Answers to your most common concerns

MYTH: A person with a visual impairment will need expensive accommodations. Often, no accommodation is needed or jobseekers have their own accommodations. When necessary, accommodations may be provided at no cost to the employer.

MYTH: People who are visually impaired won't be able to do the job. People who are visually impaired often have to work harder to get the job that they want and, therefore, appreciate what having a job means. They typically perform up to and beyond expectations. The key is to effectively match skills to job requirements, focusing on ability.

MYTH: People with visual impairments need preferential treatment. People with visual impairments neither require nor desire to be treated any differently than other employees.

MYTH: People with visual impairments will always need someone to guide them Orientation and mobility services (travel instruction) are provided on site, at no cost, to help orient the employee to your worksite. 

MYTH: Absenteeism will be high. Not the case, according to the Louis Harris poll. 39% of employers felt their employees with disabilities were more reliable than employees without disabilities, and 42% felt their reliability was comparable to their peers without disabilities.

MYTH: People with visual impairments won't "fit in." As part of a diverse work force, employees with visual impairments often bring unique life experiences, which benefit the entire workplace. Their positive approach to their jobs can be contagious, creating a ripple effect.

WHAT KIND OF COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY IS AVAILABLE FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED?

Perhaps it's hard to imagine how people with little or no vision can perform in today's competitive work place - but advances in computer technology have opened opportunities for full and productive employment never before thought possible.

Learning to compensate for vision loss takes work, diligence, focus and courage -- Skills demonstrated by VISIONS job candidates!

COMPUTER & INTERNET ACCESS: People who are blind and visually impaired use the same computers as sighted people. With the addition of large print or synthetic voice software, virtually any pc or mainframe can be made accessible. Click here for a vendor sponsored demonstration of large print and synthetic speech www.aisquared.com.

READING PRINT: About 80% of people who are "legally blind" have some degree of usable vision and can read print with optical or electronic magnifiers. People who are totally blind read print with the use of optical character recognition systems - devices which translate print to synthetic speech or Braille.

MOST VISIONS JOB SEEKERS HAVE THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT; others may be eligible for equipment purchased by the state rehabilitation agency, at no cost to your organization.

*Data are from various sources including: US Census Bureau, McNeil, Americans with Disabilities, Report 70-73 (2000); National Eye Institute & Prevent Blindness America, Vision Problems in the U.S.: Prevalence of Adult Impairment and Age-Related Eye Disease in America (2002).

To learn more about employing one of our jobseekers and the tax incentives available please contact Elsa Córdoba @ 212-625-1616 ext. 144

VISIONS © 2007