Microsoft has been working on accessibility for decades. Its view of inclusion was largely targeted at people with disabilities, although smart people everywhere were already figuring out it was good for them, too. Today it’s about everyone, as it should be. And perhaps most importantly, it is much easier to access and use accessibility in this OS, than in earlier versions of Windows. There is a new Accessibility Pane in the Settings menu that now leads to all accessibility features. Begin with a click on the Windows Start icon, then on Settings, then click Accessibility, and now select Vision. Each vision feature has more customizable options.
This is important, because many people with vision loss are working, and a clearer path to accessibility features will help them stay on the job. They may not even know their changing eyesight is a disability, but they do know they are not seeing the text on their computer screen clearly, which is complicating daily life, and they are not sure what to do about it. Adjustments in accessibility settings, with the help of an IT specialist, will enable them to continue to work productively. Knowing that these features are there can make Windows easier to use at work, or at home, is a key to inclusion.
Windows 11 logo from Microsoft
Adjust Vision Settings
Navigate from the Start button to the Accessibility settings listed below. Within each are more options to further customize for individual needs and preferences.
Make Text Larger – Go to the Start button, Settings > Accessibility > Text size.
Visual Effects for backgrounds and animations. Go to the Start button, Settings > Accessibility > Visual Effects.
Make Mouse Pointer Easier to See – Go go Start, Start button, then select Settings > Accessibility > Mouse pointer & touch.
Customize Text Cursor Size & Color – Go to the Start button, Settings > Accessibility > Text cursor.
Use Magnifier to Zoom In – Go to Start button, Settings > Accessibility > Magnifier.
Enable Color Filters and select scheme – Go to the Start button, Settings > Accessibility > Color filters.
Increase Screen Contrast – Go to the Start button, Settings > Accessibility > Contrast themes.
There are challenges involved in traveling through airports, always, for everyone. Add a visual impairment to the mix and you’ve got an excellent excuse to just stay at home. A travel companion could solve a lot of the problems, but there isn’t always one available. You can request assistance at the airport, but it may arrive holding a sign you cannot read and pushing a wheelchair you do not need.
For a while now we’ve been thinking the best solution to navigating the inside of an airport would come in the form of an interior mapping system and a really, really smart digital assistant. As much as we love the incredible strides technology is helping us take, navigation systems and digital assistants have not yet proven to be precise enough for this task. While we were waiting patiently for that, we started hearing about something called Aira (pronounced I-ra), a technology that depends on humans for accuracy.
Travelers in London Heathrow Airport.
How Aira Works
Turns out, that even in this intensely technological time, people still provide the most dependable source of assistance. Imagine that. Aira is a service that connects you with an agent via smartphone for live remote assistance, they call it “visual interpreting.” This independence-enhancing accessibility solution could possibly take the pain out of asking for help. You are not disturbing anyone; it is exactly what they are there to do.
The agents are trained to guide you. They can see a 120-degree view through the camera of your phone, much more than you’re seeing. Aira customers are called “Explorers,” and that makes it sound a little like we’re playing a game, but why not, perhaps it will make airport travel fun again.
How Much Aira Costs
Aira is a subscription service, now starting at $29 a month for 30 minutes with an agent, $99 for 120 minutes, and up from there. The service is accessed by a mobile app. Paying subscribers can call an agent for assistance navigating through any airport within the service area of North America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
Where Aira is Free
There is also a network of airports that subscribe to Aira and provide free guest access to their customers. At last count, 50+ airports were actively participating in the Aira Network including JFK International, LaGuardia, Newark, Syracuse, Boston Logan, Charlotte Douglas, Dallas Love Field, and Toronto Pearson. A complete list of free airport locations seemed to be elusive. A representative from Aira suggested using the in-app search to find all locations on the network, but that did not render a list either. When in doubt, we suggest calling an agent on the app, or Aira customer service at one of the phone numbers listed below, to confirm if the airport you’re heading to provides the visual interpreting service for free.
Universal Product Codes (UPC) are the barcodes found on just about every product sold at retail. They are 12-digit codes that identify the product details. These are the codes scanned at the register each time you check out, perhaps most notably, at the supermarket. You know how they look, although you probably don’t think much about them. The information in product barcodes can be enormously helpful for people with vision loss, yet this is not an application widely adopted, possibly because the talking scanners created for blind and visually impaired users were previously priced out of range for everyday consumers. Today barcode readers are available in two popular accessibility apps, and they’re free.
UPC barcodes on stickers
Product barcodes can be surprisingly useful in the kitchen to get a product’s cooking instructions or nutrition facts when you cannot read the packaging and prefer to have it spoken. In a store, barcodes can be very useful in determining the specific flavor, scent, color and size of the item you’re looking at. Some codes have a lot of information to read through, others have less, depending on the type of product and its requirements.
Seeing AI on iPhone scanning barcode to identify product. Image credit: Microsoft.com
Accessible Barcode Reading Apps
The Seeing AI app, developed by Microsoft for iOS, includes the Product Channel, which is a talking barcode reader. If you can’t find the barcode visually, audible cues indicate its location. Once found, the barcode is scanned automatically and the product details are spoken. The UPC on a small box of pasta says the product name “Barilla Orzo.” At the bottom of the screen there is a tab to access “More Info” including product weight and cooking instructions, ingredients and nutritional information, all of which is incredibly easy and very useful for a visually impaired person. This app also reads Short Text, Documents, Currency, Color and more.
For Android, Google developed Lookout, an app that also offers reads barcodes in its Shopping Mode. Like Seeing Ai, this app also offers modes for Quick Read, Document Scan, Explore and Food Labels.
At OE Patients, we are always fielding questions related to vision loss. While we do our very best to answer each individual one, we realize the questions received, and answers provided, are likely to be beneficial to many of our readers. Here is a curated selection.
ADJUSTING
Image shows house icon.
Q: How can we help my, independent 87-year-old, mom with low vision proof her home for safety without sacrificing aesthetics?
A: This is a very good question and one we’re delighted to have excellent answers for.
Q: I was informed, at my last eye exam, that I am now legally blind from macular degeneration. The doctor told me to stop driving (which I did long ago) and gave no other advice. What do you suggest I do now?
A: Speak with your physician again and ask for referral to a low vision specialist and vision rehabilitation services. Be aware there is much you can do, on your own, to live better with vision loss. Read: OE Agrees with AAO Advice, and listen to the OE Patients Podcast, Episode 4: Must Know Info for Adjusting to Low Vision.
HEALTH
Image shows woman smelling flowers.
Q: I have recently been diagnosed with early dry macular degeneration. Both my ophthalmologist and the retina specialist I consulted pulled some AREDS 2 vitamins out of a drawer and said “take these.” I have been researching and finding out that these vitamins are recommended for intermediate MD to prevent it from advancing. But what is a patient who has early supposed to do? No one seems to be able to give me a definitive answer. Please let me know where I can read about the effects of the vitamins for patients with early macular degeneration. Thank you.
A: Although these supplements are often suggested to early stage AMD patients, the studies show no proof of effect in the early phase of AMD. Based on that result the National Eye Institute expressly recommends AREDS vitamins for patients with moderate to advanced disease.
Here is a link to the published AREDS study information from NEI:
Q: Following a cataract operation on my second eye, for two weeks I’ve been unable to read without my glasses, but vision is improving. How can I protect my eyes and keep them healthy?
Q: I am a 51-year-oldfemale diagnosed with early stage dry macular degeneration. I am concerned about visual deterioration over time as it is incurable and progressive. I am afraid and in search of something I can do to help minimize the loss of sight.
A: A diagnosis involving progressive vision loss is frightening, but we know people with dry macular degeneration generally can do well and adjust to the very slow progression over time. The result is impaired central vision, not blindness, and you can do your best to slow that progression by protecting your eyes from the sun and eating a healthy diet rich in whole foods, leafy greens, citrus and omega 3. Making small changes along the way will keep you doing all you need to do and love to do. Technology today accommodates every level of visual impairment. More detail about living with macular degeneration in these articles on OE.
Q: A low vision specialist showed my dad the OrCam ($4,500.), a wearable device for reading text, identifying faces, colors and products. Dad is hesitant to buy another piece of high priced low vision technology that probably won’t meet his expectations. What is your advice? Are there any lower cost alternatives?
A: Low vision devices are highly specific to the individual and must be tried in the context of daily life. Ask if there is a trial period, loaner program and reasonable return policy. To be of value, these devices must enhance life every day, not just occasionally. If it does not meet expectations, return it for a refund.
The functionality of OrCam is also available in free smartphone apps. Seeing Ai for iPhone was developed by Microsoft and Google’s Lookout for Android. Both are popular accessibility apps for smartphone users with vision loss.
Q: I recently switched to an iPhone for the low vision accessibility and I’m very happy I did. I’m getting accustomed to it, but find I tend to quickly forget the steps involved in using features new to me. How can I do this with more success?
A: It is very easy to forget steps you’ve taken just once or twice. Committing a process to memory, or memorizing the steps, takes repetition, 10 or 20 times. That is why the things we do every day become embedded in our muscle memory. When you don’t know, or have forgotten, no worries, just phone and get help from Apple’s Accessibility Support at 877-204-3930, they’re available 24/7. Here are more tips for Learning at Any Age with Vision Loss.
Q: I need a new iPhone but am not feeling good about an upgrade to a model with no home button.
A: Many people had this concern, but it turned out to be a relatively easy transition. Just a few new screen swipes that will become natural in the first few hours. Adjusting to iPhone X & 11
Q: Can you offer any tips to increase accuracy in Speech to Text or Dictation, as I often find that the text that is transcribed is very different from what I said.
A: Enunciate clearly. Speak punctuation, symbols, new lines, etc. Always best with minimal ambient noise. Dictate one sentence at a time for easier correction of error. Practice definitely improves ability. More on OE: Are You A Dictator?
Q: Hello, I want to find a mobile phone with the most up-to-date technology for vision loss. Does anyone have any suggestions? Also, are there any seminars to help those with vision loss to use smartphones? Thanks!
A: The iPhone has the best accessibility features for vision and is by far the most popular mobile phone used by people with vision loss. Linked below are some of our articles on the subject. There are regular workshops at Apple Stores and other options depending on where you are. Check local libraries, senior centers and vision rehab agencies. Also HadleyHelps.org has a wonderful series of video tutorials for iPhone, some are linked to the articles we’ve published.
We pay tribute to our longtime colleague and friend, Bernie Landou, who passed away at age 90. He was a veteran of the United States Military and served in the Korean War. He spent several decades working professionally in the business of public relations and enjoyed recounting his legendary assignments and encounters with celebrities. Upon retirement he indulged his love for fine cuisine by attending the French Culinary Institute in New York. He enjoyed sharing his skills to impress friends and family and went on to teach inmates at the Rikers Island Correctional Facility, to cook.
Bernie was affected by age-related macular degeneration and rose to the challenges of vision loss, with the support of his partner of 50 years, Dick Leonard. He became a volunteer with the Association for Macular Diseases at Manhattan Eye & Ear Hospital. He answered phone inquiries and requests for information and contributed to the quarterly Eyes Only Newsletter. He loved helping others with useful tips for daily living and low vision friendly recipes. His volunteer service, with the Association, led him to assume the role of Editor for the newsletter in 2007, then President of our Board of Directors in 2017.
Bernie Landou at 85 and as a young man in the US Military.
We applaud Bernie Landou for his years of enthusiastic service to people with macular diseases and low vision, as he found his own way with increasing vision loss. He possessed a sharp wit and a special gift for stating the obvious. He pointed out, as we were about to launch this website in partnership with Ophthalmic Edge, that “nobody knows how to spell Ophthalmic,” and he was right. We shortened our website name to “OE Patients” to resolve that conundrum. Thanks Bernie!
Here are 6 of Bernie’s articles, originally written for Eyes Only, now published on OE.
Choice Magazine Listening
Choice Magazine Listening
A precursor to audible magazines, established in 1962 for people with vision loss.
Patients with progressing vision loss, for which there is no treatment or correction, are frequently told, “Nothing can be done.” The statement is meant, specifically, to say there is no medical intervention available. Too many times the patient interprets the words to mean, “There is nothing anyone or anything can do for you.” But that’s not true. At this point in the dialogue between doctor and patient, would be a good time to consider vision rehab services. But it often goes unmentioned.
The process equivalent to physical and occupational therapy, for loss of sight, is vision rehab. It is the “best kept secret, “according to Stephen Kelley, Certified Vision Rehabilitation Therapist, quoted in the Web MD article titled, “Vision Rehab Helps People With Low Vision Navigate the World.” Kelley says, not only patients, but many medical professionals do not know the service exists. Perhaps because it does not qualify as medical and is not covered by health insurance, instead it’s considered a social service, usually funded by state agencies. Another issue, Kelley explains, is that vision rehab services are provided at agencies for the blind, which is intimidating because people who are visually impaired do not see themselves as blind. Getting past the obstacles and getting services, as soon as possible, is the priority, and Kelley knows, that to be true, because twenty years ago, he started having vision problems and lost his job in web design, while he was trying to figure out how to keep it.
The Web MD article also illustrates how a cardiologist, Joseph Fontenot, MD, developed untreatable macular problems at age 50. As his vision quickly declined, he learned about vision rehab from another patient with a similar condition. Rehab services enabled him to continue working. In the process, he too shared his experience with other low vision patients, and he began to understand how little patients knew about the kind of assistance that is available to them. At age 65, Dr. Fontenot became a certified vision rehab therapist, opened a practice, and went on to serve as chair of the Vision Rehabilitation Committee for the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO).
Watch the video below, conceived and created by Dr. Joseph Fontenot for the American academy of Ophthalmologists, to send the message loud and clear, “There is something you can do.”
Video: There is Something Else You Can Do
A full-service program will include a comprehensive evaluation with a low vision specialist. It’s about a thorough review of the patient’s vision and an understanding of their needs and goals. What do they have to do, want to do, love to do? The objective is to improve the individual’s ability to function at home, at work and out in the world. Improving the quality of life, elevates everything.
Finding a vision rehab program
Ask your eye doctor to recommend a program
Look for a program affiliated with a university or medical school
Find a nonprofit organization that serves the needs of visually impaired persons with a full range of rehab services
Accessibility and inclusion go hand in hand. The goal of universal design is to make products that are better for everyone. It’s a simple, very sensible concept, and when executed properly it’s also a beautiful user experience. Bells and whistles are not required to achieve this feat, more often, the basics of a vision friendly interface light the way. Keep it clear and simple!
On Global Accessibility Awareness Day, it feels particularly appropriate to report, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), globally 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment. The number is considerable and begs us to ask the question, why are so many web pages designed to make reading difficult? Who decided it was a good idea to cram all kinds of extra stuff onto a page which distracts us from the content we came to read and ruins the reading experience? It defies sensibility and makes you wonder, why not make it easier to see content published for the purpose of being read and appreciated. Doesn’t the writer’s work, and our attention span of the reader, deserve better treatment?
Screenshot of Show Reader option in iOS AA menu. Image credit: Apple
What Readers Can Do
When a busy, cluttered page is encountered, make it easier to read by turning on the Reader view in your browser, which can magically remove ads and pop-ups, leaving the text you wish to read without distraction. In Safari on iOS, tap the AA button to the left of the address field, select Show Reader. On a Mac, at the left side of the address bar click the icon that resembles lines on a page. In Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Vivaldi, a similar icon launches Reader Mode from the right side of the address bar. It’s a bit more complicated in a Google browser. Contact Google, Apple, or Microsoft for Accessibility Support by Phone.
What Web Designers Can Do
The acronym KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) is a design principle which states that most systems are best when kept uncomplicated. Here are a few ways to simplify for the eye.
Highly contrasted text and backgrounds are the easiest to read. Go black on white, with an option to reverse to white on black. Pale font colors are not good and darkish backgrounds aren’t good either.
Don’t put text on top of darker toned Don’t use decorative, script or serif fonts, clean sans serif font styles are easier to read.
Moving text is hard to read and moving images are hard to see, so keep it still and your content won’t disappear in front of our eyes.
Text size matters, be generous with the points and the weight.
Clean layouts are appreciated by all, cluttered, chaotic pages are not. Keep it as linear as possible with no more than two columns.
No pop-ups.
Don’t place ads or create distractions in the middle of an article.
Don’t interrupt an article in progress to promote other articles.
Understand inclusion. Don’t assume visually impaired people are not on your website — we are everywhere.
The 60 Minutes profile on Freeride skier, Jacob Smith, totally consumes your attention. Freeriding means he skis jagged cliffs, deep chutes, and rough rock walls. That would be impressive enough for anyone, but Jacob is 15 years old, legally blind and skiing against sighted competitors. Once you meet him, you will not forget him.
The story includes Video of Jacob, a few years earlier at the age of 12, dropping into the Big Couloir, a rocky 1400-foot line that descends on a 50-degree pitch. He became the only legally blind skier to successfully conquer this legendary slope at the Big Sky Resort in Montana. It felt so satisfying, he repeated the risky run four more times that day and has not stopped taking on these types of challenges since.
Watching Jacob ski provides little indication that he has severe and blurry tunnel vision, no depth perception, and a visual acuity of 20/800. He proves you can compensate for what you cannot see, with what you can feel. But that’s not all, he also has a trusted and experienced voice guiding him through every turn, it’s the voice of his dad, Nathan, on a two-way radio. It’s not an always perfect scenario and mistakes are made, “But his adaptation is pretty amazing,” says Dad.
Competitive skiing is a family affair, and the Smiths were not about to leave Jacob behind following years of treatment and multiple surgeries, beginning at age 8, to eradicate the brain tumor that took his sight. His siblings Andrew, Preston and Julia say most people who see him ski do not believe he’s legally blind. He does not request or receive any special accommodations at Freeride tournaments and wants to be treated normal, that’s why he competes with sighted skiers. The only real fear he has is “not succeeding.” He says, “No matter what comes at you, there is always a way to adapt, to make it happen and still do what you want to do.”
Watch Jacob Smith: The legally blind 15-year-old freeride skier on 60 Minutes.
The origins of audiobooks can be traced back to 1932 when the American Foundation for the Blind first had books read and recorded, on the earliest LP’s (long playing records). It was a wonderfully innovative way to expand access to literature for people with vision loss at a time there were few other options. Over the ensuing 90 years, recordings moved from vinyl discs to tape recording to digital recordings, which are today consumed by the masses. In fact, audible content is booming, clearly evidenced by the millions of audiobooks and podcasts published annually. Newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, The Economist, Harvard Business Review, BuzzFeed and Vogue are also boosting their audiences with narrated articles. The growth of audio content is simply a matter of convenience and completely connected to the smartphone’s usually in hand.
There is a special sense of freedom in reading audiobooks because you can listen while commuting, working out, walking, running, or doing work around the house. By now, with the ever expanding audio content available in our mobile devices, we are better acclimated to listening. It is not unusual for book lovers with vision loss to need some time to adjust from seeing the words to hearing them. In good time the love for books is equally satisfied and the stress involved in reading is lifted away.
Now is the perfect time to get absorbed by a great audiobook, or two. There are plenty of lists online with best rankings and recommendations, a few are linked below. Audible is most known for audiobooks, but there are also plenty of others, including Apple Books, Google Play and Chirp Books… just to name a few.
A woman joyfully listening to audiobook from smartphone.
Need help selecting a book? Here are some titles, shared on the best audiobooks lists from Wired, Esquire, Chirp and Audible, with a sneak peek at the top 5 on each list and a link to the rest.
Wired
20 Audiobooks You Should Listen to Right Now
1. The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Vision loss and credit cards don’t mix well. It’s hard to tell one card from the other, especially now as card designs have moved to flattened surfaces. Not that card’s with embossed numbers and names were all that accessible either. And although the focus here is just on card design, the accessibility of machines used to process payments is another issue in need of solutions. It is a pleasure to report a meaningful advance on the part of Mastercard in these efforts, and we hope they will hold the baton and run with it all the way to complete inclusion.
It was a while ago, in pre-pandemic times, that we heard there was an accessible credit card in the works. The very idea made us smile, its time had finally come. Who was creating this card and what would it be like? The details of the project did not leak, it was very top secret, so we waited for the news to break.
The first glimpse came late last year when Mastercard unveiled Touch Card, a new accessible design standard implementing a system of notches cut into the side of the card. A square notch identifies the credit card, a semicircle notch on debit cards and a triangular notch is for prepaid cards. The positioning of these cut-outs gives the customers the ability to use the right card the right way, by touch. Mastercard hopes the new inclusive designs will help the world’s 2.2 billion visually impaired people more easily identify and manage their cards.
In March, Mastercard began marketing Touch Card with a TV ad, embedded below. It seemed to signal the Touch Card was now available to consumers. But this commercial was actually meant to get people, and card issuers (which are banks), excited about the opportunity to obtain this new product.
Video advertisement for Mastercard’s accessible Touch Care for visually impaired and blind consumers.
Naturally, we wanted to get our hands on the notched cards and try them out as soon as possible, but that was easier said than done. When we could not find the Touch Card online or at a bank, we reached out to Jill Davison in Global Communications at Mastercard. She said, “Thank you for your interest in the Mastercard Touch Card. We are currently working with several Mastercard issuers around the world to bring Touch Card to market. It is our hope that this becomes a global standard universally applied to all cards and not just a feature added upon request. Once we launch with Mastercard partners, the standard will be made available to all banks and networks, and it will be their choice whether to adopt this new card standard.” She also suggested, interested consumers contact their banks and request Touch Card in advance of its issuance.
The bottom line is, Touch Card is coming soon, stay tuned.
An unknown app named OneStep Reader mysteriously appeared in an iOS app update. It became clear upon opening it, this was an old app with a new name. The app, formerly known as KNFB Reader, was taken over from the National Federation of the Blind by Sensotec. Beyond the name and the ownership change, not much else is new, even the $100 purchase price remains the same, which is likely to be its greatest barrier to growth, considering there are many good alternatives at fractions of that cost. It will be interesting to see what Sensotec has in store. Perhaps the most impressive note to this story is how far the OCR technology has traveled to arrive at this place, and how far we’ve come in our expectations.
The article below, published in 2018, provides a brief history of KNFB Reader.
Do you need help reading mail, package info, handouts, cooking directions, price tags, signs? There’s an app for all that. The KNFB Reader converts text to speech, instantly.
It is worth noting: this is technology with a pedigree. Developed by Ray Kurzweil, currently Director of Engineering at Google, he is the father of OCR (Optical Character Recognition). In its original form, it took shape as the Kurzweil Reading Machine for the blind. The year was 1976, the machine was the size of a dishwasher and the cost: $40,000.
In 2008, Kurzweil and the National Federation of the Blind joined forces to introduce the first mobile version of the reading machine. It ran on a Nokia phone and was priced at a shocking: $3,000.
Just a few years later, the much anticipated KNFB Reader App for iPhone (and iPad) was delivered to the App Store. The Android and Windows apps followed, and they’re all compatible with their respective screen readers.
The KNFB Reader app opens the camera. The right side of the screen offers a “field of view report” to assist alignment of the picture. Tap the left side of the screen to snap the photo. In seconds, the text appears and the reading aloud begins. It’s fast, accurate and relatively easy to use.
The app includes a quick start guide and manual. Read and save multi-page documents. Multiple languages are supported. Set to automatically save files to Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, or Google Drive. In recent updates, you can make calls, send emails, and open links directly from documents. You can even contact someone from a business card.
This is relatively easy to use, but like all new things, it may require a bit of acclimating. Practice makes perfect! The incredible benefit is well worth the effort.
You just might start wondering how you functioned without it.
Please note that this article was not paid for, affiliated with, or endorsed by any third-party companies. The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author’s.
Originally published on August 3, 2018 and updated on April 14, 2022.
Having low vision will help you see things others will miss. Perhaps most noticeable is the lack of attention paid to the visual accessibility in ophthalmic offices, eye clinics and hospitals. There’s a lot of white on white, no texture or color. Elevators are dark and buttons are not tactile. Signage is illegible and ill placed. The first issue is often just locating the reception desk.
It does not have to be this way. The design process is mistakenly targeted to 20/40 vision, slightly below “normal.” However, that is not going to be helpful for patients, with uncorrectable vision loss, who are visiting eye clinics or specialist’s office. The fact is, creating spaces and products friendly to people with low vision, actually makes them better for everyone!
At Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, the Casey Eye Institute’s director, Dr. David Wilson, was determined to avoid visual stumbling blocks in the design of their new building for the Elks Children’s Eye Clinic, where patients of all ages are seen.
We would suggest following some of the sensible guidance from the OHSU design project. The designers developed filters to help them see the space through the eyes of patients with conditions that included cataracts, glaucoma, and macular degeneration. To learn how your space stacks up, why not invite a focus group of patients to stroll through the facility and call out the good, the bad and the ugly.
Waiting area at Elks Eye Clinic, Waiting area at Elks Eye Clinic (Image credit John Valls/OHSU)
Implement Elements of Universal Design
improve legibility and contrast of signage with clean, large sans serif font styles (never script or cursive)
place signs near to eye level
large reception desks, at the entrance, designed with highly contrasting colors to be most visible
furniture is placed strategically to eliminate obstacles causing slips or trips
handrails that lead to elevators for easier access to other floors
flooring is seamless and free of carpet to prevent the possibility of slipping or tripping
contrasting colors and textures on floors help to differentiate walkways and reception areas
glare from surfaces eliminated by using matte and textured finishes
hallway colors are contrasted with brightly painted doors to identify exam rooms
Perhaps that trend is about to change. The application of vision focused design principles make interiors friendlier for all.
