INTRODUCTION

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DID YOU KNOW THE EYE CHART ON YOUR DOCTOR'S WALL WAS DEVELOPED NEARLY A CENTURY AGO? THERE IS NO EYE CHART WHEN LOW VISION MEETS COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AND SCREEN IMAGES.

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS WRITTEN TO INTRODUCE LOW VISION INDIVIDUALS TO THE WORLD OF ADAPTIVE COMPUTER ASSIST TECHNOLOGY. FIRST TIME "USERS" AS THEY EXPLORE THE WORLD THROUGH ADAPTIVE COMPUTING. AS THIS DISCUSSION WILL NOTE, THERE IS NEED FOR DEVELOPMENT OF A COMPUTER ACCESSABE "SCREEN SIGHT EVALUATION" TOOL. NOT TO PRESCRIBE, BUT TO "ADVISE". IT IS HOPED THAT THROUGH YOUR EFFORTS THIS ARTICLE WILL BE BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMERS, DEVELOPERS, OPTOMOLOGISTS, OPTOMETRISTS, AND OTHER ALLIED "VISION" PROFESSIONALS.

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FACTORS AND CONTROLS FOR LOW VISION

OVERVIEW

KNOW YOUR "FACTORS" AND FIND YOUR CONTROLS
WHEN LOOKING AT A COMPUTER SCREEN ENVIRONMENT

EXTERNAL FACTORS TO CONTROL:

• AREA [ROOM] LIGHT CONTROL
• WORK [DESK/SPACE LIGHT] CONTROL
• REFLECTIVE SURFACES
• DIRECTED LIGHT SOURCES
• KEYBOARD LIGHT CONTROL
• DISTANCE TO SCREEN SIZE

A. GET YOUR ROOM AREA LIGHT SOURCES UNDER YOUR CONTROL:

1. WINDOW SHADES
   
2. INDIVIDUAL LAMP/LIGHT DIMMER SWITCHES

B. PUT LIGHT WHERE YOU NEED IT ... AND WHEN YOU WANT IT:

1. HIGH INTENSITY "PENCIL" SPOT LAMPS,
   WITH DIMMER SWITCHES, TO ILLUMINATE
   IMMEDIATE WORK RELATED OBJECTS.

2. METAL SHADED "PIANO", "PICTURE FRAME",
   OR "BRIDGE-TYPE" LAMPS, WITH DIMMER SWITCH FOR
   KEYBOARD ILLUMINATION.

C. POSITIONING YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN. SCREEN POSITION IS FIRST A QUESTION OF FUNCTION. THEN, A QUESTION OF "EYE STRAIN".

1. IF YOU CAN'T SEE ALL:
   CAN YOU GET CLOSE ENOUGH TO SEE SOME?

2. IF THIS "WORKS" AT ALL:
   YOU EXPANDED YOUR OPTIONS OF CHOICE.

D. TOO MUCH LIGHT, BUT NOT ENOUGH TO SEE. ARE YOU LIVING IN A "FOG BANK"? FURTHER CONTROL YOUR EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

1. COVER LIGHT COLORED AND REFLECTIVE SURFACES.
   USE COLOR AND LIGHT FILTERS:

2. EXTERNAL COLOR FILTERS, AND COLOR SPECTRUM CONTROL MAY OVERCOME YOUR ENTERNAL "FOG".

1. TRY NON-GLARE & TINTED TEXT PAGE COVERS AS COLOR AND LIGHT FILTERS OVER PRINTED PAGES.

2. FINE NYLON MESH STRETCHED
   IN A PICTURE FRAME
   MAKES AN ANTI-GLARE SCREEN.

3. TRY TINTED LENS, GLASSES
   AS COLOR AND LIGHT FILTERS.

4. TRY POLARIZED LENS, GLASSES AS COLOR
   AND LIGHT FILTERS.

5. IF SUCCESSFUL, COLOR YOUR IMMEDIATE
   WORKAREA SURFACE WITH COLORS
   YOU SEE BEST.

1. SCREEN MONITOR "HOODS"
   HOMEMADE OR COMMERCIAL SCREEN HOODS SHIELD THE SCREEN FROM ROOM LIGHT.

2. EXTERNAL SCREEN MAGNIFICATION "LENS":
   COMMERCIAL SCREEN MAGNIFICATION LENS ATTACH TO THE MONITOR. HOMEMADE SCREEN MAGNIFICATION LENS CAN BE SUSPENDED INSIDE HOMEMADE SCREEN MONITOR HOODS FOR ADJUSTABLE MAGNIFICATION.

3. ADJUSTABLE EXTERNAL SCREEN MAGNIFICATION:
   CAN ENHANCE THE IMAGE OF A 14 Inch MONITOR
   TO EQUAL THE IMAGE OF AN 18 Inch MONITOR.

TO ENTERNALLY MAGNIFY SCREEN IMAGES THE COMPUTER MUST HAVE GRAPHIC CAPABILITY. OLDER GENERIC MONOCHROME PC'S MAY NOT BE ABLE TO FUNCTION WITH GRAPHICS. IT IS THE GRAPHIC CAPABILITY THAT ALLOWS FULL FUNCTION SCREEN MAGNIFICATION SOFTWARE TO WORK.

FIRST LET US TALK ABOUT WHAT YOUR COMPUTER'S MS DOS SYSTEM CAN DO FOR YOU, AND WHAT YOU CAN DO TO ENHANCE THESE MS DOS CAPABILITIES WITH SIMPLE UTILITIES.

1. DOS "MODE" COMMANDS:
   SCREEN MODE 80 ... NORMAL TEXT SIZE
   SCREEN MODE 40 ... 2X TEXT SIZE
   SCREEN "MODE" MONO ... MONOCROME

2. 40 X 12 SCREEN UTILITY:
   SCREEN MODE 40X12 ... 2X4X TEXT SIZE

3. COLORSET.COM ... DOS SCREEN COLOR
   BACKGROUND AND FOREGROUND TEXT COLOR
   UTILITY.

4. MOUSEKEY.COM ... ENABLES MOUSE IN
   OPEN DOS ENVIRONMENT
   ... TURNS MOUSE ON UTILITY.

5. CTYPE.COM ... ENHANCED DOS MOUSE CURSOR SIZE UTILITY.

6. METAMOUSE ... ENHANCED WINDOWS MOUSE CURSOR SIZE PROGRAM.

1. PASSIVE SCREEN MAGNIFIERS ...

   FREEZE THE SCREEN TO MAGNIFY THE IMAGE.
   HALTING AND HOLDING RUNNING APPLICATION PROGRAMS.
   NO KEYBOARD INPUT TO THE SCREEN DURING MAGNIFICATION.

2. ACTIVE SCREEN MAGNIFIERS ...

   MAGNIFIES THE SCREEN IMAGE WITHOUT FREEZING
   KEYBOARD INPUT OR HALTING RUNNING APPLICATION PROGRAMS.

3. APPLICATION SPECIFIC SCREEN MAGNIFIERS ...

   "ACTIVELY" MAGNIFY THE SCREEN IMAGE OF A SPECIFIC APPLICATION [WORD PROCESSOR OR SPREAD SHEET] WITHOUT HALTING OR HOLDING THE "HOST" PROGRAM.

ARE YOU LOST IN A SEA-OF-COLORS WHEN COLORED SCREEN GRAPHICS COME UP ON SCREEN?

DO BRIGHT, WHITE, GRAY, OR BLUE, SCREEN BACKGROUNDS GIVE YOU VISION-WASH-OUT?

THE SOLUTION IS SIMPLE. REACHING THE SOLUTION CAN BE DIFFICULT. WARNING! THE FOLLOWING ARE THINGS TO DO, AND THINGS TO HAVE DONE, BEFORE YOU REACH TO CHANGE THE MONITOR'S EXTERNAL CONTROL PANEL.

THE FOLLOWING ARE GENERIC OPTIONS WHEN WORKING IN MS DOS AND MS WINDOWS ENVIRONMENTS:

1. GET AN ENTERNAL COLOR CONTROLLER
   [COLORSET AND SPECTRUM FOR DOS].

2. GET TO AN ENTERNAL COLOR CONTROL
   LOOK INSIDE YOUR PROGRAM APPLICATION.
   [FOR MS WINDOWS GO TO "MAIN", GO TO
   "CONTROL PANEL", THEN GO TO "COLOR".]

3. IF IN COLOR ... GO TO MONOCROME
   THEN CONTROL THE COLOR.

4. NO LUCK, GET HELP!

1. USE A COLOR CONTROL TO CHANGE, SET, OR PRE-SET:
   • BACKGROUND TO BLACK.
     
   • TEXT TO A "SEE-ABLE" COLOR.
     
   • TURN-OFF OR TURN-DOWN PASTEL COLOR.
     
   • TURN-OFF OR TURN-DOWN DESIGN BORDERS.

     
     

2. IF YOU CAN'T LIVE WITH A COLOR; GET RID-OF-IT!

3. IF AVAILABLE, USE BORDER OUTLINE "HIGHLIGHTS" TO OUTLINE WHERE THE PASTEL COLORED BORDERS WERE TURNED-OFF.

4. USE HIGHLIGHT COLORS YOU SEE THE BEST.
   SCREEN "OBJECTS" [BUTTONS, TOOLS, WORK AREAS AND DRAG AREAS NEED TO BE SEEN.]

5. IF AVAILABLE, CHANGE "SHADOW" AND OUTLINE COLORS TO HIGHLIGHT COLORS [SEE ABOVE]. CHANGE "OBJECT" SURFACE COLORS. TRY DARK BUTTONS WITH BRIGHT LETTERING OR DESIGNS.

6. IN LARGE WORK AREA BACKGROUNDS USE BLACK AND/OR DARK BLUE WITH SEE-ABLE HIGHLIGHT BORDERS.

7. WHEN USING BLACK AND DARK BLUE BACKGROUNDS FOR TEXT WORK AREAS:
   • USE A TEXT COLOR YOU CAN SEE.
     
   • USE A TEXT COLOR YOU CAN LIVE WITH!
     
   • INCREASE SCREEN FONT SIZE.
     
   • USE "BOLD" TYPE FRONTS.
     
   • USE WORD-WRAP OPTION [if available]

8. USE ANOTHER COLOR FOR TEXT HIGHLIGHTING
   ... DO NOT RELY ON "BRIGHTNESS".

9. USE A LIGHTBAR [BACKGROUND] COLOR
   THAT ALLOWS THE TEXT TO SHOW THROUGH.

10. WHEN IMPORTING AND WORKING WITH
    GRAPHICS, PICTURES; YOU MAY NOT BE
    ABLE TO"PASTE OR PAINT" ON A BLACK
    BACKGROUD.

11. INKJET AND LASERJET PRINTERS MAY
    PRODUCE "NEGATIVE" PAGE TEXT AND
    IMAGES WITH A BLACK BACKGROUND
    SCREEN SETTING.

COLOR SCREENS STILL MAKE BETTER PICTURES. LOOKING DOWN A TUNNEL? WHEN VISUAL FIELD IS THE PROBLEM. ONLY SEEING CLEARLY IN A SPOT, SPACE, OR PLACE. GETTING CLOSER TO BIGGER SCREENS, WITH BIGGER IMAGES, MAY ONLY OFFER LARGER SCREEN AREAS TO GET LOST IN.

1. MOVING BACK FROM A SMALLER SCREEN WITH SMALLER
   IMAGES IS A BETTER "TARGET" FOR FIELD GLASS TYPE
   MAGNIFICATION. THE LARGER FRONT FIELD GLASS LENS WILL GATHER AND MAGNIFY THE DISTANT [SMALLER] SCREEN IMAGE THEN DELIVER IT DIRECTLY TO THE EYE THROUGH A SMALLER REAR LENS, PROJECTING "THE BIG PICTURE" INTO AN AREA OR SPOT WHERE YOUR EYE SEES BEST.

2. FIELD GLASS TYPE MAGNIFIERS COME IN EYE-GLASS FRAMES,
   FOR BOTH MONOCULAR [ONE EYE] AND BIOCULAR [TWO EYES].

WHEN SELECTING FIELD GLASS TYPE MAGNIFIERS THE IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION IS NOT JUST MAGNIFICATION "POWER":

• A LARGE FRONT [OBJECTIVE] LENS GATHERS MORE LIGHT.

• MAGNIFICATION NEEDS TO FOCUS DOWN TO 2.5 FEET [OR LESS] WHICH IS THE DISTANCE BETWEEN YOU EYE AND YOUR KEYBOARD AND MONITOR.

• ON A 7 X3 5 "FLEXIBLE FOCUS" FIELD GLASS MAGNIFIER AN ADDITIONAL 3 X "CLOSE-UP" LENS SHOULD FUNCTION AT 2.5 FEET.

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