Some everyday household tasks can be more difficult for people with sight loss. There are lots of adaptations you can make in your home and devices and supports available to help you do things in a different way with less vision.
Bump-ons are pieces of plastic or rubber that stick on to dials so you can use microwaves, cookers or washing machines by touch. They can be placed to identify a specific button or to help you position a dial in the desired place.
Some people with sight loss may find it helpful to use extra lighting to carry out tasks. These can be regular lamps or specialised devices.
Many kitchen appliances are available in adapted formats for people living with los vision, for example a talking weighing scales or tactile measuring jug.
If you are having difficulty gaging the amount of liquid you are pouring into a cup, there are several options. You might find that using different coloured cups makes it easier. There are also devices called liquid level indicators which beep when you pour liquid up to a point in the cup.
There are a wide range of talking watches and clocks available. These can read the time and set alarms. Some can also read dates and have other functions.
A barcode reader is a phone app or device that can be used to easily identify different items and products. This can be particularly useful for food items that have similar packaging, such as tins or cartons. There are many different types of barcode readers available. These can provide different options, for example direct you to details of the product, take you to a search engine page for search results of the product code; or have a built in voice recorder so when you scan a bar code you can listen back to a previous voice memo you made for that code.
Some smart TVs can magnify text or use a built-in screen reader. There are some TV boxes that have accessibility features built in. The Apple TV works with VoiceOver to read the content of the screen.
A smart speaker such as Alexa, Google Home or Apple Home Pod can be very useful. It can act as a radio, music player, news reader and podcast player. It can also set timers, alarms and reminders, or look up information and create lists.
Other devices and adaptations that can be useful around the home include;
Many of the items above are available to purchase in the NCBI shop.