Teaching Students who are Blind - Faculty Portal

Teaching Students Who are Blind or Low Vision

• For sighted people, vision serves as the primary source for information.  Estimates of how much sighted people learn visually range from 75% to 85%.
• A person who is visually impaired has difficulty seeing even if wearing glasses.
• Over 75% of the people in the U.S who are legally blind have some residual vision. 

Possible functional impacts of vision impairment

• Difficulty finding and identifying objects
• Difficulty seeing objects edges, and discriminating foreground/background differences
• Objects disappearing in the visual field 
• Tripping, falling, or bumping into objects when walking or moving about
• Difficulty reading print
• Reduced reading rate
• Reduced reading endurance
• Difficulty seeing handwriting
• Difficulty seeing writing on board, or projector
• Difficulty seeing characters or numbers in books/media
• Inconsistency in seeing objects over time (fluctuating vision) 

General Points to Keep in Mind

• Speak to the class upon entering and leaving the classroom.
• Identify yourself by name, don't assume that the student who is blind or low vision will recognize you by your voice even though you have met before.
• Speak directly to a student who is blind, NOT through a companion or third party.
• Call the student by name if you want his/her attention.
• Verbally acknowledge the questions of a student who is blind, they cannot see a head shake or gesture.
• Be specific and descriptive in directions and avoid the use of vague terms with unusable information, such as "over there," "here," "this," etc.
• Don't worry about using phrases that refer to sight, e.g. “see you later,” these are commonly used expressions. Students with vision loss can still "see" what is meant by such expressions.
• Describe and familiarize the student to the classroom, laboratory, equipment, supplies, materials, etc. Once a student is oriented, maintain a consistent classroom environment. Tell the student if a room they are familiar with has been rearranged.
• Students who have had no vision since birth may also have difficulty understanding verbal descriptions of visual materials and abstract concepts. Consider the description, "This diagram of ancestral lineage looks like a tree." If one has never seen a tree, it may not be readily apparent that the structure of note has several lines of ancestry which can be traced back to one central family. However, students who lost their vision later in life may find it easier to understand such verbal descriptions. Using enhanced verbal descriptions in your class will benefit sighted students as well as those with visual challenges. In making comparisons or analogies, use familiar objects that don't depend on prior visual knowledge. Foods or objects found around the house are useful.
• Do not pet or touch guide dogs when they are wearing their harness. Guide dogs are working animals “on duty”. It can be hazardous for the visually impaired person if the dog is distracted.

Good Practice Guidelines

Lecture

• Provide handouts electronically in advance of the lecture.
• Describe any material you are writing down. Talk through any images or diagrams. If you refer back to the written information, speak it again.
• Spell out any new or difficult words or names.
• If the lecture relies on a demonstration, verbally describe what you are doing with clear, concise language. If the demonstration includes equipment or models that the student cannot see, allow the student to tactilely explore these items either during or before the lecture.

Printed Material

• Ready access to printed materials in digital form can allow a blind student to use a computer with adaptive software to “read” text aloud.  Since it may take several weeks to get and/or convert course materials to an accessible format, it is essential that materials be selected and prepared well before the materials are needed.  Learning Success typically coordinates e-text production in collaboration with faculty and the student to meet adaptive technology needs. 
• Avoid using tables, columns and charts when possible. Translation is difficult and older screen readers do not read the information well, if at all.
• Save text from multimedia programs (e.g., Power Point) into text files.

• Use large-print, typed rather than handwritten visuals.
• Use a clear, sans-serif font such as Arial, Calibri, or Tahoma.
• Use print size 18 point or above.
• Keep the layout clear and simple.
• Avoid text on a patterned background.

On-line Courses and Course Documents

Writing  Assignments

Exam  Arrangements

Questions