Summary: Visual disabilities can include blindness, low vision, color-blindness, affect one or both eyes, and be temporary or permanent. Visual disabilities can also be situational, for example, a distracted driver or experiencing a glare from the sun.
Visual Disabilities
Learn more about Visual Disabilities on the Alphabet Accessibility Academy.
Take the Visual Disabilities course
Blindness and low vision doesn't necessarily mean that a person sees nothing. A person can be legally blind but still have some vision. What matters is the quality of the image an individual perceives. Losses in central vision (the ability to see details in the center of the visual field) can make visual aspects of technology use particularly difficult.
Vision stats
768 million people worldwide are visually impaired
Source: Global Estimates of Vision Loss
More vision resources
Users with vision impairments
A deck by UXR Saige McVea, highlighting research done covering user needs and design considerations
Survey of users with low vision
An external survey by WebAIM with data from 248 participants with low vision
WebAIM Visual Disabilities
Learn more about blindness, low vision, and color-blindness with this guidance from WebAIM
Colour Blind Awareness
Website for a non-profit organization that includes resources such as factsheets, videos and training
Color Blindness 101
A deck by UXR Katie Wainwright with a competitive analysis and foundation review of research on color blindness