Low Vision

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Low vision describes any number of situations where a person has lost a significant amount of their vision, but not enough to be considered blind. It can be caused by any of a number of factors, each of which presents as a slightly different set of visual challenges. These include:

  • macular degeneration
  • glaucoma
  • diabetic retinopathy
  • retinitis pigmentosa
  • eye injuries
  • eye cancer
  • albinism
  • brain injuries
  • cataracts
  • various infections

Design Considerations

When designing for users with low vision, we need to:

Use good contrasts and a readable font size

  • Publish all information on web pages (HTML)
  • Use a combination of color, shapes, and text
  • Follow a linear, logical layout and ensure text flows and is visible when text is magnified to 200%
  • Put buttons and notifications in context.

We need to avoid:

  • Using low color contrasts and small font sizes
  • Burying information in downloads
  • Only using color to convey meaning
  • Spreading content all over a page and forcing a user to scroll horizontally when text is magnified to 200%
  • Separating actions from their context

How to design mobile app experiences for the visually impaired by Ayesha Zafar on Invision discusses steps specific to mobile interactions.

Tools

Additional resources