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• What is visual impairment?   
  
• Associated Strengths       
  
• General information
• Impact on Employability Skills and Attributes                                      
  
• Areas where ‘reasonable adjustments’ may be required
• General advice
• Assistive technology
  
• Resources/references

What is a Visual Impairment?

There is no "typical" visually impaired person: the impairment may be the result of a range of circumstances and its impact will depend on the type, extent, timing and duration of the visual impairment.

Most people who have visual impairments have some usable vision and only a small number have no sight at all. Although Braille is an essential tool for many blind people, it should not be assumed that all blind people use Braille. Some people are born with a visual impairment, whereas other people may develop a visual impairment as a result of an illness or accident. Blindness and partial sightedness may also be associated with other disabilities and medical conditions.

Some individuals with a visual impairment may rely on a guide dog or a white cane to assist their mobility, while others have sufficient residual vision not to require these aids for their independence.  Students, graduates, trainees and candidates at interview may require ‘reasonable adjustments’ to be made for their participation to be guaranteed. The use of assistive technologies may also prove helpful, and many visually impaired individuals are consummate, practised users of such specialist devices such as closed circuit TV, screen-magnification or screen-reading software. 

How an individual manages their visual impairment will be determined by many factors including, for example, the following:

• whether the sight loss is birth- or age-related;
• whether or not the impairment has been recently acquired (perhaps through illness or an accident) and therefore still being adjusted to;
• whether or not the impairment is perceived by the individual as an integral part of their  identity;
• the level and quality of their social support;
• the level and quality of their technological support;
• whether or not their vision and light-sensitivity fluctuates during the day and/or from day to day. 

Given the highly individualised experience of blindness/partial sightedness, it is critical that the reasonable adjustments offered to a visually impaired person is tailored to their particular requirements and not based on an assumed need. 

Associated strengths

People with visual impairments may have developed a range of positive attributes as a direct result of managing their disability; these can include:

• Resourcefulness: people with visual impairments often have to access things in a different way; they have to be imaginative about where and how they can do this;
• Strong listening skills: the primary way of taking in information;
• Strong verbal skills: less reliance on body language and the printed word
• Good memory: able to distil information in the head because unable to rely on highlighting in visual notes/scribbling in margins etc;
• Good problem solving skills: this is part of daily life and these skills can be transferred to study or work;
• An open approach and outward looking: accustomed to working with others, having to ask for assistance; being flexible;
• Adaptable:  having to cope regularly with lots of unfamiliarity, for example, in the physical environment;
• Diligent: thorough in approach to work due to the inability to skim or rush through documents;
• Good at prioritising: well organised as many things take longer to complete;
• Proactive: actively seek clarity about directions and activities (what to do, how to do it and what assistance is available).

General information

Generally speaking blind and partially sighted people will have developed their own effective coping strategies and are likely to be an expert in their own requirements;  therefore, when preparing to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to a course or the working environment, it is vital that these are discussed with the individual concerned.

It is important not to make ill informed assumptions about what a visually impaired individual can or cannot do.  The everyday world of the sighted, with its emphasis upon written language and the ability to read it visually, can be facilitated for the blind and partially sighted through the use of assistive technologies and Braille.  The world of the fully sighted presumes a range of visual abilities that may not be present and the visually impaired individual will have to acquire a non-sighted conceptual framework for concepts of measurement for distance, dimension and scale. 


Impact on Employability Skills and Attributes

Although most people depend on sight in the following employability skills, this does not mean that people who have a visual impairment cannot possess these skills; rather, they may need reasonable adjustments to practice to enable them to develop or evidence the skills. 

Students with Visual Impairments or who are blind may experience limited ability or difficulties with the following:

• Sight

Click below for further information about the effect of limited ability on each of the employability skills/attributes shown:

• Sight and Use of ICT
  
• Sight and Information Literacy
  
• Sight and Literacy - Reading
  
• Sight and Numeracy
  
• Sight and Observation
  
• Sight and Practicals
  
• Sight and Teamwork
  
• Sight and Written Communication

NB: The experience and characteristics of different impairments/conditions are highly variable between individuals. For this reason it is really important that you never make assumptions about what a person can or cannot do. Though someone may have significant difficulties, they may also have devised sophisticated means of compensating for these, so talk to the person concerned and make judgements only on an individual basis.


Areas where ‘reasonable adjustments may be required

Accessing visual information -  For example, from demonstrations, presentations, practical sessions, etc.; reading text in a written format  or understanding diagrams and/or charts.

Recording information - Recording observations or notes may require the use of a digital recorder or note taker.

Accessing ICT -  Most students who have a visual impairment will need to have some sort of assistive technology to enable access to ICT – their choice will depend entirely on their own individual disability related requirements  and individual preferences.

Communication  - Picking up the visual cues which indicate ‘tone’ and meaning when engaged in teamwork or discussions

Mobility - Engaging in placements and practical sessions and using the library (finding, collecting and returning books) may require the use of a support worker. Travelling to, from and around their place of study or work can take longer and may require some initial mobility/route training.


General advice

Assistive Technology

People who are blind or partially sighted may benefit from the following assistive technology. Their choice will depend on which are most suitable for their own particular needs and their past experience which may be extensive.

Screen enlargers (or screen magnifiers) work like a magnifying glass. They enlarge a portion of the screen as the user moves the focus—increasing legibility for some users. Some screen enlargers allow a user to zoom in and out on a particular area of the screen.

Screen readers are software programs that present graphics and text as speech. A screen reader is used to verbalise, or "speak," everything on the screen including names and descriptions of control buttons, menus, text, and punctuation.

Speech recognition systems, also called voice recognition programs, allow people to give commands and enter data using their voices rather than a mouse or keyboard.

Speech synthesisers (often referred to as text-to-speech [TTS] systems) receive information going to the screen in the form of letters, numbers, and punctuation marks, and then "speak" it out loud. Using speech synthesisers allows visually impaired users to review their input as they type.

Refreshable Braille displays provide tactile output of information represented on the computer screen. The user reads the Braille letters with his or her fingers, and then, after a line is read, refreshes the display to read the next line.

Braille embossers transfer computer generated text into embossed Braille output. Braille translation programs convert text scanned in or generated via standard word processing programs into Braille, which can be printed on the Braille embosser.

Talking word processors are software programs that use speech synthesisers to provide auditory feedback of what is typed.

Large-print word processors allow the user to view everything in large text without added screen enlargement.

Other Support

Readers transfer material from text media onto an audio recording for the individual to listen to.

Notetakers. Some individuals with visual difficulties may require a notetaker to attend lectures with them. This allows the learner to concentrate on the information presented in the teaching session.

Scribe A scribe may be used in exam situations and only writes what the learner says and does not help or advise them on the subject matter.

Enablers, buddies or mentors may be used in a range of educational, training and employment settings.  In the case of students in education, placement or work-based learning these types of personal assistant may be funded through the non-medical helper element of the Disabled Students Allowance (DSA) and identified as an essential component of support at the time of the DSA assessment.


Resources/references

ABAPSTAS  (The Association of Blind and Partially Sighted Teachers and Students): national organisation of visually impaired people which focuses on education and employment issues.

Cue & Review Recording Service  provide a range of 22 different magazines and newspapers on audio tape free of charge to the visually and reading impaired.

EmpTech : Emptec aims to provide information resources on assistive technologies that are designed to help those with specific difficulties or disabilities work and study more effectively. The database includes product descriptions, links to manufacturers, suppliers with addresses as well as other related resources including advice and training guides where available.

Skills for Access: recommends approaches to using multimedia to enhance accessibility of the learning experience and gives detailed information about a range of assistive technologies.

Open University : provides an overview of assistive technologies with links to products.

Sensory Access in Higher Education: Guidance Report 2009 (PDF, file size: 1.3MB)

Techdis : The UK’s leading advisory service on technology and inclusion.

Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB): Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is the UK's leading charity offering information, support and advice to over two million people with sight loss.

Vision Impairment Workplace Tools & Tips