Reactions: Appreciation for accessibility tips

Letters to the editor

Accessibility in science communication

It isn’t often that something in a publication just blows me away. By way of background, I’m a 70-plus-year-old retired chemist and industry executive. I’ve had issues with an inability to see colors the way other people apparently do. I don’t refer to myself as color blind, because I see colors and can generally function normally. I am also a photographer and manage to produce images that others accept as having “normal” color. I can’t see the patterns on the obnoxious color tests that they use at the optometrist’s office. I’ve read extensively on color vision, and my struggles and frustrations, as well as my relative lack of functional issues, don’t seem to be unusual. In summary, my color vision is nowhere near as bad as the testing would suggest, but I clearly don’t see colors the way that others seem to.

To the point­—I was excited and grateful to see the “Working with Color” section in the American Chemical Society “Making Science Visually Accessible” ad of the March 17, 2025, issue of C&EN (page 29). The recommendations were spot on! For over 60 years, I’ve made do with whatever difficulties I have with color vision. Your feature is the only time in 60-plus years that I’ve ever seen an attempt to accommodate people like me.

I’m grateful to ACS for developing these recommendations (also available at www.acs.org/inclusivityguide) and to C&EN for printing them. I can assure you that they will make a difference!

Richard S. Schifreen
Madison, Wisconsin