Eccentric viewing

A viewing strategy used by people with central vision loss (such as from macular degeneration) in which they learn to look slightly off-center to use a healthier area of the retina instead of the damaged macula. The part of the retina they train themselves to use is called the preferred retinal locus (PRL). Eccentric viewing is a critical compensatory skill taught in low vision rehabilitation — it allows people to read, recognize faces, and perform detail-oriented tasks despite having a blind spot in their central vision. For digital accessibility, understanding eccentric viewing is important because these users may appear to be looking away from what they are actually trying to see, which affects eye-tracking-based assistive technologies and gaze-based interaction design.