Wilma Bons (60) has worked at the Ministry of Finance for 27 years. She is visually impaired as a result of Leber's disease, a DNA disease. A limitation for her. Yet she does not take the word “disability” in a derogatory way; it makes it clear to others what kind of hindrance you have from your low vision.
Wilma says: I have Leber's disease. This is a DNA disease that affects the optic nerve. Because of this, I can only see 2% now. The disease comes from my maternal line. Two uncles, a cousin and there son also have it.
I got it at 52 and makes me limited in all my doings. I have to be helped with everything. But still you can't constantly ask for help with everything, which is difficult for me. I always have to sit very close to the TV and the computer I can only use with very large fonts. I have had to use student at home, they help me adjust in the broadest sense of the word.
You just can't ask for help with everything, which makes it difficult for me.
I make limited use of the Internet, only a few sites. For example, I follow the weather, I can see that because they are big pictures. And I buy my clothes online at Bonprix, the site also uses very large images. Texts are hard for me to read, which makes it very hard for me to make payments because I can't read the numbers. For example, my text messages are read aloud, which works well.
Because of the limitation, you stick to the sites that work. I don't have the energy to research the entire Internet for better sites.
Sites of hospitals, for example, are sometimes accessible and sometimes not. If they work with login codes via e-mail it works well. VUMC does it with SMS, for example, and that is very inconvenient because then you get the text message and it is read out much too fast. That often causes stressful situations.
Because of my low vision, it is very tiring to sit at the computer or watch TV. As a result, I do that on a limited basis; which I do regret.
I watch RIVM sporadically now, but I get most of my information from teletext. I am then right on top of it to read it. For example, it is now displayed in a different color, the color representing the urgency of the message. And that is very pleasant, because it is very clear. I actually prefer to close the laptop then, because the TV is much more accessible in that area.
I would like to be kept informed about the improved accessibility of the Internet. I hope the agencies working on this think about audibility and visibility of websites. This is clearly not present now and only makes the disability more palpable.
Paying online is often difficult because I can't read the little numbers. Website builders should be more considerate of blind users.
When Web designers build sites, it should be much more accessible to visitors with visual impairments. For example, they can provide codes that let them speak it slowly or allow them to zoom the page. Also, make sure that login is always accessible and offer an alternative to text message codes, for example. And that I can't read the texts because they are often so small. Support by sound, for example, would also be very helpful.
Would you like more tips on how to improve your website? Our consultants will gladly help you. For example with a 1-on-1 conversation in which you immediately get useful tips to make your website digitally accessible.
