Sight / Vision Loss Resources

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Resources

  • About Glaucoma from the BrightFocus Foundation. Learn about some of the promising areas of glaucoma research that we are currently funding. BrightFocus Foundation is a nonprofit organization supporting research and providing public education to help eradicate brain and eye diseases, including Alzheimer's disease, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. We are working to save mind and sight.
  • ADA Guide for Places of Lodging: Serving Guests Who Are Blind Or Who Have Low Vision
  • All About Vision provides patient information about vision
  • American Council of the Blind The American Council of the Blind (ACB) was founded in 1961 but many of its state affiliates and local chapters have a history that can be traced back to the 1880s. Since its inception, ACB and its affiliates have been at the forefront of the creation of policies that have shaped the opportunities that are now available to people with disabilities in our country. ACB has also effectively collaborated with Vision Rehabilitation Service providers to develop the principles and values that should be at the heart of providing adjustment and placement services to people who are blind.
  • American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) As a national nonprofit with offices in five U.S. cities, the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) is a leader in expanding possibilities for the more than 20 million Americans living with vision loss. We champion access and equality, and stand at the forefront of new technologies. Our award-winning programs directly address the most pressing needs of people with vision loss and their families. Like Helen Keller, AFB's most famous ambassador, we are committed to creating a more equitable world for people with disabilities. From infancy to education, career, and retirement, AFB is there to help at every stage of life.
  • American Printing House for the Blind The American Printing House for the Blind (APH) is the world's largest nonprofit organization creating educational, workplace, and independent living products and services for people who are visually impaired.
  • Armor-Tile provides detectable warning and wayfinding solutions for the visually impaired.
  • "Bibliography for Performance Systems Technology (PST) and Computer-based Instruction (CBI)" published in the ACM SIGDOC Journal of Computer Documentation (JCD) [The JCD is no longer being produced. ACM SIGDOC members are able to get copies of archived journals.]
  • Blindness and vision impairment Fact Sheet from the World Health Organization (WHO)
  • Blindness and Visual Impairment Resources Lensshopper.com is an independent information website about contact lenses, not affiliated with any retailer or distributor.
  • Canadian National Institute for the Blind
  • Charles Bonnet Syndrome Foundation for phantom vision
  • Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind (Washington, DC). Since 1900, Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind has been dedicated to helping the blind or visually impaired population of the greater Washington region overcome the challenges of vision loss. Our work enables people of all ages who are blind or visually impaired to remain independent, active and productive in society. Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind's (CLB) programs and services include training and consultation in assistive technology, employment marketing skills training, career placement services, comprehensive low vision care, and a wide range of counseling and rehabilitation services.
  • Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness is the essential professional resource for information about visual impairment. The international peer-reviewed journal of record in the field, it delivers current research and best practice information, commentary from experts on critical topics, news, and events.
  • Leber Congenital Amaurosis, Type I; LCA1 (congenital retinal blindness) from the Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) database, Johns Hopkins University. Leber congenital amaurosis comprises a group of early-onset childhood retinal dystrophies characterized by vision loss, nystagmus, and severe retinal dysfunction. Patients usually present at birth with profound vision loss and pendular nystagmus. Electroretinogram (ERG) responses are usually nonrecordable. Other clinical findings may include high hypermetropia, photodysphoria, oculodigital sign, keratoconus, cataracts, and a variable appearance to the fundus (summary by Chung and Traboulsi, 2009).
  • Lighthouse International Lighthouse International "is a leading non-profit organization that helps people of all ages who are at risk for, or are experiencing, vision loss."
  • Media Access Group at WGBH develops and distributes captioning, video description, and MoPix means of access to movies and television for viewers who are deaf or hard of hearing
  • National Captioning Institute provides services to deaf, hard of hearing and other people who, for whatever reason, wherever situated and irrespective of their economic conditions, are limited in their ability to participate fully in the world of communications, heard, seen or written.
  • National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) of CPB/WGBH is a research and development facility dedicated to the issues of media and information technology for people with disabilities in their homes, schools, workplaces, and communities.
  • National Federation of the Blind
  • NIH National Eye Health Education Program For more than 50 years, the National Eye Institute (NEI) has been on the front lines of vision research— and we continue to support cutting-edge research projects that investigate new ways to prevent, treat, or even reverse vision loss. We also work hard to help the public learn about vision problems and how to keep their eyes healthy.
  • The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled administers a free national library program that provides braille and recorded materials to people who cannot see regular print or handle print materials. Established by an Act of Congress in 1931 to serve blind adults, the program was expanded in 1952 to include children, in 1962 to provide music materials, in 1966 to include individuals with other physical disabilities that prevent reading regular print, and in 2016 to permit NLS to provide refreshable braille displays. The NLS program is funded annually by Congress, and books and materials are mailed as "Free Matter for the Blind or Handicapped" through a separate appropriation to the United States Postal Service. Cooperating network libraries are funded through a combination of state, local, and/or federal sources.  Updated
    • Informational Publications. Explore the variety of NLS publications on issues related to blindness, visual impairment, or physical disabilities, as well as compilations of current resources on many topics of interest to NLS patrons and those who provide services to them. Ask a Librarian can help answer questions related to these NLS publication as well as NLS service.
    • Screen Readers  New
    • Ray Charles Foundation Establishes Neurosurgery ScholarshipThe Ray Charles Foundation has made an investment in the future, donating $1 million to fund a new neurosurgery scholarship program at Cedars-Sinai.
    • Video Gaming Accessibility Updated
  • VisionAware – Resources for Independent Living with Vision Loss
  • Vision Australia – blindness and low vision services in Australia. A comprehensive site with many useful resources.
  • Visual Disabilities from WebAIM describes the types of vision disabilities: blindness, color-blindness, and low vision.
  • Vision Rehabilitation: Helping People with Low Vision (.pdf), NIH National Eye Health Education Program.

Magazines and Periodicals

  • Ability Magazine
  • Access World® from the American Foundation for the Blind
  • Accessible Gaming Quarterly. Accessible Gaming Quarterly is a zine devoted to accessibility and disability within the tabletop RPG space. Each issue features articles and art by disabled contributors, but the zine isn't only for people with disabilities. It's full of articles designed to bring together disabled and non-disabled gamers alike.  New
  • Acupuncture in Medicine
  • ADDitude is a resource for people with ADD or AD/HD or people who have children with ADD or AD/HD
  • FOCUS on AFB newsletter of the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)
  • Arthritis Today Magazine
  • Trends in Biotechnology
  • Blind Skills Dialogue Magazine. A World of Ideas for Visually Impaired People of All Ages.
  • Careers & the DisABLED magazine
  • Currents in Electronic Literacy an electronic journal for the scholarly discussion of issues pertaining to electronic literacy such as the use of electronic texts and technologies in reading, writing, teaching, and learning in fields including but not restricted to: literature (in English and in other languages), rhetoric and composition, languages (English, foreign, or ESL), communications, media studies, and education.
  • Current Orthopaedic Practice – A Review and Research Journal aims to help clinicians and researchers keep up-to-date in a systematic way with the vast amount of information published in orthopaedics.
  • Disability and Rehability: Assistive Technology journal
  • Disabled Dealer Magazine
  • Disability Horizons — Giving You a Voice. Disability Horizons magazine is an online disability lifestyle publication that aims to give disabled people a voice. Founded by two disabled guys in 2011, Disability Horizons publishes articles on a wide variety of topics, all to support the aim of a world where disabled people live exactly as they choose to. You can sign up for our newsletter to get all our articles directly to your inbox, along with our Ultimate Disability Survival guide. All articles are sourced directly from our community of readers, making Disability Horizons a lifestyle publication about disabled people, for disabled people. Articles span topics from technology, relationships, sports, employment and travel.  New
  • Disability News and Information Service (DNIS), a fortnightly news service on the Indian disability sector. DNIS is maintained by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (NCPEDP). NCPEDP is a cross-disability, non-profit organization, working as an interface between the government, industry, international agencies, and the voluntary sector towards the empowerment of persons with disabilities. [India]  New
  • Disability World Bimonthly e-magazine dedicated to advancing an exchange of information and research about the international independent living movement of people with disabilities.
  • Disability Studies Quarterly (DSQ)
  • DownSyndromeToday magazine for families, by families.
  • e-Access Bulletin Live collects content from e-Access Bulletin, a free, monthly, text-only email newsletter on digital accessibility, assistive technology, and technology access by those with disabilities and older people.
  • Exceptional Parent Magazine
  • Harvard Health Reports over fifty subjects.
  • Harvard Health Online
  • Harvard Health Newsletter
  • Harvard Heart Letter
  • Inclusion Daily Express their mission is to provide disability advocates with the most up-to-date news, information and commentary about community inclusion, self-determination and disability rights, in a way that saves time and is easy to use.
  • Irked Magazine, founded by Sacha Vais in 2005, was committed to the basic idea that people improve when they know someone is paying attention. Founded by an agoraphobe¹, Irked was published in print and then online by three young writers who solicited stories from a large variety of writers. It ended publication in 2014. Here is how they attracted input: [Canada]

    Irked provides an outlet for the silent emotions to which we wish to give voice. We think that in each of us lies an artist, and that in each of us lies a story that is dying to be told…We believe that people everywhere can become less sad, or worried, or angry, or violent, or self-destructive simply by being given a forum to publish their work, and the dignity that comes with that sort of thing. We're interested in your story. Write about what propels you. Take photographs on your worst day. Make a documentary about how you are coping with the treacherous terrain that is your life.

  • Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JB&JS), American volume
  • Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine (JCSM) is the official peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine.
  • Journal of Sleep Research
  • Journal Sleep SLEEP® is a peer-reviewed, international journal of sleep and circadian science, and is the official publication of the Sleep Research Society (SRS).
  • Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness is the essential professional resource for information about visual impairment. The international peer-reviewed journal of record in the field, it delivers current research and best practice information, commentary from experts on critical topics, news, and events.
  • Lupus Living™ magazine
  • Masters Track and Field News (formerly GeezerJock) covers the new and active way of growing old in America. No longer are people settling for shuffleboard. Or mall walking. Or deep knee bends. They are running track, playing baseball – yes, hardball! – and even surfing well into their 60s and beyond. In print and online, Masters Athlete celebrates the regenerative power of sports, activity and competition.
  • National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) at the University of Minnesota.
  • Trends in Neurosciences
  • Paraplegia News (PN) magazine for better wheelchair living
  • Review of Disability Studies (RDS)  Updated
  • Sleep and Biological Rhythms English language journal of the Japanese Society of Sleep Research
  • Speech Technology Magazine
  • Sports Medicine: In the Game patient newsletter
  • Sports ‘n Spokes is a sports and recreation online media source for people living with spinal cord injury and disease, spina bifida, MS and amputations. Our primary mission is reporting adaptive sports news, feature stories and recreation and lifestyle content through rich photos, video and compelling content.
  • The Physician and Sportsmedicine Online is a peer-reviewed monthly journal serving the practicing physician's professional and personal interests in the medical aspects of exercise, sports, and fitness.
  • Trends in Cognitive Sciences
  • Vision is an international scientific peer-reviewed open access journal on vision published quarterly online by the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI).
  • Your Health Magazine health education articles

1. Agoraphobia definition: anxiety or abnormal fear that there's no easy way to escape a situation or get help, or fear of being in a situation from which escape may be embarrassing. Most people develop agoraphobia after having one or more such panic attacks causing them to worry about having another attack and to avoid places where it may happen again such as open spaces, crowded places, public transit, shopping centers, or simply being outside their home.