[en] Visual

[Hello,

 

 

It's a minor thing, but . 

 

There is a longstanding custom in English-language  disability discourse,
especially in the U.S. it seems, to describe the experience of people with
vision loss as having a 'visual disability' or 'visual impairment'.

 

The word  'visual' is about what is seen as in 'visual art'.

 

The word 'vision' is about seeing rather than what is seen as in
'envisioning'. 

 

to say something is 'visually impaired', therefore, is tantamount to saying
the appearance of that thing is itself impaired.

 

The phrase 'vision impairment' rather than 'visually impaired' or 'visual
disability' is used by the World Health Organisation in the International
Classification framework of Functioning, Disability, and Health, and by the
U.N. more broadly.

 

It is also used by Australia's peak blind and low vision service provider,
Vision Australia, for precisely this reason.

 

Does the W3 and particularly WAI have a position on the disability-related
language it uses in drafting specifications?

 

Cheers,

Adam

]