Although each situation is different and the student is the best source of information regarding useful accommodations, the following accommodations are typical for a student with blindness:
People who are blind cannot access the visual content of a video production unless the content is available in audio format as well. Being aware of this access issue during the design phase of a product can result in speakers or narrators voicing enough of the content to allow a person who is blind to follow along. This is particularly important for educational programming and products used with large audiences where it is generally unknown what visual impairments audience members may have.
The Internet hosts a large quantity of websites and electronic discussion lists that contain information of interest to individuals with visual impairments and their family members, friends, mentors, advocates, educators, employers, and coworkers. Topics addressed include education, accommodations, definitions of different types of visual impairments, employment, social development, transportation, and support networks.
Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, which took effect in 1996, requires that telephone products and services be accessible to people with disabilities to the extent access is "readily achievable." The American Foundation for the Blind has a web page for consumers, Cell Phones, Tablets, and Other Mobile Technology for Users with Visual Impairments.
My name is Rick and I am legally blind. I use Braille or a screen reader on a computer to access printed or electronic information. This quarter, one of my sociology courses has a number of required articles on electronic library reserve.
When I opened the electronic documents, my screen reader could not read them. The format was incompatible with my screen reading software, and I was therefore unable to access the library reserve articles.
My name is Maria and I am a distance learning instructor at a community college. A student who is blind enrolled in my course and told me that some of the content was inaccessible.
Specifically, the student pointed out that some course content was embedded in graphics images that she could not access using her text-to-speech system.
I added text descriptions for all of the graphics images in my course.
This case demonstrates the following:
My name is Imke. I am a blind graduate student in atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington. I use a refreshable Braille display to access text that appears on a computer screen.
Some data I use for my research are available on the web page of the Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and Ocean (JISAO). The site includes plots of various climate indices that are not accessible to me, since neither refreshable Braille displays nor speech synthesizers are capable of reproducing graphics.
Since each student's accommodation needs are unique and students are often most knowledgeable about what accommodations work for them, be sure to talk with students about what accommodations they might need.
Some specific science lab accommodations that might be useful to a student who is blind include the following:
MathML (Mathematical Markup Language) is an industry standard adopted by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) as the approved way of expressing math on the web. Like the more familiar HyperText Markup Language (HTML), which sets the standard for web browsers to display literary text, MathML is an international open standard for encoding math content. MathML is needed because HTML has no means of marking up mathematical expressions. Using MathML provides the highest level of accessibility to math within digital documents.
Orientation and mobility (O & M) specialists work with individuals with visual impairments to help them learn how to safely navigate their environment. On a postsecondary campus, an O & M specialist could help an individual plan campus routes, apply techniques for safe indoor and outdoor mobility, and analyze intersections and traffic patterns. These services are typically available through state agencies that coordinate services for people who are blind.
