Vision Classifications

By: Carmen Willings
teachingvisuallyimpaired.com
​Updated May 25, 2019

A person with a visual impairment is one whose vision, even with correction (e.g. glasses or contact lenses), medicine, or surgery, adversely impacts a their educational performance and ability to complete everyday tasks due to their vision. Examples are person's whose visual impairments may result from congenital defects, eye diseases, or injuries to the eye. There are few people who are considered completely blind as many people who are classified as "blind" still have usable vision.
The World Health Organization (WHO) uses the following classifications of visual impairment. When the vision in the better eye with BEST POSSIBLE glasses correction is:

  • 20/30 to 20/60 is considered mild vision loss, or near-normal vision
  • 20/70 to 20/160 is considered moderate visual impairment, or moderate low vision
  • 20/200 to 20/400 is considered severe visual impairment, or severe low vision. In the United states, a person with 20/200 in the BETTER eye is considered legally blind.
  • 20/500 to 20/1,000 is considered profound visual impairment, or profound low vision
  • less than 20/1,000 is considered near-total visual impairment, or near total blindness
  • no light perception is considered total visual impairment, or total blindness.

There are also levels of vision loss that are based on visual field loss (loss of peripheral vision). In the United States, a person who has a remaining visual field loss of 20 degrees or less is considered legally blind.
You may wonder what to do when an individual's vision cannot be corrected to 20/20 but they are found to not meet the eligibility criteria for school based vision services or vocational rehabilitation services. Other school personnel and/or specialists may be able to address the individual's unique visual and learning needs. A reading specialist may be contacted to work on reading and learning disabilities. An occupational therapist and a physical therapist may address concerns of eye hand coordination and vision perception difficulties. Be assured that even if a student does not meet the eligibility for school based vision services, they can still receive the accommodations they require to be successful in school. 
"The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."  -Helen Keller
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