Share via

Blindness (sightlessness)

  • Article

A lack of, or loss of, ability to see.

A complete absence of sight often requires different approaches for accessibility-related barriers and facilitators than partial sight or decreased acuity does. A person who can’t receive visual information from their environment must use other senses such as hearing and touch during their experience with technology. Because of this, the quality of auditory and tactile information provided during an experience is instrumental in helping a user without sight succeed.

Sightlessness can be present at birth or it can occur at any point in life.

Barriers

  • Experiences that require sight to navigate​
  • Experiences that don’t provide sound or tactile indications (or other nonvisual output information)​

Facilitators

  • Buttons, ports, and access points that are easily discernible by touch​
  • Support for alternative methods of input that don’t rely on vision (such as voice, braille, touch)​
  • Device output that doesn’t rely on vision (for example, Narrator and other screen reading software, touch)​

Examples

A screenshot showing a person with dark glasses sliding their hand over smooth plastic wrap on a tablet. Their guide dog sleeps in the background.

BARRIER — The plastic wrap on this new device only provides visual cues, such as arrows inked onto the wrap, to guide the user on removing it.

Screenshot showing a person with dark glasses smiles as they grab an extending tab on the plastic wrap of their tablet. They are pulling the wrap off and looking confident.

FACILITATOR — By providing information in multiple ways, such as tactile cues in the form of a large pull tab, someone can more easily navigate through the unpackaging experience.

 

The purpose of this reference is to provide concepts people can use to document and discuss aspects of function. Design should happen with people with disabilities, this reference is meant to support that activity, not replace it.