BLIND ISN’T BLACK AND WHITE.
If your mental picture of blindness is ‘sees everything’ or ‘sees nothing’, there is a lot in between.
WHAT CAN SOMEONE SEE?
It depends on the person. Some people have no useful vision. Some see light or movement. Others can read something close up but miss what is beside them, or notice a person without recognising their face. Central and peripheral vision, clarity, contrast and sensitivity to light can all differ.
EXPLORE HOW SIGHT CAN VARY
Choose an example to see how the same café menu can look through different kinds of sight. The scene stays the same; only the effect changes.
Original
The scene as it is, sharp and unfiltered.
What can help:
These illustrations show possible visual effects. They do not recreate someone’s lived experience. Vision varies between people with the same condition.
Read all the examples
- Myopia
- One possible pattern: close things stay clear while distance blurs. What can help: Let someone move closer, take a photo to zoom, or read the detail out instead of pointing at it.
- Cataracts
- One possible pattern: haze, washed-out contrast and glare. What can help: Reduce glare where you can, keep lighting even, and give tasks a moment longer.
- Colour vision deficiency
- One possible pattern: the red and green menu labels become hard to tell apart. What can help: Back colour up with words, symbols or position, never rely on colour alone.
- Night blindness
- One possible pattern: very little gets through in low light. What can help: Give eyes time to adjust to darker spaces and offer an arm on steps or kerbs.
- Diabetic retinopathy
- One possible pattern: dark patches and floaters scattered across the field. What can help: Describe where things are rather than pointing, the patches can move and change day to day.
- Glaucoma
- One possible pattern of reduced peripheral vision: the edges fade while the centre stays clearer. What can help: Say hello and say who you are, don’t assume you’ve been seen.
- Macular degeneration
- One possible pattern: the centre blurs or disappears while the edges stay clearer. What can help: Read key details out and don’t rely on faces or eye contact being recognised.
- Double vision
- One possible pattern: a doubled, ghosted image. What can help: Offer to read details aloud and allow more time.
- Retinitis pigmentosa
- One possible pattern of reduced peripheral vision: a narrow tunnel. What can help: Stay where you can be seen and announce yourself before approaching.
- Quadrantanopia
- One possible pattern: a quarter of the visual field missing. What can help: Ask where information is easiest to see, and place it there.
- Hemianopia
- One possible pattern: half of the visual field missing. What can help: Ask which side is affected, and keep what they need within their seeing field.
‘BUT I SAW THEM USING A PHONE.’
Phones can be enlarged, spoken aloud and controlled with accessibility features. Someone might use remaining vision for a particular task and still face major barriers elsewhere. A phone is a tool, not a sight test.
‘THEY SAW ME YESTERDAY.’
Lighting, glare, fatigue, distance and the setting can change how usable someone’s vision is. Familiar places can be easier to navigate than new ones. What a person manages in one moment doesn’t cancel what they need in another.
WHAT TO TAKE WITH YOU
Believe people when they describe their sight. Ask what would help instead of testing what they can see. Give directions in clear words when asked. Let the person choose what to share.
Want to wear the question?
Explore the statements and choose a message that feels right for you.