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Thursday 11 October 2018

One in five people over 65 has a sight impairment – and ‘little’ things like cluttered floors, small print and low lighting are making working life a lot harder for them, a local charity has said.

Those problems were just a few spotted by Eyecan, who are pushing for change on World Sight Day today.

The charity recently launched a scheme that accredits businesses for good practice alongside the introduction of the disability discrimination law, and they hope they will get as many as 20 on board over the next year.

“One in five people over the age of 65 has sight loss and this ratio increases significantly with age. Businesses are highly likely to encounter a member of staff, customer, or client who suffers from sight loss or impairment,” Jane Vincent (pictured), Operations Director for the charity said. 

She added that the scheme aimed to give people with sight problems more “confidence that their additional needs can be catered for and met by that organisation.”

Pictured: People living with Macular Degeneration (left) or Retinis Pigmentosa (right) can find it hard to navigate uneven places or those with low lighting.

Law At Work were the first local business to sign up to the scheme, and received a set of recommendations earlier this week. 

Speaking of the adjustments they had to make, Duncan de Gruchy, Operations Manager commented that they were “at very little cost to the business, but which could have a positive impact upon members of the community.

“We are looking forward to the training being offered by EYECAN which will further enhance our employee’s knowledge and understanding of the problems associated with sight loss,” he added.

Now the charity has compiled a set of simple and cheap tips to make things more accessible at work for those with sight impairments, which they shared with Express.

How to make life easier for sight-impaired people at work...

• Good quality and consistent lighting levels: providing good quality and consistent lighting can enable a person to navigate more independently while not having to allow time for their eyes to adjust between areas.

• Clear contrast: providing clear contrast can enable a person to access written content within publications or documents more easily and at times completely independently.

• Clear signage: it allows a person to independently access their environment without having to ask for additional support.

• Having a clear floor policy: keeping floors clear of clutter and defined routes through office spaces ensures that people are able to move through the office space safely without support.

• Accessible options on the company’s website: enabling accessibility functions can be incredibly simple and can increase the content’s reach to more people who may not have been able to in the past.