Visually impaired people "forget" about corona regulations
Christine Albert studied German linguistics and literature as well as Scandinavian studies at the Albert Ludwigs University in Freiburg. She is currently doing a traineeship at Hubert Burda Media and is writing, among other things, for
More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.Keeping your distance in public? Shopping online instead of on-site? The blind and visually impaired face special challenges in the corona pandemic. Some feel abandoned.
Blind and visually impaired people have hardly been taken into account in the measures to contain the coronavirus, criticizes the Blind and Visually Impaired Association of Saxony.
"We may not be the bulk of society, but we have simply been forgotten," says deputy chairman Andreas Schneider in Meißen. The markings on floors and barriers in front of shops and other facilities are simply not detectable. How should the disabled, for example, also recognize signs?
Great loneliness for many of those affected
People couldn't cope with these unfamiliar situations, they couldn't face these challenges on their own, Schneider told the German Press Agency on the occasion of the Visually Impaired Day on June 6th.
He appealed to others to help. "Many blind and visually impaired people don't dare to go out in public alone in Corona times," said Schneider. He complained that those affected were very lonely.
In addition, many of the association's events, such as excursions and social gatherings, had to be canceled. Switching to other venues is as good as impossible. "The locations with which we have been working for many years are geared to the needs of the blind and visually impaired; you cannot simply relocate that," said Schneider.
Association demands accessibility of digital offers
Even with the current boom in digital offers, blind people are slowed down, according to Schneider. In this context, he mentioned video conferencing, online shopping and streaming films. His association is therefore finally calling for an overdue legal regulation on the accessibility of digital offers.
According to Schneider, the Saxon association currently has around 1000 members. Around 150,000 blind and 500,000 visually impaired people live in Germany. The WHO assumes, however, that far more people with visual impairments live in Germany. (approx / dpa)
