Visual Impairment
“You can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.”
Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe
We are in an age where the consumption of digital content has become an important factor for communication, growth and entertainment. So, it is especially important in a space like education to provide everyone with the ability to access education digitally in a manner that is universal and unhindered.
It’s one thing to talk about accessibility and advocate for accessible interfaces. Experiencing what it’s like to use web interfaces with an impairment can really expand one’s point-of-view.
- American Foundation for the Blind“Founded in 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind has spent nearly a century ensuring that individuals who are blind or visually impaired have access to the information, technology, education, and legal resources they need to live independent and productive lives. From their earliest days, they have amplified the voices of people with vision loss, and have been the engine of advancement and opportunity for every person affected by blindness or vision loss.”
- National Federation of the Blind ToolkitThis toolkit provides blind students resources for better understanding higher education accommodations, legal rights, and securing equal access on campus.
- Teaching Visual Impairment SimulationProviding in-service training using vision simulators is an excellent teaching tool to help educators learn about the impact of vision impairment on their students. Low vision simulators can make for a fun and educational in-service!
- Vision Impairment SimulatorsOccluding vision can be counter-productive for helping people understand about blindness. However, for understanding the specific features and functional implications of various visual impairments, I have repeatedly found that visual simulators are worth more than a thousand words of explanation!
Screen readers are the most used tool of digital adaptive technologies for the visually impaired.
According to an accessibility expert, "Most students use the free chrome browser plugin called Read Aloud for all things web-based and since Chrome is the most popular browser. Microsoft Edge browser also has a native one, as does Adobe for pdfs.
- iCanSee AppTransforms your iPhone into a magnifying glass capable of up to 4x magnification.
Magnifies images around you, iCanSee helps improve the ability to see in difficult situations, including low light.
Cost: Free | Compatibility: iPhone, iPad
Accessibility
“It would be helpful if professors could reach out and say, ‘Let’s have a little chat about how you work,’ instead of assuming we’ll figure it out as we go,” he said. “Every blind student has a different way of working. Some are more tech-savvy, and some prefer Braille. It just depends on what they’re comfortable with, what they like and what they know.”-College student with visual-impairment
