The term blindness is sometimes used interchangeably with the term sightless. However, individuals who identify as blind, are considered functionally blind, or who meet the legal definition of blindness vary in terms of what they are able to perceive using their eyes. Generally, however an individual who is considered or who identifies as blind has significantly limited vision in both eyes. Depending on the age of onset, progression and underlying causes of blindness, individuals may use a variety of adaptive techniques and assistive technology to perform every day and workplace tasks. Typical accommodations needs include accommodations related to: getting to and from work, on the job travel, getting around the workplace, accessing information, using computers and other equipment, working around vehicles or heavy machinery, emergency preparedness, and use of service animals.
A person who performs certain job-related tasks for a person with a disability to help overcome limitations resulting from the disability. Examples include a page turner for a person who has no hands, or a travel attendant to act as a sighted guide to assist a blind employee on work-related travel. WPAS may include personal care-related assistance such as helping an employee to access the restroom, eat or drink at work, or travel for business purposes.
Amazon.com, Inc.
American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.
Overflow Biz Inc.
Reizen Inc.
A computer Braille display operates by raising and lowering different combinations of pins electronically to produce in Braille what appears on your computer screen. The display is refreshable meaning that the configuration of Braille changes continuously as the user moves around on the screen. The Braille display sits on the user's desk, often underneath the computer keyboard. Braille displays provide direct access to information on the computer screen and is quiet.
Freedom Scientific, Inc.
HIMS, Inc.
Allows users to make phone calls and hold conversations using the hardware available from their computer.
Database Systems Corp.
Tactile warning surfaces that can alert visually impaired pedestrians.
Employees who experience limitations in concentration may need a flexible schedule in order to work optimally during hours of increased attentiveness. Flexible schedules can also be used to have a period of mental rest in order to refocus and reorient into his/her work. Examples of a flexible schedule would be adjusting starting and ending times of the workday, combining regularly scheduled breaks to create one extended break or dividing large breaks into smaller segments, and allowing work to be completed during hours when the employee is most mentally alert.
Many workplaces are now using computer based telephone applications and as a result, computer headsets are needed to perform job tasks. There are a number of computer headset products to investigate, including analog computer headsets, USB headsets and amplifiers, and VoIP computer headsets. Most all of these products offer volume and mute control, and noise canceling technology. Contact the following companies for details regarding the products they offer and for assistance selecting a product that meets the demands of the job and the needs of the employee.
Plantronics, Inc.
Job restructuring is a form of reasonable accommodation which enables many qualified individuals with disabilities to perform jobs effectively. Job restructuring as a reasonable accommodation may involve reallocating or redistributing the marginal functions of a job. However, an employer is not required to reallocate essential functions of a job as a reasonable accommodation. Essential functions, by definition, are those that a qualified individual must perform, with or without an accommodation. An employer may exchange marginal functions of a job that cannot be performed by a person with a disability for marginal job functions performed by one or more other employees. Although an employer is not required to reallocate essential job functions, it may be a reasonable accommodation to modify the essential functions of a job by changing when or how they are done.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology allows people with a vision impairment to scan printed text and receive a synthetic speech output or save it to a computer. Currently, OCR technology cannot convert handwriting to voice output.Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has three factors: scanning, recognition, and reading text. First a camera scans the printed document. Next, OCR software converts the image into recognizable characters/words. Then the user can store the information in electronic form to a computer or the OCR system itself.
ABiSee, Inc.
Amazon.com, Inc.
Beyond Sight, Inc.
Dolphin Computer Access Ltd.
Freedom Scientific, Inc.
Guerilla Technologies Inc.
HIMS, Inc.
I.R.I.S., Inc.
Optelec US, Inc.
OrCam Inc.
A reader is someone who can read out loud from hardcopy material or from a computer screen for an employee who is unable to read because of a disability. There are no national standards or accreditation for a reader, but the reader must be qualified to read at the required level. A reader does not interpret the information, but may need specialized knowledge, for example to pronounce technical words correctly so the employee with the disability can understand the information. A reader is often used for testing situations when a job applicant cannot read the test. Because they help with work-related functions, it is typically the employer’s responsibility to hire and pay for readers.
Cut down on individual travelling and gas money by organizing with co-worers and friends to take a single vehicle to and from work on an efficient route.
Screen Reading Software can be installed on a computer to allow text to be converted into computer synthesized speech. With this software, the computer basically reads aloud the text that appears on the screen. The hardware that provides the actual "voice output" is a speech synthesizer. This can be an internal sound card or an external speech synthesizer device. The screen reading software “tells” the speech synthesizer what to say.
Beyond Sight, Inc.
Design Science, Inc.
Dolphin Computer Access Ltd.
Freedom Scientific, Inc.
GW Micro, Inc.
Serotek Corp.
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, Inc.
For individuals with vision impairment, these products help to give information through touch. Some overlays for keyboards can add braille symbols to keys for blind typists. Some special markers use a unique quick-drying ink that can create free-form dots and lines and cn be applied on many different surfaces.
Commercial bar code readers that can read out products scanned in a synthetic voice to assist low-vision users.
Compusult Systems Inc.
En-Vision America, Inc.
Cash registers for commercial businesses that have synthetic voices for vision impaired individuals.
Devices that scan an object and inform the user of the color of the object for vision-impaired individuls.
American Printing House for the Blind, Inc.
Brytech Inc.
A credit card reader device that speaks with a pre-recorded voice with instructions and confirmation for low-vision customers and employees.
Devices that can scan dollar bills and relate their value to vision impaired individuals so they can keep their money in order.
Beyond Sight, Inc.
Brytech Inc.
OrCam Inc.
A telephone light sensor can be held over a line to indicate if a line is lit steady or blinking. Line status is signified through audible or vibration.
Beyond Sight, Inc.
Telework, within certain fields, can be an excellent alternative for employees who have conditions that make it difficult for them to leave their home or reliably travel to a place of work. Employers should consider if a job can be made compatible with telework for their employees and communicate their expectations and requirement for the job to be performed out of home. Allowing work from home during worksite or office construction; extremely hot, cold, or inclement weather; or parking renovations could be a reasonable accommodation.
Cisco Systems, Inc.
Redesigning a worksite as an accommodation can include moving a workstation closer to a break room, restroom, office equipment, or employee parking lot; duplicating work materials in a workspace; teleconferencing into meetings; having others report to the employee physically; or communicating in an alternative way (instant messaging, pager, texting, or telephone). Modifying a workspace for an employee who experiences limitations in concentration can help limit or even eliminate both auditory and visual distractions. These modifications can include relocating employees to private area away from high traffic areas, reducing clutter in the employee’s work environment, redesigning an employee’s workspace to minimize visual distractions, and providing higher cubicle walls and/or cubicle doors.
JAN provides free, confidential technical assistance about job accommodations and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
