[Journalists] Interviews

Tue Nov 3 16:18:37 UTC 2015

Hi Rachel,

This is from the National Center on Disability and Journalism's (NCDJ) Style Guide: http://ncdj.org/style-guide/ 

Blind/limited vision/low vision/partially sighted/visually impaired 

Background: According to the American Foundation for the Blind, the term legally blind denotes a person with 20/200 visual acuity or less. Therefore, blind or legally blind is acceptable for people with almost complete vision loss. Many people with vision loss are not considered blind. The foundation recommends that unless the person refers to himself or herself as legally blind, the terms low vision, limited vision or visually impaired should be used.

NCDJ Recommendation: Use the term blind only when the person has complete loss of sight and the term legally blind when the person has almost complete loss of sight. Other terms also may be acceptable. It is best to ask the person which term he or she prefers and take that into consideration. Commonly used terms include:

Limited vision: Acceptable when a person is not legally or completely blind

Low vision: Acceptable when a person is not legally or completely blind

Partially sighted: Used most often in British publications but acceptable if a person is not legally or completely blind

Visually impaired: This is general term describes a wide range of visual functions, from low vision to total blindness. It is generally considered acceptable, although, like the term hearing impaired, some may object to it because it describes the condition in terms of a deficiency.

AP style: The AP stylebook describes blind as "a person with complete loss of sight" and suggests using the terms "visually impaired" or "person with low vision" for those who have some sight.

Best, Patricia

On 11/3/15, Rachael Vacanti via Journalists <journalists at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hello fellow journalists!
>
> I'm Rachael, a student studying journalism in Nebraska.  I'm in my 
> final year of undergrad at home before I hopefully move to Ohio for 
> graduate school.
>
> One of the things I find most challenging as a journalist, is getting 
> around to interviews and other different locations needed for a story.  
> The public transportation here is really bad and it takes forever to 
> get anywhere.  How do I get around that?  Also, are people comfortable with a blind journalist?
>  So far I've had good luck, but I'm worried that it's running out and 
> someone will eventually doubt my skills, despite my credibility.
>
> I have one final question:  How do you refer to blind people in the media?
> The Associated Press Stylebook states that the term blind is used to 
> describe someone with complete loss of sight.  All other times, the 
> terms visually impaired or low vision is encouraged.  That's just what 
> the Stylebook says.  The Stylebook wasn't written by blind people.  
> How do we change perceptions about blind individuals?  I feel like a 
> lot of people get offended when I use the correct AP Style when 
> describing blind people.  I'm a bit confused about that and it's 
> something that's always bugged me.  Any advice would be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Rachael Vacanti
>
> Rachael E. Vacanti
> (402)-960-9085 (mobile)
> revacanti at Hotmail.com
> Newsletter Co-Editor, River City Mixed Chorus Contributor, The Gateway 
> MavPRSSAA, Member
>
>  		 	   		
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