Optical and non-optical vision aids for reading
People with low vision may feel frustrated to read books, newspapers and other materials. These effortless enjoyments impose much more requirements on visual impaired individuals. Some patients simply give up reading.
In fact, there are still many types of low vision aids for reading. Some of them require a prescription from ECPs and others are nonprescription ones. Patients should always get advice from their doctors in devices choosing.
The simplest and most affordable device is handheld magnifier. Variations of handheld magnifiers include that contains reading lamps, the type that is mounted on height-adjustable stands or hand around the neck.
Strong reading glasses and bifocal eyeglasses with high-power reading segments can also be your choice. Reading telescopes can be handheld or mounted onto special eyeglass frames with enhanced nose pads and padded bridges.
Video magnifiers are another more advantageous option, although they cost much more. These devices project printed materials on a closed circuit television (CCTV), monitor or computer screen. The patient can see those materials on the screen, just like watching TV. All common parameters such as magnification degree, brightness, contrast and color are under adjustable. In addition, the gesture of the patient can be more natural.
You can also get portable reading from a special device system. The device rests on your reading materials and magnifies it. And you can read materials on your eyeglasses projected by the device. You hold the device and can move it in any direction to magnify certain parts of a page. The device can also magnify curved surfaces such as cans and pill bottles.
In addition to the above low vision devices, inexpensive non-optical adaptive aids are also helpful. People with low vision may have difficulty recognizing certain objects. Large-print cookbooks, large-numbered playing cards, clocks, telephones and watches are easier for reading. Other “devices” include large felt-tip pens, wide-lined paper, color-coded pill boxes, voice-recording electronic organizers, signature guides etc…
Regardless of any type of vision aids you choose, good lighting is critical. People with impaired vision need a larger amount of ambient light. Natural sunlight is the best for reading, so that low vision patients can sit near a window during daytime reading. If natural lighting is beyond your hand, use “full-spectrum” incandescent bulbs, rather than harsh fluorescent lighting. While the former type is closer to natural sunlight, the latter type causes glare and discomfort. You should choose bright light bulbs or lamps with three-way sockets.
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Computer-based low vision aids
For people with low vision, there are various low vision aids such as eyeglass-mounted magnifiers, handheld magnifiers and stand-alone magnifiers. In addition to these common aids, partially sighted people can also take use of other means while doing computer work, such as word-processing, creating and using spreadsheets and browsing web pages. Special software enables computer users to enlarge the text size or just “listen” to texts.
Computer operating systems and Internet browsers also allow partially sighted computer users to increase the size of texts and web pages. Commonly used web browsers such as Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari can enlarge web page texts by pressing the “+” key while holding down the “Ctrl” key. In opposite, “Ctrl” plus “-” can minify pages to normal size and even smaller sizes. Another more convenient way is to scroll your mouse up or down to change text sizes while also holding down the control key.
These common web browsers also provide menu operation to customers for size control. You can find the “Text Size” or “Make Text Larger” command within “View” menu bar at the top of your browser. If you want enlarged mouse pointers and other navigation items, large-print display software can help. Other solutions include screen magnifiers and larger size of LCD displays.
As mentioned before, certain software can read text aloud. This kind of “talking computers” first scans text from sources and then converts it to sounds. For people who have difficulty reading an entire screen, these special voice systems can read aloud both actual text and important navigation items.
Some people may have difficulty in tracing tiny mouse cursor, so that operating systems provide useful keyboard commands for mouse movements. For people accustomed to a mouse, some tips are useful. Ergonomic design is essential to all types of mouses, in case of any hand discomfort such as cramp. Most modern mouses are equipped with a wheel in the center for simple scrolling down and up. A newer version of mouse is wireless optical mouse.
The flicker of traditional cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors is common by abnormal. This problem is always caused by improper screen refresh rates. You should set this rate above 70 Hz. Liquid crystal display (LCD) screens won’t bring flicker problems.
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