Official Q&A: VIQC 2019-2020: Squared Away

Is there any accommodation that teams can make for color blind students? Can they add a thin sheet attachment pin or mark the cubes in some other way?

Modifications to Game/Field Elements are not permitted, unless they do not pose any risk of impacting gameplay. Any physical modification could pose this risk - for example, adding Thin Sheet Attachment Pins to Cubes could impact how the Cubes slide along the Floor, or how Balls nest in/on Cubes. Therefore, this would not be permitted.

One accommodation that we would recommend for color blind students, which would fall within this overarching guideline, would be to add defining labels with a permanent marker to a given color of Cube. For example, if all green Cubes had black dots on them, that would be significant enough to help a color blind Student differentiate a green Cube from a red one, but subtle enough such that they would not interfere with any sensors or other gameplay.

Also, since all Field and Game Elements begin the Match in pre-determined (non-random) positions, all Students begin the Match with an equal understanding of where certain colored objects are on the Field. If any Student becomes uncertain of the state of the game at any point, they are always welcome to ask the Head Referee for clarification, at the Head Referee's discretion (e.g. "what color is that Cube?"). This would also a good opportunity to encourage teamwork and coaching between the two Drive Team Members.