Glossary
Low Vision & Blindness Glossary.
Plain-English definitions of the medical, technical and legal terms you will see when navigating vision loss in the US.
Medical conditions
AMD (age-related macular degeneration) — degeneration of the macula causing central vision loss. Two forms: dry (80% of cases, slow) and wet (20%, faster but treatable).
Glaucoma — optic-nerve damage, often from elevated eye pressure. Causes tunnel vision and eventually blindness.
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) — hereditary degeneration of photoreceptors. Symptoms: night blindness then tunnel vision.
Diabetic retinopathy — damage to retinal vessels from diabetes. Patchy vision, hemorrhages.
Cataract — clouding of the natural lens. Surgery is curative.
Scotoma — a blind spot in the visual field, central (AMD) or peripheral (glaucoma).
Stargardt disease — juvenile form of macular degeneration.
Usher syndrome — RP + congenital deafness.
Legal blindness (US) — central vision 20/200 or worse with correction, or visual field 20° or less.
Low vision — best-corrected vision below 20/40 but not legally blind.
Technical terms
VoiceOver — built-in iPhone screen reader, by Apple.
TalkBack — Android screen reader, by Google.
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) — extracting text from an image.
Vision Live — Lumyeye Pro's live video streaming + voice Q&A.
AT (Assistive Technology) — any device or app that helps a person with a disability.
Magnifier (CCTV) — desktop electronic magnifier.
Legal & benefits
ADA — Americans with Disabilities Act. Bars discrimination, requires reasonable accommodations.
Section 504 — Rehabilitation Act, applies to federally funded programs.
IDEA — Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, governs K-12 IEPs.
SSI / SSDI — Supplemental Security Income / Social Security Disability Insurance.
HCBS waiver — Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services waiver.
FSA / HSA — Flexible Spending / Health Savings Account.
TVI — Teacher of the Visually Impaired (school-based).
O&M — Orientation & Mobility specialist (white cane, navigation).
Key organizations
NFB — National Federation of the Blind.
AFB — American Foundation for the Blind.
ACB — American Council of the Blind.
APH — American Printing House for the Blind.
VA Blind Rehabilitation Service — federal program for blinded veterans.