Accommodating employees with visual impairments.

• Author: Davenport, Anniken

About 18.4% of all U.S. adults are visually impaired, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That means they are blind or have a great deal of difficulty seeing even when wearing prescription glasses.

The causes vary. Some visually impaired people have eye diseases like macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma or diabetic retinopathy. Others may have vision in just one eye. Some may have injured their eyes or were born blind.

Visual impairments and related limitations may qualify as disabilities under the ADA and require reasonable accommodations.

Not everyone who has difficulty seeing is disabled. If eyeglasses largely correct mild impairments such as near-sightedness, the person is not disabled. However, someone who uses more extensive corrective devices such as low-vision lenses or magnifiers may be disabled. Note that their disability is assessed without the use of corrective devices, which function as accommodation tools.

New EEOC guidance

In August 2023, the EEOC issued updated guidance on accommodating visual disabilities in the workplace.

The guidance explains that the ADA bars disability discrimination and requires employers to reasonably accommodate disabled applicants and employees so they can perform the essential functions of the job. What's reasonable depends on the size of the employer, its assets and resources, and whether the requested accommodation is unduly expensive or disruptive. Blindness and less limiting visual impairments often qualify as disabilities under the ADA if they substantially impair major life activities like seeing, working and caring for oneself.

Suggested accommodations

Common accommodations for employees with visual impairments include the use of assistive technology and environmental modifications like:

* Software that converts computer text into audible words or braille

* Optical character recognition software that...