Embodiments herein describe techniques for operating lighting systems which can be used by associates who are colorblind or are susceptible to optically induced seizures (e.g., photosensitive epilepsy). In one embodiment, the lighting system includes programmable light sources which permit the lighting system to use colors that a colorblind person can easily distinguish—e.g., red, blue, orange, etc. Put differently, the lighting system can choose colors which are easily distinguishable to a colorblind associate when instructing the associate to take an action. Moreover, the lighting system can pulse a light source by changing its brightness or intensity over time. The lighting system can control a maximum gradient change rate and a maximum intensity change to mitigate a risk of optical seizures when pulsing the light sources to mitigate the risk of inducing a seizure.