by Katie Frederick The pandemic has exposed many life-threatening inequities in many “systems” for people who have disabilities, including blindness or low vision. In early 2022, the New York Times published a story with the headline: Covid Tests Inaccessible to the Blind, highlighting one issue in a series of serious issues that have arisen for … Continued
Editor’s Note: We are continuing with our series on COVID-19 and the Eyes, bringing you information about current research findings and the importance of continuing to keep up with your eye care regimen. A significant consequence of the pandemic on vision throughout the world is discussed in a recent article in the World Economic Forum, … Continued
Topics That Have Resonated with Readers COVID-19, of course, is the big news anywhere you turn, and VisionAware has responded to this crisis for people who are blind or visually impaired by offering content on staying safe, finding transportation, maintaining your household, and looking out for your eyes. VisionAware uses tags for our blog content and has a great search function, so you should be able to find … Continued
My Hands and Blindness I never realized how important my hands were until I went totally blind. Now don’t get me wrong. Of course, I knew my hands were vital to my life because I used them daily to accomplish many things. For example, dressing, cooking, cleaning, writing, carrying things, even dialing my landline phone … Continued
World Sight Day is held annually to focus global attention on vision impairment, including blindness. In 2021, World Sight Day is October 14th and the theme is “Love Your Eyes.” The International Agency for Prevention of Blindness wants everyone to make a pledge to protect their vision such as getting a comprehensive eye exam. Since COVID is at the forefront of everyone’s minds … Continued
Now that the Delta variant has arrived, it is time to think about keeping up with the supplies that we need to keep a household going while staying safe. Being aware of how to take care of your shopping and health and safety needs in a pandemic or other crisis is a critical skill. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people who are blind … Continued
In 2020, the American Printing House for the Blind, the American Foundation for the blind and 13 other vision-related U.S. organizations and companies, carried out the “Flatten Inaccessibility” survey to determine how critical areas of life were affected by the pandemic for people with vision loss. Several segments of life were included, among them technology, transportation, healthcare, social experiences, and access to food and supplies. Some … Continued
By Pris Rogers and Judy Shanley, Ph.D. We are all concerned these days about what to do about getting a vaccine for COVID-19. Visual impairment adds to the stress and difficulty involved in registering to get vaccinated as well as obtaining transportation for the vaccine. In this post we provide some suggestions to help you and … Continued
Shopping with Vision Loss I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for a good bargain when shopping. With the added stress of these uncertain times, it seems like more and more people are looking for ways to save money on groceries. Being blind poses some challenges to things like looking at the weekly newspaper or mailer ads to compare prices and couponing. On top of that, traveling around town to get a … Continued
If refrigerators and freezers could talk, they might be saying something like this. “It’s dark, dank, and smelly inside this fridge. I hope my owners don’t open the door, who knows what’s going to spill out.” COVID-19 has afforded us more time to enjoy the art of cooking. Food storage and labeling have become necessary … Continued