Quicktopic posts: Jul 2003

General forum for the UK Keratoconus and self-help group members.

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Ralph Goldsmith

Postby Ralph Goldsmith » Mon 28 Jul 2003 1:13 pm

Hello Aimee

I also work a lot with a PC. There are limits to what you can do with the brightness and contrast of the screen but you should also consider the ambient light conditions where you are working. If the environment is too dark this will make the screen seem brighter, however you need to be careful that you don't have the light by your PC too bright or this is just as bad. If you can find some way to have the level of light adjusted this may help but it will probably need a bit of trial and error. The type of screen may also make a difference, for example I find a flat TFT monitor easier on the eyes than a standard CRT.

Ralph

listener@umbilical.demon.

Postby listener@umbilical.demon. » Mon 28 Jul 2003 6:54 pm

Aimee wrote:
I use a PC everyday and i find that it hurts my eyes because it is quite bright, I have tried o adjust the contrast etc on my pc but this also makes the text dark and then i have trouble
reading it, how do others cope with this problem ?


I have this problem too! - I presume you are using a "windows"
type PC with a standard light/grey background and black letters?

There are a few things you can do:

1. invert the colour scheme to use light letters on a black
background. This reduces the total amount of the screen that is light-emitting, so reduces the total amount of brightness
entering your eyes. Unfortunately, most pieces of software have bugs in them somewhere that fix the text to black so you end up
with black letters on a black background and can't read anything!
2. you can get special accessiblity software - eg. Zoomtext, or
Lunar from a firm called Dolphin - which let you change the
colour scheme to one that is more comfortable (and I think can
be set to let you change colour schemes quickly and easily,
without going all through the control panel and fiddling).
These, because they pick up the windows default colour schemes,
and then change the colours themselves, do not suffer the same
problems with buggy software. They can be quite expensive, but
you may be able to get funding from the Access to Work scheme
for assistive technology.

3. you could try experimenting with different types of monitor
to see if some are clearer, less glaring, or have more sensitive brightness/contrast controls. Again, this could be expensive
and could also be a process of trial and error finding one that
works - it can be pretty hard to tell with a quick demo what
will be OK after a whole day's work.

4. By the sound of it, you need to mention the Disability
Discrimination Act to your employers!! - and point out that the
attitude of the techies is not only totally offensive and
unacceptable but is putting the company/organisation in breach
of the law of the land (assuming you're in the UK - similar
provisions exist across the rest of the EU, and in the USA you
need the Americans with Disabilities Act). I suggest you
contact your union about this, if you're a member; or a local
Disabled Persons Group if there is one, or look up the DDA, for
example onthe RNIB or Disability Rights COmmission web sites.

Good luck!!


Rosemary

PS:

anyone help me because unfortunatley the techy guys here are
pretty ignorant and just say well you will have to cope with it as it is !! Not helpful

Can you raise a formal grievance under your workplace grievance
procedure about this?



--
Rosemary F. Johnson

aimee.wilkes@bt.com

Postby aimee.wilkes@bt.com » Tue 29 Jul 2003 3:27 am

Thanks Everyone,

these are great suggestions that i'll definately try. Luckily my manager is very supportive and he is not happy with the response i received, something definately needs to be done about the ignorance of it all. Companies don't really cater for the visually impaired, that has become clear since i have had KC. I am going to try to improve that for my company at least.
Thanks again i'll let you know how i get on

Aimee

< replied-to message removed by QT >

aimee.wilkes@bt.com

Postby aimee.wilkes@bt.com » Tue 29 Jul 2003 3:30 am

HELP!!

My right eye keeps watering quite alot and won't stop, it is fairly sore but i'm still wearing my lenses, should i take them out or is this normal only it is constantly watering.

Aimee

< replied-to message removed by QT >

Karen

Postby Karen » Tue 29 Jul 2003 4:40 am

Hi Aimee - I had the same problem that you have - how I helped was to go into my tools icon, choose general and then click blue background, white text. I have found that this helped me a great deal. Also try not to have a light right above your head as the glare will also affect the screen. Your company can purchase screens to help with the glare - don't listen to the nonsense that these screens are already built in - they are but they are not very effective. The one I have just sits on top of my monitor. I've been very lucky my company is very health and safety conscious and have done all they can to help. Hope everything works out for you. Karen

umbilica@umbilical.demon.

Postby umbilica@umbilical.demon. » Tue 29 Jul 2003 5:36 pm

Aimee says:

HELP!!

My right eye keeps watering quite alot and won't stop, it is
fairly sore but i'm still wearing my lenses, should i take them out or is this normal only it is constantly watering.

Immediate answer from me is: no, it isn't normal. I should take it out and give it a bit of a rest and hope the rest will ease
the soreness.

Rosemary

--
Rosemary F. Johnson

umbilica@umbilical.demon.

Postby umbilica@umbilical.demon. » Tue 29 Jul 2003 5:36 pm

"Also try not to have a light right above your head
as the glare will also affect the screen. Your company can
purchase screens to help with the glare - don't listen to the
nonsense that these screens are already built in - they are but they are not very effective."

Please note, folks: the "glare screens" one fits over the
computer monitor screens are intended **to cut out the
reflections from windows or room lighting on the glass of the
monitor screen** - if you have that sort of problem, a glare
screen (either cloth gauze or a non-reflective surface plastic
sheet) may help.

Glare screens also have a tendency to reduce the contast of the
screen display, and make it harder to read - the first thing
I've ever had to do with a glare screen is take it off, because
I have poor contrast vision anyway! If you also have that
problem, it may work better to solve the reflections problem to
get an old cardboard box (such as offices get their photocopier
paper in), a pair of scissors and a large reel of sellotape, and make a "hood" round your monitor.

Glare screens are *not* intended to counteract problems of
hypersensitivity to the brightness of the light emitted by the
monitor itself. So, please do not, anyone affected, let
yourself be fobbed off by someone trying to give you a glare
screen to deal with emitted brightness problems! - nor with anyone trying to insist you use a glare screen even if you find it
reduces the contrast to the point of making it hard to read the
screen through it. Not only are those situations both likely to
give you sore eyes, headaches and the like, but that is also the
way to damage the surface of your screen.

The first stop in trying to deal with emitted brightness is the
"brightness" and "contrast" knobs, in conjunction, then changing colour schemes, or special software etc.

It never fails to amaze me how many, even so-called expert
computer "techies", try to put on a glare screen instead of
turning down the brightness knob!!


Rosemary

--
Rosemary F. Johnson

Susan Mason

Postby Susan Mason » Wed 30 Jul 2003 5:17 pm

Advice needed please:-

I am due to go away this weekend (I know I have left it late to ask but things have been a little hectic at home and at work - what with techys who think they know what is best for me, another story)

Anyway we are off to Jersey and with my newly got back from being altered scleral lens I am wondering how I am going to go on cleaning them. I know we will have tap water however, will it be ok? Or am I better getting something else? I have the saline I was recomended to use Normasol but am worried that as I have been advised to ensure that I clean the lenses off thoroughly it would take an awful lot of saline pouches to do this.

Any ideas?

Janet Manning

Postby Janet Manning » Wed 30 Jul 2003 6:10 pm

Hi Susan,
I'm sure the tap water in Jersey will be just fine for rinsing your sclerals AFTER use. I would proceed as usual, using mains water. I would continue to rinse only with saline before inserting the lenses.

By the way, has everyone seen Ken's message re Steripod saline?
It is now available again. Yippee! I have checked through Tesco's pharmacy with the suppliers and confirmed this, before trying to get my prescription changed yet again. So hopefully no more floppy sachets - I hate them!

Janet

eamonn gillespie

Postby eamonn gillespie » Thu 31 Jul 2003 4:04 am

Hi All,
I AM GOING TO LIVERPOOL IN SEPT TO DO A PGCE IN EDUCATION FOR A YEAR. I AM A BIT WORRIED ABOUT MY EYES. I AM THINKING ABOUT GETTING A TRANSFER TO AN OPTOMETRIST IN LIVERPOOL. I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT THE OPTOMETRISTS ARE LIKE THERE. IF I LOSE A lens WOULD I NEED TO WAIT LONG BEFORE I GOT A NEW ONE. I AM FROM N.IRELAND


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