The Disabled

Yiddish for People with Disabilities

Welte Vision Sites	Enabling Web Sites	Jewish Braille Institute
Links to Vision Sites	Vision FAQs	Jewish Deaf Sites New!
Israel Blind Museum New!	Blind Museums New!	Other Deaf Sites

This webpage is meant to aid those with disabilities so that they may learn, appreciate and communicate with others the beauty of our mame-loshn. As one who is legally blind, I have not only learned how to cope with my condition, but have amassed a vast amount of resource materials for those with disabilities. It is my desire to share these resources with you through these pages. At the same time, it is meant to aid web designers in producing web sites that are user-friendly to those with disabilities.

While this page starts with information for those who might be visually or hearing impaired, it will eventually cover other areas for those who might be physically or mentally challenged. With voice recognition and mechanical device capabilities, almost anyone can operate a computer and thus communicate over the Internet. Our Pen-Pal Program will eventually match our leyeners with others who have the same disability.

Vision

If a person has 20/20 vision, it means that they can see detail from 20 feet away the same as a person with normal eyesight would see from 20 feet. When a person has 20/200 vision (also called "visual acuity"), this means that this person must move up to 20 feet to see what a person with 20/20 vision can see at 200 feet.

Legal blindness is defined as vision of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the best correction possible. One, of course, can be considered to be legally blind without glasses--there are millions of people like this in the world. The problem is when a person cannot see well enough while wearing the best optical correction possible.

> Another measure of being legally blind is having only 20 degrees of peripheral vision. Peripheral vision is defined as one's field of vision from side to side. If one fixates on a point directly in front of them at a certain distance, to what degree can they see peripherally? Normal peripheral vision is 150 degrees with one eye and 180 degrees with both eyes.

The major causes of vision loss in adults are cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and macular degeneration.

Those who are visually impaired often experience unique problems when they are doing computer work, so special ways are needed to enhance and make easier their work. Some of these needs deal with hardware, software, and the manner in which the display appears on your computer screen.

Suggestions for Visually Impaired Readers

Use "text-only" when given a choice.

Increase the font size.

Increase the contrast between text and background.

Get as large a screen as you can afford.

Last Updated: 3/29/2013
Webmaster--Philip "Fishl" Kutner
1128 Tanglewood Way,
San Mateo, CA 94403
E-mail FISHL@derbay.org Ph:
(650) 349-6946