Low Vision

Further Ideas for Blind and Low Vision Needs

• Request and encourage student input on how to best accommodate the student's learning needs.
• Consider the position, lighting, and seating needs of the student during presentations or when using text, manipulatives, transparencies or other projected images.
• Provide large-print lecture notes, handouts, and worksheets.
• Orient the student to the classroom (dimensions, exits, furniture arrangement, hazards) initially and whenever a change occurs.
• To find talking calculators, consult the National Federation of the Blind Independence Market Online.
• United States maps in large print are available from the American Printing House for the Blind.
• Rulers, protractors, and other measurement tools are available in tactile and large-print format from the American Printing House for the Blind. Additional measurement devices can be found at AssisTech.
• Give clear verbal descriptions of visual aids including video and printed content used throughout your presentation.
• Use a scanner to create an electronic version of images, charts, or maps, and display them in a larger format on a computer monitor, or use an LCD projector.
• Provide class assignments ahead of time in electronic format. Avoid last-minute additions to assignments.
• Consider the needs of students with disabilities during lab orientation and lab safety meetings.
• Assign group activities in which all students take responsibility and contribute according to their abilities.
• Use multiple formats—oral, written, visual, tactile, electronic—for instruction and demonstrations.
• Consider computer accommodations for writing activities. Provide a document format that can be edited electronically by the student, such as an accessible PDF file, a Word document, or a plain text document.
• Consult the video presentation and publication Working Together: Computers and People with Sensory Impairments.