(J) Jobs Held by Those who are Blind or have Low Vision (#AToZChallenge 2021)

My theme for the 2021 Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is to give an overview of what it is like to be visually impaired and to break misconceptions that exist regarding the blind and visually impaired community.

Unemployment has always been high among those in the blind and visually impaired community. Some research shows that in 2017 the unemployment rate was at about 70 percent. There have been many advances in technology that make it possible for a person to work without sight.

Screen readers make computers accessible by using text to speech software. Artificial intelligence is now being used to provide image descriptions although these are not always reliable.

There are now portable braille displays with refreshable braille that converts everything on a computer or phone screen into braille.

There are now tactile drawing sets that turn a drawing into raise lines so a person can feel the drawing. There are talking scales and calculators and measuring tools that make it possible to complete many tasks. 

Today I want to highlight some of the jobs that are held by those who are blind or have low vision.

A blind scientist

Mona Minkara is a computational chemist and is a professor at Northeastern University. Read more about her and the tools that allow her to do her job here.

A blind lawyer

Jack Chen is a lawyer for Google. Learn how e is able to do his job in the video below.

A visually impaired graphic designer

Angela is a graphic designer who has low vision. Learn more about her story in the video below.

Some extra thoughts

I hope that these examples prove that a blind or visually impaired person is capable of holding a variety of jobs. Society has to be more open to this fact and begin to give those in the blind and visually impaired communities more opportunities.