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Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies

Part2:Country studies

USA

Definitions and their effects

NLS provides service to any resident of the United States who is unable to read conventional print due to blindness, a visual impairment, or a physical handicap. Blind persons whose visual acuity, as determined by competent authority, is 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting lenses, or whose widest diameter of visual field subtends angular distance no greater than 20 degrees. This definition enables competent authority to certify individuals who have a visual impairment but are not yet blind. The underlying question they have to answer is. Can the applicant read conventional print? If the answer is yes, they are not eligible, if it is no, they are. We do not have a definition of print impairment, we use the definition stated in response to the first question. We do have a eligibility criteria of Reading Disabled, of which a subset of individuals with Learning Disabilities are eligible.

Libraries in our cooperating network use our eligibility criteria. In most instances standard (public) libraries do not apply a standard for visually impaired. If individuals coming into their library can find materials of interest that they can use, they will use them, if not, the individual seeks other resources. There is no one government imposed standard for visual impairment. NLS considers the definition to be inclusive enough.