Washington State
Department of Services for the Blind

Situation:

Solution:

Cost:

A new restaurant employee who is legally blind used a service dog to travel to and from work.  The employee did not need the dog to perform her job duties.

A dog crate was placed in a back office with a clear path of travel in and out of the facility.  The dog was crated during the workday and was out of contact with any food products or supplies used in the restaurant.

$75

A bakery worker with mental retardation and a visual impairment had trouble placing cookie dough by precise numbers and patterns on sheets due to visual perception problems.

A plastic template was made for the cookie sheet, with holes cut to indicate the precise placing pattern. 

$50

An assembler/operator with a severe vision limitation had the job of wrapping hose-pipe fittings with special tape.  This required close examination of the work materials.  Quality of work was very important.

A total view magnifier on an adjustable swivel base was installed.

$450

A legal department secretary in the cable television industry who is legally blind had to perform such duties as typing, answering telephones, filing and photo-copying.

The employee was given a specially designed work table to hold a personal computer, a printer, and a VTEK (a large print display processor which replaces the smaller standard terminal screen), all of which could be easily accessed.  An automatic paper feeder was added to the printer.

$1,360

Situation:

Solution:

Cost:

A custodian with low vision was having difficulty seeing the carpeted area he was vacuuming.

A fluorescent lighting system was mounted on his industrial vacuum cleaner.

$240

A college professor with AIDS was having vision problems associated with the disability.  His greatest difficulty was in grading student papers.

A video magnification system was purchased which facilitated his reading the papers.  In addition, students who used the school’s word processing system were asked to provide copies of their papers on computer diskette.  This allowed the professor to utilize a computer speech synthesis system, which the school had already purchased for students and staff with vision problems.

$2,600

A law firm receptionist who is blind could not see the lights on the phone console that indicated which telephone lines are ringing, on hold, or in use by staff.

The employer purchased a light-probe, a pen-like product, which detects a lighted button.

$45

An accountant with HIV was experiencing sensitivity to fluorescent light.  As a result, she was not able to see her computer screen or written materials clearly.

The employer lowered the wattage in overhead lights, provided task lighting and a computer screen glare guard.

$80

A radio broadcaster/announcer who is blind needed to read the AP wire news desk material.

The employer connected a Braille printer to the incoming news service and installed a switch to move from regular printed material to Braille.

$1,700