EnChroma glasses for color blindness now available for borrowing
Cantigny Park is well known for its colorful gardens and grounds, especially this time of year. Now, even colorblind visitors can more fully enjoy the experience.
Cantigny is participating in the EnChroma Color Accessibility Program, offered by EnChroma, creators of patented eyewear for color blindness. Guests may now borrow EnChroma glasses at the information kiosk inside the Cantigny Park Visitors Center on a first-come, first-served basis. The special glasses enable the colorblind to experience an expanded range of colors as well as enhanced vibrancy, clarity, and differentiation.
Various styles of glasses are available for children and adults, for use with or without prescription eyeglasses. The glasses are for indoor and outdoor use. There is no charge to borrow the glasses, but a $75 deposit is required.
“We’re committed to making everyone’s park experience as rich and complete as possible,” said Alicia Catalano, Cantigny Park membership and retail operations manager. “It’s exciting to know that our colorblind visitors can now walk through our gardens and museums and appreciate the brilliant colors that most of us take for granted.”
Cantigny is the first public attraction in the Chicago suburbs to acquire EnChroma glasses for its guests.
“We applaud Cantigny Park for giving those with color vision deficiency the ability to more fully experience their colorful gardens, exhibits and events with EnChroma glasses,” said Erik Ritchie, EnChroma’s chief executive officer. “We hope that their example inspires more organizations to help us bring a world of more vibrant color to the colorblind.”
According to EnChroma, red-green color blindness affects 350 million people worldwide. The trait is inherited genetically and carried recessively on the X-chromosome, affecting about one in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women (.5%). EnChroma offers a simple test for color blindness on its website.
The company’s lenses are engineered with special optical filters that enable those with red-green color blindness to see colors more vibrantly and distinctly. A recent study by the University of California, Davis, demonstrated the benefits of the glasses. The EnChroma Color Accessibility Program helps public venues – such as schools, museums, libraries, and parks – make EnChroma glasses available to colorblind students or visitors to help them overcome obstacles and/or access more of life’s colorful experiences.
Cantigny Park is open daily from 9 am to sunset (7 am starting May 1). Parking is $5 per car and free on the first Wednesday of the month. Cantigny Park members receive free parking, invitations to exclusive events, and other benefits. More information is online at Cantigny.org.
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About EnChroma, Inc.
Based in Berkeley, Calif., EnChroma produces leading-edge eyewear for color blindness and low vision, and other solutions for color vision, sold online and through Authorized Retailers worldwide. Invented in 2010, EnChroma’s patented eyewear for color blindness combines the latest in color perception neuroscience and lens innovation to improve the lives of people with color vision deficiency around the world. EnChroma received an SBIR grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It earned the 2016 Tibbetts Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration in recognition of the firm’s innovative impact on the human experience through technology, and the 2020 Innovation Award in Life Sciences from the Bay Area’s East Bay Economic Development Alliance. For more information visit enchroma.com.
About Cantigny Park
Cantigny Park, part of the Chicago-based Robert R. McCormick Foundation, is the 500-acre Wheaton estate of Robert R. McCormick (1880-1955), long-time editor and publisher of the Chicago Tribune. It is home to the McCormick House, First Division Museum, display gardens, picnic grounds, walking trails and a Visitors Center with retail shop, banquet, and dining facilities. More information, including hours, directions and upcoming events is online at Cantigny.org. Cantigny Golf, adjacent to the park, features a 27-hole championship golf course, full-service clubhouse, Cantigny Golf Academy and the 9-hole Cantigny Youth Links. For more information, visit CantignyGolf.com.