Tips on communicating visually with people with AMD
Hi all
I don't have AMD, but I regularly produce literature for people with AMD and other vision impairments. My job is to produce materials for people considering a clinical trial - posters, brochures etc.
I'm not here to promote any trials or anything like that, I just want to make sure that I represent you and do what's best for you.
I think I have a good understanding about font type and size and contrast etc, best practices for printing - but please feel free to make sure I understand 😀 What I really want to know, is about visual imagery – images of people, social situations, conceptual images depicting AMD or people living with AMD. In general – is it beneficial, encouraged, not helpful, pointless?
I ask, because of the varying degrees of central vision loss - do I design around a blank centre, for example - assuming that you use your peripheral vision... do I keep it to just high contrast text?
What boils your blood when you have to read or look at literature?
In advance, thanks so much! I'd really appreciate your help in communicating better, visually, with you and people just like you, with AMD.
Dave
It’s important not to asume all people with macular degeneration have lost all their central vision. I have advanced dry called geographic atrophy. I still have some central vision. I use 18-24 pt font. High contrast is essential. For printed materials you might consider black on white in bold type. I see best white type on black but that wouldn’t be practical for printed materials. Before macular degeneration I loved reading magazines. Somewhere along the way it became popular to use light gray print on white paper. That is the worst possible choice for anyone with vision loss. I appreciate your efforts to learn more about our needs. Regards, Sharon Moore patient leader
it's pleasing to know that someone is thinking seriously about how to produce material that is easier for people with macular degeneration to read. I can comment on one possibility you raised. Your thought of perhaps leaving a central area blank, because some people with amd have limited central vision, would be problematic, I feel. As Sharon said, not all people with amd have this central vision problem. But, further to that, people with central vision loss are used to turning their eyes in order to use their peripheral vision. To have a blank area of print would just be confusing. We wouldn't know if that area was blank intentionally, or blank beause of our vision deficiencies. It would work against the skills we have developed to look "around" any blank spots in our vision. Hope this helps - it's good that you are thinking about this issue. Kind regards, Wendy, Patient Leader.
