Vision Impairment

An umbrella term for any reduction in visual function — including low vision, blindness, and functional limitations that affect everyday tasks — regardless of cause. The World Health Organization distinguishes between distance and near vision impairment and further classifies severity from mild to blindness. In accessibility and AI research, vision impairment is often further characterized by onset history (congenital or 'born blind' versus 'late blind') and current level of sight (totally blind versus partially sighted), because these factors meaningfully shape technology needs, learned strategies, and data-capture behaviours.