Easy on the Eyes
Let’s face it, mobile digital devices are replacing paper periodicals. Novels, magazines and blogs are all available online. Whether it’s the result of backlit display overuse or the fact that reading is more accessible than ever, many people wear eyeglasses or contact lenses.
Vision aids themselves can fatigue eyes. This makes reading blogs and shopping online more difficult—particularly after a long day. Poor vision can indirectly hurt your back too. Leaning forward negates lumbar support in your computer chair—assuming you have a good chair.
About 60% of Americans are far-sighted. This can be combined with astigmatism that blurs vertical (tangential) or horizontal (sagittal) focus. Obteuse astigmatsm combines tangential and sagittal.
Astigmatism results from distortion in the cornea curvature. This curve can be counterbalanced by fixed-position lenses. Since contact lens alignment varies, eyeglasses or laser surgery are required to correct astigmatism.
If you wear eyeglasses prescribed that correct astigmatism, perhaps one of the two following words is sharper with than without them. Sharpness may even alternate as you raise and lower or tilt your glasses. If you don’t have eyeglasses, slowly moving close and far away and or closing one eye may alter legibility of one word or the other—revealing an astigmatism.
Between 12 and 24 inches away, does one word seem sharper than the other to you? Without an astigmatism (or with one that is corrected), each word should have similar softness.
What helps, besides wearing prescribed reading glasses, is text contrast. Browsers and digital devices may offer options to increase point size and simplify some layouts. But simplified formatting does not allow you to immerse yourself within all site features.
Are You Color Blind?
Cooler (color) blindness (color vision deficiency, or CVD) affects approximately 1 in 12 men (8%) and 1 in 200 women in the world.
Looking For Something More Legible?
You are not the only one affected by dry eyes, astigmatism or far-sightedness. Save larger text option in your browser settings for any website you visit. This will help but not improve all vision related problems. Learn more with purchase of Disorders of the Eye anatomy poster.
