The power to see does not belong to everyone on this planet. When someone is blind, it is almost always the other sensory organs they have to rely on to understand things. Smell, taste, touch, and emotions are always important. The subjective nature of this endeavour becomes even more challenging when you consider that even sighted people perceive colours differently. In contrast, many colours are associated with specific smells, tastes, sounds, or feelings.These are some tips on how to describe colour to someone who is blind.

• Experiencing colour through emotions and senses

If I couldn’t see colours, I’d describe them in terms of emotions and senses because every colour in the rainbow is related with a variety of odours , tastes, noises, and sensations. Red, for example, is a colour with a warm tone. It's commonly associated with emotions like fury, sexuality, and desire, or it could signify strength or violence, as I've described. I'd have that person approach a heat source, like a fireplace, and explain that heat or burning, like that produced by a fire or a candle, is the same as red. Our skin goes crimson when we are sunburned, and the heat of our cheeks turns red when we are humiliated. 

Similarly, explain that spicy meals, as well as the peppers used to make them, are frequently red. Strawberries, raspberries, and cherries are examples of red foods. Explain how such flavours are really powerful sweet, and how red appears. Just as you can feel red when you are hot, you can also taste it when you eat something hot and spicy.

When explaining the colour blue, we can make the person think of something that gives the feeling of coolness, such as a glass of cold water that is transparent or an ocean full of water that appears deep blue. Again, we can state that grey is hard and powerful, similar to the feeling of a road beneath our feet or concrete blocks, implying that it is fixed and cannot grow or have feelings.

• Intuitive perception of colors

Colours are also described using touch. Using objects that are almost always the same colour may be advantageous. Holding various pieces of wood, touching the bark of a tree, or touching dirt on the ground, explain the colour brown. Give the person some green grass blades or leaves to hold and explain why they are green. Because plants are alive when they are green, green feels like the living parts of plants. You could even distribute dead leaves and explain the distinction between green and brown.

Beyond that, there are other methods for detecting different colours, such as when we hear a siren, we link it with something dangerous, and so the colour red is associated with it. The capacity to distinguish between light and darkness can aid in explaining black and white by stating that black represents darkness and white represents the presence of light.

There is a solution for everything, and if we use our knowledge to uncover such simple solutions, we can overcome any difficulties and make life easier for blind people.