As someone who is married to a blind woman, I believe that one thing to consider is that many people who are blind (perhaps most) are in fact legally blind but not totally blind and that the visual impairment comes in many varieties. People with retinitis pigmentosa, for example, tend to have extreme tunnel vision, no night vision, and diminished ability to perceive contrast but can still have 20/20 vision in the little remaining central field. Many of them do not use Braille or magnification to read print but are for all practical purposes blind – they need a blind cane for mobility. They may be able to read the individual text on a diagram but will tend to get lost if the data are spread out.

This is but one example of blindness – there are many more. I think that the key is to work directly with the visually impaired community to understand its needs; it is very difficult for the sighted to understand and appreciate the difficulties faced by the profoundly visually impaired.

Alden

---

Alden Dima

Computer Scientist

National Institute of Standards and Technology

alden.dima@xxxxxxxx

301-975-2450