Visual Impairment
Adaptive resources and multisensory strategies for inclusive education
- available resources
- 23
- available resources
- Pedagogical Strategies
- 8
- Pedagogical Strategies
- Specialized Courses
- 8
- Specialized Courses
Verbal description of visual content
Say out loud everything being shown or written. It is the highest-reach, lowest-cost adaptation in a mainstream classroom.
- Read aloud everything you write on the board, as you write it
- Describe an image by what it conveys, not by how it looks
- Avoid 'here', 'there', 'this one': say the object's name or its position
- Say the student's name before addressing them
Tactile resources and raised graphics
Turn what is visual into something explorable by touch, with contrasting textures and a braille or enlarged key.
- Use textures that are clearly different from each other, not subtle variations
- Simplify: an overloaded tactile graphic becomes unreadable
- Hand the material over before the lesson, so exploring does not compete with listening
- Always include a tactile key
Pre-braille and braille
Before braille comes tactile discrimination, two-handed tracking and pattern recognition — a stage that is often skipped.
- Work on line tracking with the finger before introducing the braille cell
- Use both hands: the left locates, the right reads
- Start with large texture contrasts and refine gradually
- Coordinate with the specialist teacher — braille is systematic instruction, not improvisation
Accessible digital materials
A document in real text, with heading structure and image descriptions, so the screen reader works. A scanned-image PDF is inaccessible.
- Never send a screenshot of text: the screen reader cannot read an image
- Use the editor's heading styles, not just large bold text
- Describe every image in alt text
- Send the material in advance, not at the start of class
A predictable, signposted classroom
Keep the furniture fixed and announce any change. Autonomous movement depends on a stable environment.
- Do not rearrange the room without warning and without allowing a new walkthrough
- Keep aisles clear of bags and displaced chairs
- Agree on fixed reference points: the door, the window, the teacher's desk
- Offer your arm rather than pulling theirs — the student leads
Low vision is not blindness
Most students with visual impairment see something. Magnification, contrast and lighting solve more than braille in those cases.
- Ask the student what works for them: font size, background colour, distance
- Contrast matters more than size: black on yellow often beats a giant font
- Control glare: reflection on laminated paper hinders more than small type
- Large print is not huge print — 18 to 24 pt covers most cases
Assistive technology
Screen reader, magnifier and text-to-speech already ship with the operating system, at no cost. The obstacle is usually not knowing they exist.
- Turn on the system magnifier before buying anything
- Teach the student to adjust it themselves: autonomy is worth more than a perfect setup
- Text-to-speech suits long reading; magnification suits short, precise reading
- An electronic magnifier or the phone camera enlarges printed material you could not adapt
Visual fatigue and time
Seeing with effort is tiring. A student with low vision spends more energy on the same task — and performance drops late in the lesson, not from disinterest.
- Extra time is a rule, not a favour — reading takes longer even when adapted
- Schedule visual breaks during long reading tasks
- Place the most vision-demanding activities at the start of the lesson
- A drop in performance late in the period may be fatigue, not inattention
Convert one of your own materials
Take a material you already use and make it accessible — the exercise reveals what needs to change in your process, not just in that file.
Materials
Objectives
Implementation
Rewrite the material with heading structure, real text and image descriptions, then test it with a screen reader.
Tactile map of the classroom
Build a tactile representation of the space together with the student, to support independent movement.
Materials
Objectives
Implementation
Walk the room with the student, agree on reference points and represent each with a distinct texture.
Set up the student's own technology
One session to switch on and tune, together with the student, the accessibility features already on their device.
Materials
Objectives
Implementation
Turn on magnifier, high contrast and text-to-speech, and let the student adjust until they find what works.
Test in large print and high contrast
Adapt a test you have already written for low vision, without changing the content assessed.
Materials
Objectives
Implementation
Adjust font, contrast and spacing according to the preference sheet, and avoid any information carried only visually.
Short course on Visual Impairment
Pensar Cursos
Visual Impairment
Educamundo
Visual Impairment — Conexão Online
Portal Educa
Foundations of Inclusive Education
Instituto Rodrigo Mendes
AVAMEC — the Ministry of Education training platform
Ministério da Educação
15 distance courses in special education
Ministério da Educação
Escola Virtual.Gov
Enap / Governo Federal
Escola Virtual — Fundação Bradesco
Fundação Bradesco
Paths to Literacy
A community of practice on literacy for students who are blind, have low vision or are deafblind.
Published by: Perkins School for the Blind / TSBVI · EN · Site
Open materialBraille — strategies and tactile graphics
Pre-braille, teaching strategies, tactile graphics and technology for braille readers.
Published by: Perkins School for the Blind / TSBVI · EN · Site
Open materialAmerican Printing House — resources
Accessible teaching materials and resources for blind and low-vision students.
Published by: American Printing House for the Blind · EN · Site
Open materialUniversal Design for Learning Guidelines
How to plan accessible material from the start, instead of adapting later.
Published by: CAST · EN · Site
Open materialPerkins School for the Blind
A world reference institution in blindness and low vision, with teacher training and material on literacy access and independent living.
Published by: Perkins School for the Blind · EN · Site
Open materialThe Inclusive Mainstream School
MEC/SEESP booklet on organising the mainstream school from an inclusion perspective.
Published by: MEC / SEESP · PT · PDF
Open materialSpecial Education from an Inclusion Perspective
Foundations of inclusive special education, an official Ministry of Education publication.
Published by: MEC / SEESP · PT · PDF
Open materialDIVERSA — inclusive education in practice
Free platform by Instituto Rodrigo Mendes with practice reports, articles and materials.
Published by: Instituto Rodrigo Mendes · PT · Site
Open materialBrazilian Ministry of Education portal
Legislation, policies and official publications on special education from an inclusive perspective.
Published by: Ministério da Educação · PT · Site
Open materialProgress Center — evidence-based instructional practices
A collection of evidence-based instructional practices and support material, applicable across conditions.
Published by: Progress Center — American Institutes for Research · EN · Site
Open materialIntensive intervention — decision tools
What to do when an intervention produces no progress: how to measure, decide and intensify.
Published by: NCII — American Institutes for Research · EN · Site
Open material