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Low Vision Awareness: A Survey of Useful Tools for the Newcomer to Low Vision

Low vision awareness is about recognizing the diversity of vision we might find in our community or workplace. Blindness and low vision are not visual conditions that are either on or off. Low vision affects people in different ways, so it might be that someone with low vision has less peripheral vision, like looking down a cardboard tube, which can be caused by glaucoma, or it might be a very soft focus in the center of the visual field that can't be corrected. Imagine, for example, a smudge…

Accessible Fitness Tools

Senior woman watching online workout tutorials on smartphone and exercising at home.
Steve Kelley, AccessWorld Author On the one hand, we want to stay healthy, and adhere to the suggestions that we limit our exposure to groups of people, and maintain a social distance, in the new world of coronavirus. But with gyms closing down to comply with stay-at-home orders, staying healthy might be looking a little more challenging. What are the options, short of retrofitting our homes with gym equipment? Audio-described fitness routines might be the answer! The Hadley discussion group…

Maintaining Connection with Telephone Support Groups

By Steve Kelley, AccessWorld Author Social distancing may be just what the doctor is ordering to minimize the spread of the coronavirus, but this same distancing may contribute to the social isolation many people experience with vision loss. For those that look forward to a low vision support group that meets face-to-face, this loss of support may be particularly difficult. There’s nothing like getting together in person with people you know, who share a common experience, and supporting one…

The ADA's 28th Year in the Shadow of H.R. 620

HR620—A "Solution" in Search of a Problem One of my favorite assistive technology podcasts recently made me grit my teeth, again, over the passage of congressional bill H.R. 620. H.R. 620 is titled the "ADA Education and Reform Bill." In episode 107 of the AT Banter podcast, co-hosts Ryan Fleury and Steve Barclay discussed H.R. 620, stating that it would seem reasonable for an individual to approach a business that most likely, inadvertently created a barrier to access and ask/suggest/…