Meet Yvonne Felix: she is a working professional, a mother of two, a public and community artist, and an avid traveler and golfer. With her job, Yvonne travels across the continent to lead meetings, and commutes daily from her home in Hamilton, Ontario, to her office in Toronto’s downtown core.
Yvonne Felix successfully juggles all of these priorities (and more) on a daily basis. And the most unbelievable part of it all? Yvonne is legally blind.
Only with eSight – electronic glasses that let the legally blind actually see – is Yvonne able to see and work the way a sighted individual can. For those living with legal blindness, Yvonne’s case is the exception. According to the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB), 66% of working age, visually impaired Canadians are unemployed. More troubling, half of working-aged citizens living with a visual impairment earn less than $20,000 per year. Living with vision loss presents an array of daily challenges that are especially damaging when trying to thrive in today’s workplace. While many employers do provide accommodations to employees with a vision impairment, few provide the tools necessary to make those individuals truly included and successful.
Enter eSight.
eSight is a company with a simple but profound belief: that everyone deserves to see. And, when it comes to employment, we believe that everyone deserves the chance to pursue and build a career in a field for which they are passionate about. eSight‘s electronic glasses are helping professionals across the country excel in a variety of professional environments. With eSight, the legally blind can lead a mobile, independent and empowered life, outside and inside the four walls of their workplace. eSight allows them to tackle nearly any task without the typical barriers of vision loss and allows them to achieve equal opportunity with their sighted peers.
Think about the last meeting you participated in, and think closely about the varying demands on your eyes. You had to look down the hall (large depth of field) as you sought out the right boardroom. When you entered, you took a second to “zoom in” on each individual’s face, taking tabs on who’s attending. As either the presenter or a participant, you took the time to assess facial expressions and body language. You shifted your eyes from the presenter to the screen, and probably took notes on a piece of paper or a tablet. This all happens fast, in a way the sighted may take for granted. And, despite how seemingly routine this example is, it just doesn’t come easy to those with a visual impairment using standard tools.
Like so many other people, Yvonne used to face those challenges and, for a long time, she was unable to hold a job because of her vision loss. But, now, Yvonne no longer receives disability payments, and she proudly pays taxes. She works, learns, paints and travels with the same independence and empowerment that a sighted individual is afforded. So, to all the companies out there who could hire a talented individual with a visual impairment, we ask: have you taken a closer look at eSight?
Article provided by eSight
eSight is a company with a simple but profound belief: that everyone deserves to see. eSight – electronic glasses that let the legally blind actually see – is a breakthrough for those living with low vision. eSight drastically enhances the vision of the visually impaired, without any surgery. It is a wearable, all-in-one assistive device that empowers the visually impaired with independence and choice.
Watch eSight’s technology help legally-blind people see:
https://www.youtube.com/user/eSightEyewear
Newsletter Issue:
HR Microscope January 2017
