smells and tastes clean and crispy, just like plants that grow out of the earth. Sometimes they are also a bit bitter. Green is usually not sweet like fruit; it is often bitter and may smell different.
     • Have the person smell different herbs, such as mint, and say, "That's what green smells like - fresh, clean, and healthy."
   • For smells in nature that cannot be eaten, explain again that leaves and grass are green and water is blue. The scents on the coast are blue for the water and brown or white for the sand. Explain that flowers are any color and that the same flower often comes in different colors, but they are usually not green, brown, gray, or black.
3. Think about how sounds can help describe colors. Certain sounds can be associated with certain colors.
   • Explain that sirens are reminiscent of red, as red is a color used to attract attention and most fire engines and police and ambulance flashing lights are red.
     • Say, "When you hear a siren, it is to alert people to pay attention immediately because there may be danger. Red is the same; it has an urgent character and attracts your attention.
   • The sound of running water, especially the lapping of a brook or the breaking waves of the ocean, is reminiscent of blue.
     • Say, "Blue is calm and pleasant, just like the sound of water that calms you down."
   • Green can sound like the rustling of the leaves or the chirping of the birds. Explain that not all birds are green, but since birds live in trees, the sound of birds is often reminiscent of green.
     • Say, "When you hear trees rustle and birds sing, that's how green sounds."
   • Describe the sound of thunder as gray. When you hear the thunder roll and the rain patter down, the sky is gray and everything becomes grayer. "
     • Say, "Storms are gray. The sound of the rolling thunder and the rain tells you that everything outside is gray. It's darker and oppressive outside because the sun isn't shining. "
4. Describe the emotion that colors give you. People associate colors with certain emotional or psychological states and many studies have been conducted on the association between color and feelings. Explain the most common:
   • Red - usually the color of anger, sexual arousal, physical strength, or aggression
   • Orange - physical comfort, sufficient food, warmth and safety, sometimes frustration
   • Yellow-friendliness, happiness, optimism, self-confidence, sometimes fear
   • Green balance, refreshment, harmony, environmental awareness, peace
   • Blue intelligence, coolness, tranquility, serenity, logic
   • Purple spiritual awareness, mystery, luxury, truth; often associated with dreams
   • Black sophistication and glamor (positive) or heaviness, threat or oppression (negative)
   • Whiteness, clarity, purity, simplicity
   • Brown- sobriety, reliability, support
   • Gray neutrality, lack of confidence or energy, depression
   • Rose- nurturing, warmth, femininity, love

Part 2 of 3: Using numbers to describe colors

1. Say that just as there are an infinite number of digits, there are infinite kinds of colors. Imagine that the number one is red and the number two is yellow, you can find between one and two the following numbers: 1,2 1,21; 1.22; 1.3; 1.4; 1.45… The same goes for colors, because there is an infinite number of colors between any two colors, which gives the different shades.

Part 3 of 3: Find out more about the disability

1. Learn about the person's visual impairment. Most visually impaired people still have a certain level of vision, even if it is only about perceiving light. According to the American Blind Association, only 8% of people with a visual impairment are completely blind, and the majority of them can still tell the difference between dark and light.
   • The ability to distinguish between light and dark can help you explain the difference between black and white by saying that black is like dark and white is like light.
2. Ask if the person was blind from birth. Since most blindness was caused by an eye disease, most people with visual impairment could see at some point in their lives. This means that you can help them remember certain things by describing them.
3. Ask if the person is color blind. Color blindness is a visual impairment where the person can see objects but confuses colors or does not see them the way most people see them. Most people with color blindness perceive red, orange, yellow and green as the same shade, just as they do not distinguish between blue and purple. If you are working or talking to a person who is color blind, you can simply name the colors of everyday objects.
   • Teachers of color blind students should always use white paper and white chalk to maximize contrast. It is also useful for labeling writing materials and art items (crayons, crayons, colored paper, etc.).