Dec 2016

CONTINUED FROM P16
Dr Adam Watson looked at eyelashes. He
discussed what is a normal eyelash and the role
eyelashes have as the first level protectors of
our ocular surface, before moving on to what
can go wrong. Demodex, blepharitis, styes and
madarosis (eyelash loss) are some common
conditions patients might present with. Dr
Watson then shared various management
options and things to watch out for.
The next two sessions were adapted talks
from the main conference. Key note speaker
Dr Jason Holland, a specialist optometrist
from Brisbane, opened with his talk, ‘Show me
the light – a look at the science, mechanisms
and evidence behind IPL in the treatment of
meibomian gland dysfunction and dry eye
disease’; while Dr Trevor Gray tackled the issues
and changes with implantable contact lenses
(ICLs) noting he had personally performed
more than 1,200 ICL procedures to date. Dr
Gray also reviewed the latest international
papers relating to ICLs, the new Aquaport ICL
design and the different approaches to shared
post-operative care required for ICL patients.
Dr Peter Ring wrapped up the early-afternoon
session with his look at the evolution of
intraocular lenses (IOLs). Up until about 60
years ago, all patients were aphakic following
cataract surgery. So the insertion of the first
intraocular lens in 1950 permanently changed
expected outcomes for cataract surgery
patients. However, it wasn’t until they were
re-designed in 1975 that they finally found an
accepted place among cataract surgeons, he
said, before discussing newer developments in
the evolution of this now essential prosthetic.
The final talk of the day, ‘Evolution of laser
vision correction’, was also presented by Dr
Gray, who looked at the improvements offered
by wavefront guided treatments against the
more well-known LASIK and SMILE. Wavefront,
also known as ‘custom LASIK’, uses unique
precision technology to measure prescriptions
down to 0.01dioptors and then gathers
information about the unique architecture of
the eye to customise the laser’s response. Your
eye is re-shaped not just according to your
prescription but in response to its own unique
landscape, explained Dr Gray. ▀
Make it
readable
BY NAOMI MELTZER*
Have you ever tried to read an article, a notice,
a telephone number or directions on a packet
and given up in frustration? You are not alone.
That is why Sight Loss Services Charitable Trust
launched the Make It Readable (MIR) campaign
in June 2015. We wanted to draw attention to
this issue and advocate for readable material by
persuading those producing print materials to adopt
readable print guidelines.
The campaign was funded as part of the Think
Differently fund, a social change campaign seeking
to encourage and support a fundamental shift in
attitudes and behaviours towards disabled people.
As part of the MIR campaign, a survey was
conducted with support from Synergia Ltd. This
survey asked people to provide information on the
materials that they struggled to read during their
daily lives and the reasons these materials were
hard to read.
The results from the MIR survey provide a useful
insight into the types of materials that are difficult
to read and the reasons for this difficulty. The MIR
survey has shown that there are a large number
of items that people find hard to read. Some of
the most frequently identified items included
newspapers, food products, and phone books,
though the survey also returned a lot of comments
about poor website design making it difficult to
access material by computer as is so often required
nowadays. These are items that will impact on most
people, but particularly the quality of life of people
with vision impairments, reducing their connection
with community and being less informed about the
products they can purchase.
Sight Loss Services continues to distribute the MIR
guidelines to various organisations particularly those
who send newsletters or other material out to a
target audience in the over-50 age group. ▀
* Naomi Meltzer is an Auckland-based optometrist specialised
in low vision and rehabilitation, and a trustee of the charitable
trust Sight Loss Services.
If you want it to be read, it must be readable.
These guidelines have been specially created to enable everyday informaon to be immediately accessed by
more people and for all types of documents.
Who benets from Clear Print?
CLEAR PRINT
GUIDELINES
Because Clear Print is designed to be used for all documents, it has far reaching benets. A clearly designed
and easy to read document will convey your essenal informaon to everyone who reads it, and in the process
can convey a posive view of the originang individual or organisaon.
Contrast is how you see things against their background. Aging causes a natural decline in contrast sensivity,
our ability to detect a difference in contrast.
Approximately 1 in 7 people over 50 years of age have signicant loss of vision due to condions such as
Macular Degeneraon or Glaucoma. This rises to at least 1 in 4 over 80 years old. One of the major effects
of such condions is to reduce contrast sensivity beyond the normal loss, so that the world starts to take
a “washed out” faded look. This has the most signicant effect on reading print. Maximum contrast is black
leers on a white non-shiny background or white leers on a black background.
The modern era of digital print means that newspapers, newsleer, forms and noces are produced on a
computer screen where prey coloured backgrounds and prinng over graphics such as picture or paerns
are easily seen on the screen, but the end product on paper is at best difficult to read by those with normal
vision and impossible to read for those with reduced. The same applies to websites which may look prey
but unless the principles of contrast as well as size are applied to the layout, the important informaon
becomes unreadable. Many people just don’t bother to read something that requires too much effort.
For printed informaon to be accessible to its reader the following guidelines should be followed:
1) Bold black print is easiest to see. Black print on white background or white print on black background
is the best contrast. Black print on a yellow background or yellow on black is also good
contrast.
2) Items can be highlighted with a coloured border but should not be printed over coloured backgrounds
or paerns. The closer the background colour is to the colour of the print the harder it is
to read.
3) A minimum font size of 10 point should be used for a target market over 65 years of age. Any
important informaon should be in bold 12 point font with headings and key points in bold 14 point.
4) Use plain sans serif fonts such as Ariel or Calibri. Fancy prints are decorave but impossible to read
for people with low vision.
5) Leave good white space between blocks of print. If print is crowded together it becomes more
difficult to read.
6) Do not wrap columns of print around graphics such as photos. People using magnifying aids have
enough problems keeping their place on a line of print without having to search for it elsewhere
on the page.
December 2016
NEW ZEALAND OPTICS
17