How To Check Videos For Flashing Lights

As part of my eye condition and brain condition, I experience photophobia (sensitivity to bright lights) and photosensitivity (sensitivity to strobe and flashing lights) that affect how I engage with video content and indoor/outdoor environments. Over the years, I have developed a list of tips and strategies for how to check videos for flashing lights and strobe lights that I have shared with teachers, friends, and family members so they can screen videos and let me know if they are safe for me to watch, or if I should read a transcript instead of watching the video. Below, I have included tips and strategies for how to check videos for flashing lights, including examples of potential flashing light triggers and how to provide content warnings for flashing lights or strobe lights.

Background

Photophobia and photosensitivity are terms used to describe adverse reactions to bright lights, strobe lights, or flashing lights, which can include eye pain, headaches, nausea, seizures, dizziness, discomfort, or other symptoms. Some people may have photophobia or photosensitivity but will involuntarily fixate on flashing lights or bright lights, making it difficult or impossible for them to look away.

Examples of medical conditions that can be affected by photosensitivity or experience negative effects from flashing lights include:

Autism/ADHD/Sensory Processing Disorder
Chiari malformations
Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI)
Epilepsy
Flicker Vertigo
Migraines
Motion sickness
Neurological conditions
Non-epileptic seizures
PTSD
Visual impairments, inclusive of both low vision and blindness
Visual Processing Disorder

Not everyone who has these diagnoses will experience photosensitivity, but it is a known trigger for some people with these conditions. In my case, I experience photophobia and photosensitivity connected to visual impairment (low vision) and a brain condition (Chiari malformation/neurological visual impairment). My reactions vary from eye pain from bright lights to feeling disoriented or having a migraine triggered by strobe or flashing lights.

I am not advocating for the removal of flashing and strobe lights from existence. I am sharing how I personally avoid a known medical trigger for me and how I ask people close to me to help me in doing so.

Triggers and potential sources of flashing lights

Common scenes and environments that contain a significant amount of flashing lights include rave/party scenes, full screen strobe effects, concerts, and dances. Here are some examples of less-obvious triggers and potential sources of flashing lights or strobe effects in videos:

Lightning
Police cars, fire trucks, or other emergency vehicle lights, even those in the background
Color changing backgrounds or filters that switch rapidly, especially those that take up the entire screen
School bus lights
Broken/flickering lights
Generator images or animations with rapidly flickering effects
Nightclub scenes or concerts/DJ sets
School dances or parties
Guns or weapons being discharged, especially rapid-fire scenes
Explosions, cannons, bombs, self-destruct sequences
Video game play-throughs or streams
Older videos with floaters or fluctuating lighting
Glitter or sparkling effects with bright blinking lights/reflections
Camera flashes, including rooms filled with journalists and/or paparazzi
Photo shoots with flash
Red carpet scenes

Research content warnings and movie guides in advance

Checking videos for flashing lights has become much easier with the increasing availability of online content warnings, trigger warnings, and movie guides that can provide key information about a film and help with determining if the film is safe to watch. Examples of popular guides include:

Does The Dog Die?: Offers information about hundreds of potential triggers, including “Are there flashing lights or images?”
RunPee: Assists with planning bathroom breaks during a movie, which can also be helpful when planning vision breaks or times to rest eyes.
Symbols or labels on movie listings that indicate flashing content

Since the release of Incredibles 2 in 2018, it has become much easier to find information about flashing lights, strobe lights, or similar content warnings online, either through crowdsourced photosensitivity warnings or guides targeted at viewers with epilepsy, photosensitivity, or with aversions to strobe lights/flashing lights (which is something I helped to advocate for!). Some films will provide descriptions of scenes or transcripts of dialogue that take place before/after flashing or strobe lights begin, while others provide a more generic warning that there are flashing lights/strobe lights throughout a film.

Providing content warnings about flashing lights in videos

Describe the type(s) of lights used

Everyone has a different threshold for the types of lights they can tolerate, and some people may be more sensitive to certain colors or intensities/flash rates. In my experience, I find it helpful to get a description about what type(s) of lights are being used, the flash rate or speed of flashing lights, and how long they are visible for in the video. Based on this information, I can make a plan for how I will watch the video or request an alternate format.

When my professor sent me a video we would be watching in class, they mentioned that there was a slow-moving yellow light that occasionally flashed at a similar speed to a car blinker multiple times throughout the video. Mentioning the light color as well as the flash rate helped me determine that the video was safe to watch.

When someone sent me a video they saw on social media, the pinned comment mentioned there was rapid color-changing backgrounds alternating with red and blue full screen lights. Based on this description, I knew the video would not be safe for me to watch because it contained words like rapid, red/blue lights, and full screen. I read the video description someone else had shared in the pinned comment instead of watching the video.

Write down when the scenes begin and their length

For longer videos or movies that have a few scenes with flashing lights, it is helpful to indicate which scenes contain a significant amount of flashing lights. This can include providing time stamps (e.g. 1:47 into the movie) as well as describing the scenes that take place before and after the flashing lights take place. For example, I will often ask for the line of dialogue that is said before the flashing lights begin, and the line that follows the scene so I know that the flashing is over.

Here is an example of a flashing light content warning my friend provided for a show we were watching together:

Starting at 4:44, several camera flashes go off in a dark room
Before the flashing starts, Rachel asks “Do you know where they are?”
Flashing continues until 5:44
The flashing is over when Rachel says “I think they are all gone.”

If I have control over the video player, I can fast forward through the flashing scenes, turn the screen away from my face, or turn off incoming video until the flashing is over. If I don’t have control, I put my head down, close my eyes, and cover my face with my folded arms to minimize the amount of flashing lights that I can see. I don’t like to watch movies or videos with my eyes closed the entire time though, as I am worried I will fall asleep!

Consider using an audio signal to warn about lights

One of my friends who is sensitive to flashing lights asked their teacher to give an audio signal such as a beep before there are scenes with flashing lights or rapidly moving images, and then another beep after the scene ends. They liked this method because it was discreet and did not require them to keep track of timestamps or dialogue lines themselves. This strategy may be helpful for younger students or students who are still learning how to manage flashing light sensitivities.

In a similar example, college basketball games at my college feature several strobe and flashing lights during player introductions, and the announcer yells “lights out” about five seconds before they begin. When I was in pep band, my friend would tap me on the shoulder or grab my hand to let me know when the lights were over and it was safe for me to open my eyes; I would wear a hat and sunglasses to block out as much light as possible while playing.

How many lights are too many?

Some movies have several scenes with flashing lights that are either very long or integral to the plot or understanding of the video. Alternatively, there may be flashing lights in the background of several scenes to the point where it is not practical to avoid the lights entirely. In these situations, I typically use one of the following alternatives for accessing information:

Turn on audio description and listen to the video with eyes closed or with the screen turned off. Audio description is a secondary narrative track that describes essential visual information on the screen.
If the video is for a class, consider watching the video outside of class at home with environmental accommodations such as additional lighting in the room, breaks from watching videos, or watching with supervision
Read a transcript or text-based video description of the video, which includes descriptions of audio and visual content
In lieu of watching the video, ask to complete an alternative assignment that involves reading an article, listening to a podcast, reading a book, or another video alternative.
For “fun” videos such as class movie days, consider going to another location in the school or planning a different fun activity. On movie days, I would be allowed to go to another classroom where my friends were or hang out with a classmate in another part of the school so that I didn’t have to deal with flashing lights.

How To Check Videos For Flashing Lights

Background

Related links

Triggers and potential sources of flashing lights

Related links

Research content warnings and movie guides in advance

Related links

Providing content warnings about flashing lights in videos

Describe the type(s) of lights used

Write down when the scenes begin and their length

Consider using an audio signal to warn about lights

How many lights are too many?

Related links

More tips for checking videos for flashing lights

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