Watching TV with a Visual Impairment

Don’t Let a Visual Impairment Prevent You From Enjoying the World Cup – Use These 7 Tips for Watching TV with a Visual Impairment

More than 3.5 billion people tuned into 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia, making FIFA World Cup one of the most-watched sporting events in the world. Whether you call it soccer or football, the athleticism of the players, the cheering crowds, the green grass, and the sheer emotions make it one of the most visibly appealing sports on earth. In fact, many call it “The Beautiful Game.”

Most fans watch the World Cup on televisions or digital platforms, where they could witness a nice freekick, a perfect slide kick, or even an “absolute screamer of a golazo to the upper angle” up close and personal, but without being at the actual match.

How can you enjoy the World Cup if visual impairment prevents you from seeing the visual beauty of the World Cup on TV? Wearing an eSight helps, of course, especially if you optimize your viewing environment and use the many features eSight offers.

Visually impaired father and son watch the World Cup on their TV
Tips for watching TV with a visual impairment

7 Tips to Improve Your World Cup Experience

Tips for watching tv with a visual impairment if you don’t have eSight

1. Reduce glare

Glare from a window or bright light can reduce the contrast of an image on a TV or computer screen. Reduce the glare by moving the TV or screen away from the window or by closing a shade. You might also try a pair of indoor eye shields or absorptive lenses, which filter out bothersome glare and potentially harmful light rays. Eye shields and absorptive lenses come in a variety of styles and filter colors; a low vision specialist or vision rehabilitation professional can help you determine which can help you watch the World Cup.

2. Sit closer to the TV

Sit closer to the television or bring the screen closer to your face to make the screen larger. Always check with an eye doctor, though, as too much exposure to the blue light from your television and computer screens can damage the light-sensitive cells in your retina.

3. Get a larger TV or electronic screen

Consider switching to a larger screen or high-definition (HD) television. Prior to the World Cup, head to your local electronics store and look at a range of screen sizes to determine if getting a larger TV or screen can improve your view.

4. Use TV glasses

TV magnifying glasses typically offer 2.1x magnification for distances and a wide 20-degree field of vision, but they can be cumbersome to wear.

5. Try a monocular or telescope

You can hold a monocular or telescope up to either eye, or mount them on existing glasses, to help you see the games in greater detail. Monoculars frequently offer magnification greater than 2x, but increased magnification often comes with decreased field of view. In other words, you may be able to see more detail in a small area of the screen with a monocular, but be able to see much less of the screen than you would with TV glasses. And, unless you mount them on existing glasses, you’ll have to hold the monocular to your eye the entire match.

6. Improve access to the remote

TV remotes are hard to use, particularly in low lighting. Remotes with poor contrast, too many buttons, or tiny print on the buttons can be especially frustrating. To make matters worse, most remotes have too many useless buttons and this makes finding the one or two most important buttons hard to find. You can get remotes with larger buttons and better contrast, but it still might have too many buttons.

Make the important buttons stand out with colorful raised or tactile markings, such as raised foam dots with adhesive backing or tactile pens that produce three-dimensional plastic liquids that create dots, raised lines and shapes.

Tips to Watch TV with eSight

7. Adjust your eSight settings

eSight’s lightweight, hands-free design lets you enjoy every beautiful moment of the World Cup. For a better view, focus on lighting. Dim lighting improves your view of the screen and helps with depth perception. Close the blind if the TV is near a window. Use exposure setting to help with lighting.

Toggle between eSight modes, depending on the environment in the room during the World Cup and the amount of social interaction you desire. Far focused mode allows you to concentrate on the game and is helpful when people walk in front of the TV. If you want to be more social, use autofocus mode, which allows for more movement and action. Connect the eSight HDMI cable into your TV, cable box, or computer to send the images directly to your headset.

Don’t miss one beautiful moment of the World Cup – adjust your surroundings and your eSight to enjoy one of the most popular sporting events on Earth.

Did you find this post helpful? Keep reading to learn how you can play video games with a visual impairment.

Skip to content