Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals - American Foundation for the Blind
Content
3/25/2016
Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals
Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals
No Limits
People who are blind or visually impaired can perform almost any job you can imagine: lawyer, artist,
accountant, secretary, customer service representative, food service worker, factory worker, financial
analyst, teacher, medical transcriptionist, day care worker, counselor, computer programmer, cook,
salesperson, clerk, and more. We cannot count the number of different jobs people who are blind or
visually impaired are engaged in today or will be in the future. The possibilities are tremendous.
People who are blind or visually impaired have a wider array of career possibilities than ever before
in history because of a combination of events since the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Legislative and societal changes have reduced discrimination toward visually impaired workers as
attitudes toward people with disabilities generally have improved. Employers, especially in midsized
and large businesses, routinely follow equal employment opportunity practices and have diversity and
disabilityaccommodation processes in place. Available assistive technology makes it easier for
people who are visually impaired to perform many jobs that they never could have before. Proper
training, appropriate tools, the ability to sell oneself, and a willing attitude on the part of employers
constitute a winning formula.
Every Worker is an Individual
No two visually impaired people have the exact same level of functional vision or the same approach
to executing workrelated tasks. Some use their vision more than othersÍž some may work more
efficiently when they can use nonvisual techniques. Many learned to perform the essential functions
of their jobs before they became visually impaired and will need to learn adaptive techniques to retain
or return to employment. New employees who have been visually impaired for many years will need
to use adaptive techniques as they learn to perform their duties effectively. The majority of people
who are blind or visually impaired will benefit from accommodations or modifications to their work
environment in order to perform competitively at work.
Accommodations in the Workplace
Accommodations are adjustments to the work environment or an individual's work situation that
enable a person with disabilities to perform work duties as well as (but not always in the same way)
as his or her coworkers without disabilities. Accommodations that have proven effective and
affordable for workers with visual impairments include the following:
Glare reduction and adjusted lighting.
Voice or email messages instead of handwritten notes.
Desk or laptop computers adapted with screenreading (synthesized speech), screen
http://www.afb.org/info/livingwithvisionloss/forjobseekers/forfamilyandfriends/careersforblindandvisuallyimpairedindividuals/1235
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3/25/2016
Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals
magnification, and/or optical character recognition (OCR) software.
Scanners, largerthanaverage monitors, and/or braille display devices can be added as
peripherals.
Large print, tactile, or talking calipers, scales, tape measures, thermometers, blood pressure cuffs,
calculators, money identifiers, and cash registers
Aids to mobility for people who are blind or visually impaired include long canes, dog guides,
electronic travel aids, special telescopes to read signs, use of public transit, and carpooling.
For More Information
For further discussion of the jobs that visually impaired people do and tips for employers, explore the
CareerConnect database of mentors, which includes more than 1,000 employed visually impaired
persons who have agreed to act as mentors to visually impaired people seeking career information.
The mentors can also offer advice on the practical aspects of performing their job duties and getting
along well in the workplace.
For informative, firsthand accounts written by blind and visually impaired people who have achieved
success in a variety of interesting jobs, check out the Success Stories written by CareerConnect
mentors.
SelfEmployment
People who are blind or visually impaired work for themselves as entrepreneurs just the way sighted
people do. Two major avenues exist for visually impaired persons to establish their own businesses:
the Business Enterprise Program, administered by state vocational rehabilitation agencies, and self
employment. Both require the entrepreneur to be knowledgeable about common business practices
and to know about their product or service lines in depth.
Business Enterprise Program
In order to succeed in business, most entrepreneurs work long hours, excel at problemsolving, and
have a high tolerance for stress. People who are blind or visually impaired who would like to run their
own business can apply to their State vocational rehabilitation agency for entrance into the Business
Enterprise Program (BEP), created under the RandolfSheppard Act. BEP provides business
opportunities for operators to run vending stands in the lobbies of government buildings, in rest areas
along State highways, and occasionally on military bases. Vendors typically run one or a combination
of the following types of businesses:
Dry stands: all packaged foods
Wet stands: some prepared foods such as sandwiches
Cafeterias: kitchen, hot and cold foods
Automated vending machines: often in banks of two or more, requiring routine restocking
http://www.afb.org/info/livingwithvisionloss/forjobseekers/forfamilyandfriends/careersforblindandvisuallyimpairedindividuals/1235
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3/25/2016
Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals
In most cases vendors pay a percentage of the income from their stands to the BEP. This money is
pooled and, along with funds set aside for the BEP under the RandolfSheppard Act, is used for the
benefit of the vendors (e.g., health insurance, retirement plans, stand refurbishments, purchase of
stock, etc.).
Other SelfEmployment Options
Independent entrepreneurs outside the BEP need to invest much more of their own resources into
starting a business. Their responsibilities include formulating a business concept, initial research,
writing a business plan, and securing startup loans. State vocational rehabilitation agencies, under
the Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) can set up selfemployment plans for these
entrepreneurs and partially sponsor startup expenses (e.g., initial stock, first month's rent, time
limited payment of insurance premiums).
Other resource lists are provided by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness
and Low Vision maintained by Mississippi State University.
The Small Business and SelfEmployment Service (SBSES) provides information and assistance to
people with disabilities who wish to start a small business, including information on starting and
managing a business, and issues specifically related to disabilities. The SBSES is staffed by the
Office of Disability Employment Policy's Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a valuable resource in
disability information services.
The Disabled Businesspersons Association is "dedicated to assisting enterprising individuals with
disabilities maximize their potential in the business world, and work[ing] with vocational rehabilitation,
government and business to encourage the participation and enhance the performance of the
disabled in the workforce."
http://www.afb.org/info/livingwithvisionloss/forjobseekers/forfamilyandfriends/careersforblindandvisuallyimpairedindividuals/1235
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Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals
Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals
No Limits
People who are blind or visually impaired can perform almost any job you can imagine: lawyer, artist,
accountant, secretary, customer service representative, food service worker, factory worker, financial
analyst, teacher, medical transcriptionist, day care worker, counselor, computer programmer, cook,
salesperson, clerk, and more. We cannot count the number of different jobs people who are blind or
visually impaired are engaged in today or will be in the future. The possibilities are tremendous.
People who are blind or visually impaired have a wider array of career possibilities than ever before
in history because of a combination of events since the passage of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Legislative and societal changes have reduced discrimination toward visually impaired workers as
attitudes toward people with disabilities generally have improved. Employers, especially in midsized
and large businesses, routinely follow equal employment opportunity practices and have diversity and
disabilityaccommodation processes in place. Available assistive technology makes it easier for
people who are visually impaired to perform many jobs that they never could have before. Proper
training, appropriate tools, the ability to sell oneself, and a willing attitude on the part of employers
constitute a winning formula.
Every Worker is an Individual
No two visually impaired people have the exact same level of functional vision or the same approach
to executing workrelated tasks. Some use their vision more than othersÍž some may work more
efficiently when they can use nonvisual techniques. Many learned to perform the essential functions
of their jobs before they became visually impaired and will need to learn adaptive techniques to retain
or return to employment. New employees who have been visually impaired for many years will need
to use adaptive techniques as they learn to perform their duties effectively. The majority of people
who are blind or visually impaired will benefit from accommodations or modifications to their work
environment in order to perform competitively at work.
Accommodations in the Workplace
Accommodations are adjustments to the work environment or an individual's work situation that
enable a person with disabilities to perform work duties as well as (but not always in the same way)
as his or her coworkers without disabilities. Accommodations that have proven effective and
affordable for workers with visual impairments include the following:
Glare reduction and adjusted lighting.
Voice or email messages instead of handwritten notes.
Desk or laptop computers adapted with screenreading (synthesized speech), screen
http://www.afb.org/info/livingwithvisionloss/forjobseekers/forfamilyandfriends/careersforblindandvisuallyimpairedindividuals/1235
1/3
3/25/2016
Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals
magnification, and/or optical character recognition (OCR) software.
Scanners, largerthanaverage monitors, and/or braille display devices can be added as
peripherals.
Large print, tactile, or talking calipers, scales, tape measures, thermometers, blood pressure cuffs,
calculators, money identifiers, and cash registers
Aids to mobility for people who are blind or visually impaired include long canes, dog guides,
electronic travel aids, special telescopes to read signs, use of public transit, and carpooling.
For More Information
For further discussion of the jobs that visually impaired people do and tips for employers, explore the
CareerConnect database of mentors, which includes more than 1,000 employed visually impaired
persons who have agreed to act as mentors to visually impaired people seeking career information.
The mentors can also offer advice on the practical aspects of performing their job duties and getting
along well in the workplace.
For informative, firsthand accounts written by blind and visually impaired people who have achieved
success in a variety of interesting jobs, check out the Success Stories written by CareerConnect
mentors.
SelfEmployment
People who are blind or visually impaired work for themselves as entrepreneurs just the way sighted
people do. Two major avenues exist for visually impaired persons to establish their own businesses:
the Business Enterprise Program, administered by state vocational rehabilitation agencies, and self
employment. Both require the entrepreneur to be knowledgeable about common business practices
and to know about their product or service lines in depth.
Business Enterprise Program
In order to succeed in business, most entrepreneurs work long hours, excel at problemsolving, and
have a high tolerance for stress. People who are blind or visually impaired who would like to run their
own business can apply to their State vocational rehabilitation agency for entrance into the Business
Enterprise Program (BEP), created under the RandolfSheppard Act. BEP provides business
opportunities for operators to run vending stands in the lobbies of government buildings, in rest areas
along State highways, and occasionally on military bases. Vendors typically run one or a combination
of the following types of businesses:
Dry stands: all packaged foods
Wet stands: some prepared foods such as sandwiches
Cafeterias: kitchen, hot and cold foods
Automated vending machines: often in banks of two or more, requiring routine restocking
http://www.afb.org/info/livingwithvisionloss/forjobseekers/forfamilyandfriends/careersforblindandvisuallyimpairedindividuals/1235
2/3
3/25/2016
Careers for Blind and Visually Impaired Individuals
In most cases vendors pay a percentage of the income from their stands to the BEP. This money is
pooled and, along with funds set aside for the BEP under the RandolfSheppard Act, is used for the
benefit of the vendors (e.g., health insurance, retirement plans, stand refurbishments, purchase of
stock, etc.).
Other SelfEmployment Options
Independent entrepreneurs outside the BEP need to invest much more of their own resources into
starting a business. Their responsibilities include formulating a business concept, initial research,
writing a business plan, and securing startup loans. State vocational rehabilitation agencies, under
the Individualized Plan for Employment (IPE) can set up selfemployment plans for these
entrepreneurs and partially sponsor startup expenses (e.g., initial stock, first month's rent, time
limited payment of insurance premiums).
Other resource lists are provided by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Blindness
and Low Vision maintained by Mississippi State University.
The Small Business and SelfEmployment Service (SBSES) provides information and assistance to
people with disabilities who wish to start a small business, including information on starting and
managing a business, and issues specifically related to disabilities. The SBSES is staffed by the
Office of Disability Employment Policy's Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a valuable resource in
disability information services.
The Disabled Businesspersons Association is "dedicated to assisting enterprising individuals with
disabilities maximize their potential in the business world, and work[ing] with vocational rehabilitation,
government and business to encourage the participation and enhance the performance of the
disabled in the workforce."
http://www.afb.org/info/livingwithvisionloss/forjobseekers/forfamilyandfriends/careersforblindandvisuallyimpairedindividuals/1235
3/3
