Accessible Test

Functional Vision Assessment/Learning Media Assessment

for Academic Students with Low Vision

Large Format Protocol Forms

(Completed)
Purpose

To provide teachers and practitioners who need large format protocol forms to accompany the FV/LMA product.

Project Staff

J. Elaine Kitchel, Project Leader

Dr. LaRhea Sanford, Consultant

Dr. Rebecca Burnett, Consultant

Frank Hayden, Technical Researcher

David McGee, Technical Researcher

Erica Rucker, Research Assistant

Terri Gilmore, Graphic Designer

Candace Jaworski, Graphic Designer
Background

There is no particular functional vision assessment for academic students available that is accepted as the standard by those who conduct these assessments. However, Drs. LaRhea Sanford and Rebecca Burnett developed one that established credibility and use among teachers and practitioners. It was proposed that APH make it widely-available as an APH product. In 2008, FV/LMA (Functional Vision/Learning Media Assessment) was edited and published by APH.

Even though the instrument was available in braille, audio format, HTML, and regular text, there was no provision for the teacher with low vision to have the protocols to conduct the assessments. To provide APH consumers with a full range of options, the protocols had to be accessible to practitioners who were large print users. Therefore they were produced in large print that had been enhanced with extra formatting options to make it more readable and accessible than standard print or standard large print.
Work during FY 2009

The regular print protocols were laid out in large print format. The document was then enhanced with additional formatting features to make it more readable. The product specifications and documentation were drawn up and the product entered the production phase. The product was completed and made available in July 2009.

Lighting Guide Kit

Formerly: Vivid Vision Lamp

(Continued)

Purpose

Many students with visual impairments are expected to work under lighting conditions that are not appropriate for their visual needs. Often this problem persists because parents and professionals, who work with students with visual impairments, do not really understand what is needed by each individual student. APH decided to develop the Lighting Guide Kit to provide individuals with recent, research-based information about what kind of lighting is needed by students with visual impairments. In addition, APH decided to work with an engineer/inventor to provide the kind of lamp most often needed by our consumers to accompany the Lighting Guide Book, “What Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments need to Know about Lighting.”

Project Staff

Elaine Kitchel, Project Leader

Frank Hayden, Technical Researcher

Darlene Donhoff, Technical Researcher

Robin Mumford, Engineer/Developer
Background

Since 2000, the Project Leader has written chapters she planned to combine into a book called “What Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments Need to Know about Lighting.”

Since 2001 APH has pursued the development and acquisition of a lamp that would emit light friendly to persons with low vision. Most classrooms, indeed most schools and workplaces, are lit by fluorescent tubes which emit light with strong spikes in the UV A, (380nm to 315nm), and blue light (500nm to 381nm) ranges. Light in these ranges has been shown to be harmful to primate retinas, and has also been shown to produce glare, discomfort, and light blindness with slow recovery in persons with low vision.
The challenge for APH was to develop or locate a light source which emitted light only in the green and red ranges (680 to 501nm). This lamp would have to be lightweight and useful to students. In 2006 the project leader became aware that Robin Mumford, an engineer who had devoted much of his time to studying light and low vision, had developed a lamp which emitted light in the exact range desired.
In 2007 it was decided that a combination of the book and the lamp as a product would be the best way to proceed because teachers and other practitioners need information about how to select the best lighting for their students.
Work during FY 2009

The project leader completed writing the book “What Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments Need to Know about Lighting.” This book gives information about light and lighting in general, but it also provides specific user information about the Vivid Vision Lamp. The addition of a parabolic lens and the elimination of all blue light from the tube emissions were accomplished. Specifications were written and the production schedule was set. The book is sold separately, but the lamp is sold only with the book as the Lighting Guide Kit. The product became available in Dec. of 2008.

Maximize Multi-Camera Video Magnifier2

With Cordless PenTracker™ and Joystick

(Continued)
Purpose

For many years, individuals who help provide materials and technology have asked APH for a video magnifier for students with visual impairments. Until recently, the technology has not existed to provide all the features required by APH consumers. When EITAC Solutions, LLC, presented APH with the appropriate technology, it was decided to pursue the development of the MaximEyes Video Magnifier because its new technology provides solutions to consumer needs. This product was made available in 2008. In 2009 the developer and APH decided to upgrade the product.

Project Staff

Elaine Kitchel, Project Leader

Laurianne Matheson, Consultant

Tim Curtin, Technical Developer

David McGee, Technical Research

Frank Hayden, Technical Research

Background

In the late 1960s and early 70s CCTVs began to be used regularly as aids for people with visual impairments. Today CCTVs are called video magnifiers (VMs) and they are used around the world as popular devices for individuals with visual impairments who want to increase their abilities or facility to read and write.

The video magnifier in its most basic form consists of a monitor, a video camera, a lens for the camera and a reading/writing stand. With all video magnifiers the viewer is able to focus the lens, adjust the magnification, regulate the luminance and contrast and choose a positive (black letters on white background) or negative (white letters on black background) monochrome picture depending on preference. With today’s VMs, color, handheld and head-mounted versions have become available along with the traditional stand models. The ability to connect other media sources such as PCs and DVD players is also now possible through the addition of hardware and software to video magnifiers.
In 2006, APH was approached by EITAC Solutions Group with a version of a video magnifier that featured a pen fitted with a device which would cause the camera to track it. The new 2009 model features a cordless and more ergonomic PenTracker™; a joystick replaces the mouse. The monitor is larger and the footprint is smaller. The whole unit is quieter, having been covered by a layer of sound-muffling plastic, and fitted with a quieter scanning motor.
Work during FY 2009

Several employees of APH with low vision tested the MaximEyes Video Magnifier for long periods of time and provided feedback to EITAC. Product documentation was developed, edited and completed as was research and development of an extended warranty. The product became available in August of 2009.