Glaucoma Awareness Month

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Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide, affecting millions of people. It is estimated that approximately 80 million people globally have glaucoma, and the number is projected to grow to over 111 million by 2040.

Glaucoma is commonly known as the "silent thief of sight" because it usually has no symptoms in its early stages. With this condition, the optic nerve gets damaged slowly, leading to vision field reduction and, if left untreated, blindness.

High intraocular pressure (IOP) is a major risk factor for glaucoma. Elevated IOP can damage the optic nerve fibers, leading to progressive vision loss, resulting in glaucoma. However, glaucoma can also occur in individuals with normal IOP levels, known as normal-tension glaucoma. High IOP alone is not a definitive indicator of glaucoma.

Unfortunately, due to late diagnosis, one person I know lost their vision. Even though glaucoma has no cure yet, blindness could be prevented with regular eye exams and early treatment, such as applying eye drops, or performing an SLT procedure that helps lower IOP to prevent further damage to the optic nerve.

What can you do to support people with glaucoma?

Learn more about needs of people with glaucoma

Glaucoma affects the way people perceive the environment. Use vision simulators like Glaucoma Vision Simulator or NoCoffee vision simulator for Firefox to understand how glaucoma affects vision. Adapt your digital and physical projects so that they're easy to use with visual impairments.

Similar simulators exist for other visual impairments as well.

For digital content, follow WCAG and PDF/UA standards

WCAG criteria like 1.1.1. Non-text Content (Level A), 1.4.4 Resize Text (Level AA), and 4.1.2 Name, Role, Value (Level A) address needs of people with visual impairments, including glaucoma. This is not an exhaustive list, and you should aim to follow other WCAG criteria to ensure your digital content is accessible to people with disabilities.

To ensure PDF accessibility, follow PDF/UA (PDF for Universal Access) standard. This will help make your documents accessible by users of assistive technologies, such as screen readers.

Ensure compliance with EN 301 549 standard for a wider range of products

European standard EN 301 549 specifies accessibility requirements for a broad range of products and services, including hardware, software, websites, and electronic documents. By following this standard, you can make your digital content is accessible to people with disabilities, including those with visual impairments like glaucoma.

Complying with these standards is a great first step, but keep in mind that no guideline or automated tool guarantees accessibility. An effective way to ensure accessibility is to conduct accessibility user testing with people with disabilities.

Accomodate for people with visual impairments, including glaucoma

Adopt accessible practices in the physical world. Design physical spaces with accessibility in mind — for example, provide printed materials and signage in Braille or large print, whenever possible. To help people with glaucoma navigate the environment, install tactile paving.

Support your local glaucoma organizations

There are many organizations around the world that support glaucoma research, provide guidance and support groups for people with glaucoma. You can find a glaucoma society in your country on the World Glaucoma Association's list of member societies.

Here are some glaucoma organizations you can support:

By keeping accessibility barriers in mind, we can help ensure that individuals with glaucoma and other visual impairments can access and benefit from the great variety of products and public services.