North Dakota Parks First in Nation to Offer EnChroma Glasses for Color Blindness at All State Parks for Visitors

– EnChroma® Glasses to Unlock Colorful New Experiences for Color Blind Tourists and Citizens in North Dakota –

Bismarck, ND & Berkeley, CA – October 4, 2023 – North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department (NDPRD) today announced that it has become the first park system in the country to support “color accessibility” for color blind visitors at all of its parks via a collaboration with EnChroma®, creators of glasses for color blindness. Each park will receive a “kit” of EnChroma glasses for red-green color blind guests to borrow during visits to enjoy North Dakota’s colorful beauty. In addition, next summer Lewis and Clark State Park will install two SeeCoast viewfinders adapted with special EnChroma lenses for color blindness.

“We’re incredibly excited that our visitors with colorblindness can now experience the full beauty of our parks,” said North Dakota Parks and Recreation Director Cody Schulz. “Providing the EnChroma glasses is another part of our continuous efforts to make our state parks as accessible and welcoming as possible to everyone.”

One in 12 men (8%) and one in 200 women (.5%) are Color Vision Deficient (CVD); an estimated 13 million in the United States, 350 million worldwide and roughly 33,150 in North Dakota. Last year, the state welcomed 22 million visitors, an estimated 935,000 of whom were color blind. 

While people with normal color vision see over one million shades of color, the color blind only see an estimated 10% of hues and shades (see images below). As a result, colors can appear dull, indistinct and difficult to discern, with red appearing brown; green seemingly gray, tan or yellow; pink looking gray; and purple the same as blue.

Click here to see more images of the colors of North Dakota State Parks as they appear to the color blind.

“With everything from colorful wooded valleys and rolling hills to lakes, rivers, and the rugged Badlands, North Dakota Parks offer an array of rich and rewarding adventures to visitors,” said Erik Ritchie, CEO of EnChroma. “Now that North Dakota is the first state in the US to offer EnChroma glasses at all parks, those adventures will be even richer, more accessible, and more colorful for color blind visitors.”

Media Launch Event, October 1

On Wednesday, October 4 at 1:00p.m. CDT, at the Visitors Center at Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park near Bismarck, North Dakota Parks and Recreation will host a launch media event at which five color blind people will get to try the EnChroma glasses for the first time. The color blind participants include two young color blind brothers (ages five and nine) and their color blind grandfather; a color blind firefighter; and a color blind retiree. 

EnChroma Color Accessibility Program™

EnChroma is the lead advocate for “color accessibility” through its EnChroma Color Accessibility Program™. The program helps over 400 schools, universities, state and national parks, libraries, museums, and other organizations purchase and loan EnChroma glasses to color blind students and guests. Through partnerships with leading vendors, scenic viewers adapted for the color blind with EnChroma lenses are also available. EnChroma glasses and/or viewers for color blindness are now offered at over 50 state and national parks across 20 states. The program is open to employers.

EnChroma’s patented lens technology is engineered with special optical filters that enable people with red-green color blindness to see an expanded range of colors more vibrantly, clearly and distinctly. More media materials are available here.

About North Dakota Parks and Recreation (NDPRD)

The North Dakota Parks and Recreation Department (NDPRD) is the state agency charged with administering selected parks and recreation areas that are deemed to have state-wide or regional significance. In addition, the department has responsibility for :Off-highway vehicle planning and safety program; Snowmobile safety programs and trails; Nature Preserves Act; and Outdoor recreation grants and statewide recreation planning. For more information please call 701.328.5357, email: parkrec@nd.gov or visit www.parkrec.nd.gov.

About EnChroma

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 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. Call 510-497-0048 or visit enchroma.com to learn more.

Media Contacts:

North Dakota Parks & Recreation Department
Kristin Byram
Public Information Officer
701-328-5358
kcbyram@nd.gov

Kent Streeb
Vice President of Communications and Partnerships
P: 530.908.9225
kent@enchroma.com