Count My Vote! Accessibility and Elections

Posted by admin Filed in Vision on Tuesday, August 18th 2009

Welcome back!

Visually impaired people can be excluded from the profusion of print information offered from candidates and political parties in preparation for an election. However there are many things you can do to get in touch with visually impaired people to make sure that they receive the information from you which they need.

Offer to help people fill in the form as it is not available in large print, tape or braille. People who are registered blind or in receipt of Mobility Allowance don’t need the form countersigned, but people with other mobility problems need the form signed by a GP, Nurse, or Christian Science practitioner. If they are living in special accommodation, the form can be signed by the Head of a residential home or warden of sheltered housing.

Blind and partially sighted people need the same kind of information as anyone else if they are to participate fully in society. They face barriers and tasks everydat, but one of the most frustrating is not being able to access printed information. Imagine waking in the morning to the sound of the post dropping onto your doormat, and knowing that it could be days till you get to know its contents. Lack of access to personal letters, financial documents, confidential papers, bills and statements and council tax demands cause frustration and inconvenience on a daily basis. Products for macular degeneration and other low vision aids have helped give knew life for the visually impaired in the past decade. So there is hope and much anticipation for what is to come in technology.

During a general election visually impaired people can be excluded from the plethora of information that most voters will have at their disposal to make their final decision. Communication from candidates and political parties will have to be targeted to blind and partially sighted people who will probably miss out on standard publicity via newspapers, flyers and letters. Voting independently is not possible either since postal/proxy forms and the ballot paper are only available in print. Please refer to the section on Accessible Elections to find out what you can do to help.

How to get more information - Ask your Eye MD for a Low vision Specialist. Low vision specialists are licensed doctors of optometry who are trained in the examination and management of patients with visual impairments. A few of them are ophthalmologists with additional training in low vision care. Their services do not offer a cure for the causes of low vision, but they do help the patient learn how to utilize their remaining vision to its fullest potential. Low vision care does not replace the possible need for other treatments such as laser, medication, and surgery.

What are low vision products? - The most common low vision aid for reading is called a Desktop Video Magnifier. These low vision products feature a camera mounted over a tray on which the material to be magnified is placed. Some have a built-in monitor and are known as “stand-alone” magnifiers. Others are designed to connect to a television or personal computer.

Low Vision Specialist

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/vision-articles/count-my-vote-accessibility-and-elections-1130007.html

Novelties: Better Vision, With a Telescope Inside the Eye (nytimes.com)
Omega 3 oils could help cut age-related macular degeneration risk (eye.taragana.net)
Patients being put at risk by inclusion of cancer drug in BC treatment program for treatment of wet age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), says Canadian Council of the Blind (newswire.ca)
Dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) can be treated by Acucela’s visual cycle modulator ACU-4429 (eye.taragana.net)
Medical Study Establishes First-Ever Long-Term Benefits for Macular Degeneration Sufferers Using Macular Health Vitamin Supplement (newswire.ca)
Sandra Vanhooser Portfolio (slideshare.net)
Eye condition and eye disease- Know the difference (eye.taragana.net)
Raise Your Hand If You Like Sound From Websites You Visit (eyespi20.com)
Bookshare : Books for People with Disabilities (prathambooks.org)
Implantable Eye Telescope Brings Sight Back To The Blind (singularityhub.com)

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 3:34 pm and is filed under Vision. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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