Perceiving needs felt by the Portuguese community with vision impairment

Abstract

In an increasingly globalizing society, where the audio-visual world plays a crucial role in the most diverse areas of human activity vision impairment is one of the deficiencies that most directly impact the life quality of individuals who bare it. This deficiency can be classified, according to the World Health Organization, into seven categories in accordance with the greater or the lesser visual acuity that people with this condition have. Among the factors that contribute to eye disease are aging, heredity, unhealthy lifestyles, and certain health conditions. Many eye diseases do not originate from one cause but from a multitude of them. However, advanced age is an unavoidable contributory factor. In Portugal, life expectancy has increased at an escalating pace which reflects in the growth of the elderly population and, consequently, in the growing number of cases of visual vision impairment. Briefly, we may say that social inclusion makes the feeling of "well-being" universal, turning possible access, when desired, into opportunities for education, work, and health. Social integration implies access to prospects and conditions that guarantee the exercise of human rights. With the aim of understanding the real needs of daily life felt by the Portuguese community with distance vision impairment, and for which solutions have not yet been found, a research study of a mixed nature was carried out. The results presented here are based on the analysis of the data collected from two questionnaires, one applied to institutions dedicated to this cause and the other one applied to adults with blindness or severe vision impairment according to WHO’s distance classification, semi-structured interviews, and field notes. It should be highlighted the precious collaboration of the Portuguese Association of the Blind and Visually Impaired (ACAPO), dispersed throughout various parts of the country, with greater expression in the central zone and the Lisbon metropolitan area, without which it would not have been possible to apply this questionnaire. In this study, the participants revealed the need for auditory applications to the detriment of their representation in Braille. They have pointed out, that even though there are already a large number of auditory applications, sound perception is poor, falling far short of their expectations and needs. An example of this difficulty, strongly present in online authentication mechanisms, is reCAPTCHA. They also highlighted that despite having the ease to move around, either with a cane, guide dogs or without the need for auxiliary resources, they have enormous difficulty in orienting themselves. These difficulties can be overcome by improving the auditory perception of the available tools and/or creating new ones, which may be associated not only with online authentication mechanisms but also with precise direction indicators, increasing the autonomy of these individuals.