You might consider the ADA act before you go too far down this road. I'm no
expert, but it may apply...
-Steve
Maybe giving them access to a colormeter? 
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/colorimeter-digital-color/id371113568?mt=8
The ADA act does not allow people to have access to every single job
regardless of their handicap. So, if something requires the ability to
see certain colors, then that's a requirement.
Scott
Be careful about those "requirements". The ADA requires employers to make "reasonable accommodations" to people with a handicap or disability. There are solutions such as using colored lenses to view LEDs or shining colored lights on objects (see the post about using a red flashlight to help with CAT5 wiring) that can aid those with color blindness issues. These solutions are not practical for certain jobs such as an airline pilot or train conductor where they can legally refuse to hire people who don't pass color vision tests. But the work-around solutions are likely to be considered "reasonable accommodations" for most jobs in the IT/Networking field.
So if you DO decide to test for color vision, make sure you know your rights and responsibilities for handling any employee or applicant who fails the test.
IANAL - if you have any questions be sure to get advice from an attorney - preferably one who specializes in employment law.
jc
There's something to be said for doing the test anyhow, and being prepared
to deploy the accommodations, rather than find out the hard way that
you have a problem after you've hired them and they've been doing splices
for a while....
That's still asking for a lawsuit if its prior to job offer.
-Blake
Agreed. It's also a good idea to check with JAN if you're in the US, to see what accommodations they might suggest. I'd also add that it's the decent thing to do - if someone is qualified for the job, except for not being able to do one small part of the job the way you would imagine it being done, the right response is to find solutions, not immediately dismiss the qualified applicant.
I had some involvement in the past with employees with vision disabilities. Many are trivial to accommodate.
Tools I've personally seen used are the "Seekey" and colored pieces of plastic (overlays). The overlays are very cheap, not sure how much a Seekey costs. I'd also suggest asking the employee, since they have a vested interest in finding a solution. These would also work for terminating twisted pair cables.
I've also seen an electronic pen-like device that was used by blind people, to determine if an LED was lit. We used this for a phone receptionist who needed to scan "busy" lights on a telephone while handling calls (I'd probably look at a softphone type solution today, but the phone system we used was definitely not softphone capable!). I don't know if it can tell the difference between red or green, nor do I remember what the thing was called.
(also note that, depending on environment, "reasonable accommodation" might also mean "asking a coworker what color the light is")
I installed monitoring software with different colored status dots,
and discovered that we had three color-blind team members. After a
pleasant hour's tweaking I ended up with green diamonds, red X's,
purple squares, and yellow exclamation points (and on this particular
application a mouse-over would also tell you the name of the color
gif) Looked better for *everyone*.
This sounds vaguely like a cereal commercial from when I was a kid.
Was the application "magically delicious" ?
Owen
I ended up with green diamonds, red X's, purple squares, and yellow exclamation points (and on this particular
application a mouse-over would also tell you the name of the color
gif) Looked better for *everyone*.
Is that the "Lucky Charms" style of icon generation?
David Barak
Need Geek Rock? Try The Franchise:
http://www.listentothefranchise.com
Yeah, I had that trouble with the old Cabletron (Enterasys) network management software. About 6% of Euro-American males suffer from Deuteranopia. I cannot see the difference between dark green and dark red. Bright green and bright red are better. It was not possible to adjust the Cabletron software. Contrary to popular belief, most of us can easily tell the difference between red and green traffic signals.
Color-proficient readers can get an idea of our disability from this website that sells Photoshop filters for graphics artists:
Check out the Examples.
matthew black
california state university, long beach
Perhaps the more reasonable thing to do would be instead of
administering "vision tests";
administer practical skill proficiency tests, so you will expose only
issues that effect performance on tasks required for a job. "Color
vision" is such an arbitrary thing that does not necessarily
translate into better performance on the task you think requires it;
some candidates might have poor performance on the job-relevant tasks
because of it, some candidates might have effective workarounds that
work for them.
Of course buying better equipment is one workaround; it might not be
an option, if your org already owns equipment or is contracted to
support equipment with problematic displays.
The number of tasks where color alone is essential should be very
small, and it might be to your disadvantage to single out based on
that criteria though.
If a job requirement is that they do some splices, then have your
candidates do some splices, and judge their test results based on
accuracy and speed. If they have color vision issues, and it causes
the performance issue you assume, for that particular task, then it
should bear out in the test results.
If a job requirement is that the person in that role can specifically
read status lights; then find a way to administer a practical exam,
that requires demonstrating the ability to identify the status of
things and troubleshoot using the lights, and use the hardest kind
of status lights they will have to deal with on the job, as the test
material.
If the candidate requires some device or tool to help them read the
status light, then allow them to use any personal aid available that
does not require the use of another person network connectivity,
plugins to the equipment, modifications to hardware, or other
unreasonable requirements, to complete the task.
And notify them in advance of the test conditions.
Ensure whomever administers the test will only report the performance
on the task, as the test results, and not whether or not any kind of
aids were required, to the interviewer, so
only the performance data can be used to make the decision.
The ADA act does not allow people to have access to every single job
regardless of their handicap. So, if something requires the ability to
see certain colors, then that's a requirement.
The ADA does not guarantee access, but if the employer or place
of business meets certain criteria (which some might not meet, and
therefore be exempt), the law does prohibit certain kinds
of discrimination when it is possible to make accommodations that will
provide access and that meet certain criteria; it is not allowed to refuse
to accommodate to provide access, when the law applies, and the
reason for refusal fails to meet certain requirements.
When you seek the advise from your attorney, they should inform you
how the law may or may not apply to your organization, with the specific
kind of hiring and pre-offer testing you are considering.
Scott
Regards,