Understanding Disabilities Sensory Topics: Hearing | Blindness | Low Vision | Color-Blindness | Deaf-Blindness

"Low vision" refers to a range of vision problems including blurred vision, loss of central vision (for example, macular degeneration), tunnel vision, sensitivity to glare, and reduced ability to detect contrasting tones. People with low vision have some usable sight but require high contrast, more readable fonts, and/or assistive technologies to interpret images and text.

Assistive Technologies

Several assistive technologies are available for students with low vision.

• Oversized keyboards make it easier for people with low vision to type.
  
  
• Screen magnification software and attachable screen enlargers magnify screen content.
  
  
• Screen readers provide an aural version of the screen content, and are often used in combination with screen magnifiers.
  
  
• A CCTV camera system or a scanner captures and enlarges printed documents, which can then be viewed on a monitor.
  

Web Access Challenges

• Since they may see only a small part of the screen at once, users with low vision have difficulty with cluttered Web pages that require side-to-side scrolling, layouts that change from page to page, and graphical images that are not clear when enlarged.
  
  
• Students may override colors and contrast to make pages easier to read. Do not rely on colors alone to convey content.
  
  

One of the real problems blind or low-vision students have is locating the important information in the online classroom. These students can't just glance over information as fully sighted people do. The best suggestion I have here is that faculty should be willing to present information in different ways. As an example, if I was having difficulty locating conference posts that applied to me, perhaps they could be sent via e-mail. This would require a time commitment on behalf of the faculty member, unless the course management system could do it automatically. Roberta Bush UMUC Faculty

The How-To section of this Web site describes how to overcome many of these access challenges.

Ask a Student UMUC student Stephanie Petrow answers common questions about Web-based and students with low vision. How do you navigate the Web? Do you prefer Web-based or classroom courses? What recommendations would you give to faculty?

Scenario

The Situation: You ask students in your Web-based course to analyze an annual report provided by a non-profit organization. The document is only available in print form. You send copies to your students and tell them they can expect to receive it by postal mail in a few days.

The Challenge: Hannah informs you she has a visual impairment that requires printed documents to be provided in print about twice as large as that typically used in publications. She suggests you make the document available to her in electronic form, because she has software that enlarges screen images for her.

One Solution: Since you did not receive notification that Hannah has a disability, ask her if she has followed university procedures for registering and requesting accommodations through the disability office. Contact the non-profit organization to see if they might be able to provide Hannah with an electronic copy of the document. If not, you, the organization, or your program's support staff could use a copier or a copying service to create a large-print version for Hannah.

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