Enabling positive work outcomes for people with low vision: two case studies

Disparities in Inherited Retinal Degenerations

To review disparities in the field of inherited retinal degenerations to establish foundations for future discussions oriented toward finding possible solutions. A narrative overview of the literature. Despite collective efforts towards democratization of genetic testing and investigation, genetic databases containing primarily European populations are heavily relied upon. Access to specialized care and other resources is also still not available to all. Recognizing and addressing disparities and inequities within the field of inherited retinal degenerations will improve our care of these patients and our knowledge of their conditions.

Occupational priorities and needs of blind and partially sighted people entering the labor market in Slovenia

BACKGROUND: People with vision impairment are a growing group of clients for occupational therapists, particularly those working in vocational rehabilitation. OBJECTIVE: To examine the occupational priorities and performance issues of blind and partially sighted people entering vocational rehabilitation in Slovenia. Possible differences between priorities and issues among diagnostic groups and in relation to the rehabilitation outcome were explored. METHODS: Records of 42 clients referred to vocational rehabilitation at the University Rehabilitation Institute in Ljubljana between 2007 and 2019 were reviewed. Information on self-perceived occupational priorities and issues was obtained from the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). RESULTS: Household and other unpaid work was identified the most frequently (20%) as a priority, followed by job-seeking (19%) and community mobility (15%). Job-seeking was the top performance issue (43%), followed by community mobility (21%) and household management (19%). On the 1–10 scale, the average occupational performance and satisfaction scores were 6.7 and 6.5, respectively; no statistically significant differences in relation to the diagnosis or the rehabilitation outcome were observed. CONCLUSION: The results highlight the client-identified occupational priorities and issues beside job-seeking that need to be considered in planning occupational therapy and supporting the persons with visual impairments entering the labor market.

Development of an online digital resource accessible for students with visual impairment or blindness: Challenges and strategies

BACKGROUND

People with visual impairment or blindness face a wide range of daily barriers, both at school and at work.

OBJECTIVE

This article describes the development process of an online resource, addressing Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), accessible for students with visual impairment or blindness.

METHODS

This study was framed in a Design-Based Research methodology involving the analysis, design, development and implementation of a digital resource. In the analysis stage, a first list of accessibility challenges was created allowing the design of strategies and specific technical solutions to approach them.

RESULTS

The development process has shown that online digital resources can be accessible for users with visual impairment or blindness and even the most visual contents and activities (based on images and videos) can be easily adjusted.

CONCLUSIONS

Online accessible resources should be based on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) guidelines, allowing the proper description of all contents by screen readers, using audio description, accessible features and providing keyboard navigation. Further research must be conducted to deepen knowledge on the role of educational digital resources for students with visual impairment or blindness, namely regarding OSH barriers that workers with visual impairment or blindness face at the workplace (as visual safety signs and pictogram labels).

Experience of Multisensory Environments in Public Space among People with Visual Impairment

This qualitative study explored the role of sensory characteristics embedded in the built environment and whether they support or hinder people with visual impairment in their use of public spaces. An online survey link was e-mailed to the presidents and committee members of each state's chapters and associations of the National Federation of the Blind in the United States, resulting in 451 direct invitations to participate. Written responses of the survey questions from 48 respondents with visual impairment were analyzed. Three main themes: Barriers, Supporters, and Context-Dependence emerged from the respondents' experience of multisensory characteristics within the built environment. The four subthemes subsumed in Barriers were: (1) Population specific design, (2) Extreme sensory backgrounds, (3) Uneven ground surfaces and objects, and (4) Inconsistent lighting. For Supporters, respondents provided specific examples of various sensory characteristics in built environments, including audible cues and echoes, smells, tactile quality of the ground surface, and temperature. Context-Dependence referred to the effects of sensory characteristics embedded in public spaces depending on one's vision condition, the proximity to the sensory cues and the purpose of the activities one was performing at that moment. Findings provide occupational therapy practitioners an in-depth understanding of the transactional relationship between embedded sensory characteristics in the built environment, occupations, and people with visual impairment in order to make appropriate modifications or removal of barriers that affect occupational performance and engagement. Suggestions for occupational therapists as well as architects, designers, planners, policy makers/legislators related to functional sensory cues in the design of built environments were provided to increase accessibility in the use of public spaces by people with visual impairment.