Recommendations to help with sight loss

janer1967
janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
edited July 2024 in Talk about your impairment
Hi all

To the visually impaired out there can anyone recommend an aid or something I can use to magnify my lap top screen

I have made the screen resolution as big as I can with still being able to see a full screen . I was wondering if there was a type of screen magnifier that goes over the screen to help

I have a magnifying set of glasses but these only work very close up

Any other advise would be welcome

Comments

  • leeCal
    leeCal Online Community Member Posts: 7,537 Championing
    Just looking on amazon and searching for screen magnifier there are quite a few such things for different apparatus, ie tablet, phone, laptop etc. Perhaps one would be useful.
    ?

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=screen+magnifier+for+laptop&crid=SNUYM4SEUMG5&sprefix=Screen+mag,aps,188&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_6_10

  • janer1967
    janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
    @leeCal thanks for that I have looked on amazon b4 but dint really know what would be best 

    So I thought I would ask here to see what other people use 
  • roberttaylor570
    roberttaylor570 Online Community Member Posts: 574 Empowering
    @janer1967 I suppose I am fairly lucky.  I have had no sight in my right eye from birth and limited in the left as it does all the work. 
    Have you a local organisation such as Kent Association for the Blind?

    Other than that The RNIB will be able to advise you and may be able to supply one.

    If you are registered Partially Sighted or Blind it is possible to have a Low Vision Aid supplied.

    Let me know if I can be of further help.

    Robert.
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
    Thanks @roberttaylor570 I have only just been registered as partially sighted but will look into the RNIB thanks 

    Will be my goal for tomorrow 

    Is there anything you use 
  • roberttaylor570
    roberttaylor570 Online Community Member Posts: 574 Empowering
    @janer1967 Hello again.

    I wear glasses, one pair for reading and one for distance.

    I find that deals with most things.

    I do have a magnifying glass with a light in it for small print and that was given to me via Specsavers as part of my annual testing.

    Ask either your optician or if under a consultant at hospital, ask them to prescribe it.  There are clip on items which fit over the screen.

    I would look into local provision of a service fpr the Blind and Visually impaired.  How did you become registered as they should be able to advise?

    Also do you pay Income Tax or have a Personal Allowance you are using?  You may be able to get Blind Person's Allowance depending on the severity of the impairment and its effect on work.

    If this is a recent change PIP should be able to increase your allowance if it stops you doing things without help.

    Good luck with tomorrow.  Please let me know how it goes.

    Robert.
  • roberttaylor570
    roberttaylor570 Online Community Member Posts: 574 Empowering
    @janer1967 Please let me  and the rest of us, know if you find it easier to read posts in block capitals.  

    I have some friends on other Facebook groups who prefer it if we correspond in CAPS.

    Anything to help.

    Robert
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
    I am waiting for the sight impairment team to contact me my consultant certificated me 

    I dont pay tax and I am already on enhanced PIP for both components but thanks for all the tips 

    I will see what happens when the team get in touch 
  • roberttaylor570
    roberttaylor570 Online Community Member Posts: 574 Empowering
    @janer1967 That's good.  They are the people who can  help you with such things as aids and adaptions.  You should still contact RNIB to ask if there are any other things they can suggest.

    Good luck tomorrow.

    Robert.
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
    Yes I find it a lot easier if in bold and capitals I struggle with the grey font 

    I have the magnified glasses with light but I am very sensitive to light 

    My consultant said my glasses wont make any difference at present which they dont 

    I have lots swelling following a bleed so having some treatment 
  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,611 Championing
    Hi @janer1967 :) 

    Fellow sight impaired computer user here. 

    I'm not sure about physical magnifiers that go over your screen, but there are plenty of accessibility features built into computers these days, like zooming features, magnifiers and screen readers, as well as colour adjustment settings. 

    Are you using a Windows device? I can advise on any of the above :) 

  • janer1967
    janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
    Hi @Ross_Scope yes I have a windows device I tried to change font colour other day but didnt seem to make any difference 

    I'm not very techy 
  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,611 Championing
    Hi @janer1967, ah I see.

    If you are on a updated device, there should be a setting category in the settings called "Ease of Access" which will contain all of the accessibility features available to you. Plus there is a guide here from Microsoft about using Windows if you have low vision.

    As an example, I frequently use the "magnifier" feature, which essentially let's you zoom in on any part of the screen and make things bigger or smaller whenever you like. I also use a high contrast theme for my computer because dark colours are easier for me.

    What sort of visual accessibility would help you most? Whether it be magnification, colour adjustment or screen reading? 

  • janer1967
    janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
    Thanks @Ross_Scope I will look in my settings but my laptop is bit old so may not have this 

    Will check out the guide you sent too tomorrow 

    I think the magnified and dark colours would help 
  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,611 Championing
    Good morning @janer1967

    Hope you're doing well today! 

    That's no problem, I hope your laptop does have some useful features. The magnifier and dark colour options are life changers for me personally. 

    If you know what version of Windows your laptop is running I could find more resources? For example, is it Windows 7, 8 or 10? 
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
    Hi @Ross_Scope I have managed to sort it it's not perfect yet but better think I need to play about bit more but got magnified turned on and bigger text 

    Thanks for all your help 
  • Ross_Alumni
    Ross_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,611 Championing
    Righto, I'm glad you've been able to get those things on @janer1967. Yeah it does sometimes just take a bit of tweaking to get it all working the way you want it to. You'll get there :) 

    Give me a shout if you ever need help with any other sight loss related tech stuff :) 
  • Chloe_Alumni
    Chloe_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 10,506 Championing
    Hi @janer1967! I'm glad others have been able to advise and offer support. Please do let us know how you get on. :)

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