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Vision Impairments
Here are some suggestions for better serving students with vision impairments
in your classroom. This list may not necessarily encompass all aspects of
your teaching environment. Always feel free to collaborate with the student
and the Office of Student Disability Services regarding the most appropriate
methodology for your course.
Tips for working with visually impaired students
Document Conversion
- All material presented in class should be accessible to all students (exams,
handouts, course evaluations, materials from classmates, etc.)
- If document conversion of materials presented in your classroom is a USF
recommended reasonable accommodation for the student, Student Disability Services
asks for lead time to convert the material into an accessible format. Five
working days is optimal for short documents (up to 10pp), more time is needed
for longer documents.
- Textbooks or other duplicated readers may take 4-6 weeks to convert into
an accessible format for your student. You may need to plan your lectures
and syllabus well in advance, so that we can ensure timely access for your
student.
- In the undesirable event that materials to be presented and referred to
in class can not be converted ahead of time, arrangements must be made to
convert the material for the student immediately after the class hour is complete.
Please know that this option does not give the student reasonable access and
equal opportunity within the learning environment. Your student may not be
academically penalized if materials and information was not provided in an
accessible format.
- When large print is the recommended reasonable accommodation, a range of
18-24 font size is standard. In some cases, larger may be reasonable.
Presentation in the Classroom
- verbalize everything written on the board
- identify yourself when greeting students, let them know when you are leaving,
as appropriate.
- speak directly to the student, not through a third person
- give preferential seating to visually impaired students, as needed. They
may need to be near the front of the classroom, or near a power source so
they can plug in a laptop, tape recorder or Brailler
- face the class when speaking
- describe clearly what you are writing on the blackboard, or supplementing
with power point or other visual aids
- describe graphics referred to in the classroom, as needed.
- describe what you are referring to specifically (avoid using non-specific
pronouns such as this, that, over here, etc. )
- as appropriate in group discussion, ask the student who is talking to identify
him/herself by name.
- avoid the assumption that the student is unable to successfully complete
your course due to the visual impairment.
If you have questions or are unclear about the accessibility of your material
to the student, ask the student for feedback, and contact Student Disability
Services—UC Office (415) 422-2613.
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