Vision Impairment

By participating in the Impaired Vision experience I was able to see what living with a disability is like on a daily basis.  The first task was to walk around the cub building at Washington State University while looking through a zip lock baggie, which had been folded numerous times to show you what it is like to be legally blind.  I found that while looking through the lenses that was classified as legally blind, I was unable to make out any clear distinctions, leaving only the mere shadows visible to my eye.  The second task was to wear sun glasses with lenses that made us legally blind once again where we then headed down the elevator, where I found it hard to find the correct button if any.  As we exited the elevator we made our way to the ATM.  Here I found that it was hard to find the card slot as well as find or know what buttons meant what.  The third task was to go into the library and walk down stairs.  This task I found was very challenging and somewhat scary as I was unable to see where the next step was, and these particular stairs provided somewhat more of a challenge because of their slight curvature.  All in all, I found this experience very enlightening as I didn’t know how many challenges they faced in their day to day lives, and as a designer I will work to help solve this problem.