Provides an overview of TESTLAB, a cooperative project of libraries in Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom that addresses improved library access for visually impaired users. A sampling of TESTLAB projects is presented, and a TESTLAB survey on electronic service provision is described. Future efforts and implications are…

Describes the North Dakota School for the Blind's shift from traditional residential services to an emphasis on an expansive outreach service network that serves the vision-specific needs of students in their local schools. The results of a program survey of 24 educators and parents are discussed. (CR)

Discusses the history of the graphical user interface (GUI) and the growing realization that adaptations must be made to it lest its visual nature discriminate against nonsighted or sight-impaired users. One of the most popular commercially developed adaptations is to develop sounds that signal the location of icons or menus to mouse users.…

A survey of 75 countries investigated jobs performed by adults with visual impairments throughout the world. Although there is a greater diversity in the range of jobs in developed countries, people who are visually impaired do not have the same range of opportunities available to them as sighted people. (Contains references.) (CR)

Two groups of visually impaired (VI) students in Britain confronting post-school transition are considered. One group aspires to enter university, the other group has decided on vocational training. Positive image, employment pragmatics and the notion of "something extra" are contributing factors shaping VI students in their post-school…

This paper describes a new program in the Western provinces of China (Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia) that is designed to integrate 20,000 children with low-vision into general education classrooms. The Golden Key Research Center of Education for Visually Impaired has been working with the…

A two-phase study investigated the employment opportunities for visually impaired computer programers and the practicality of training them at a community/junior college. Activities during phase 1 included an employer survey to determine employment opportunities, a department chairperson survey, a blind programer survey, development of profiles…

This final report summarizes a three-year project to develop and field test an advocacy curriculum designed to teach secondary-level disabled students (mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, learning disabled, physically disabled, visually and hearing impaired) their rights and responsibilities under recent legislation, the various service…

This paper outlines perceptual consequences of loss of binocular vision; complicating factors in monocular impairment such as age at onset and degree of residual vision; empirical evidence of the severity of monocular impairments, in terms of driving accidents and rehabilitation prospects; and the impairment's economic, psychological, and social…

This issue contains articles on characteristics of the older adult population and how one museum program addressed them; an analysis of sensory changes in older adulthood and their implications for museum facilities and programing; what older adults can contribute to the museum; older adults as museum volunteers; and case studies of museum…

RVIB (Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind) Library & Information Services is one of five business units of RVIB, an agency that has been providing services since 1866 to people in Victoria (Australia) who are blind or visually impaired. RVIB Library & Information Services offers four core services: (1) a public library service that…

Problems the visually handicapped child is likely to encounter in a regular classroom are discussed, and suggestions are made as to modes and methods teachers can use to meet the student's special needs while maintaining the focus on learning activities for all classroom students. (PP)

Describes and evaluates the effectiveness of some optical media enabling visually impaired students to become active learners in the science classroom. (SK)

Describes a bilingual (Arabic-English) computerized braille-printing system for students with blindness that has been implemented at Kuwait Special Schools. The various facets of the system, including the hardware used, are discussed, and the features of the system are highlighted. Recommendations and future applications are also presented.…

Asserts that legal mandates increase the probability that postsecondary instructors will have blind and visually impaired students in their classrooms. The graphical and symbolic notations used in economics courses present special problems for these students. Recommends and describes the usage of tactile graphs and raised line drawings. (MJP)