“Barrier” means any factor including communicational, cultural, economic, environmental, institutional, political, social, attitudinal, or structural factors which hampers the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in society.
RPwDA- Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.

Persons with vision impairment often have lower rates of participation in education and workforce, less productivity and higher rates of depression and anxiety. The environment in which they live play a central role as a barrier or facilitator of participation.
Independent mobility and navigation in an unfamiliar environment are well-known challenges and emotionally stressful for persons with vision impairment, especially those with complete vision loss. Another major challenge which people with vision impairment face is the overwhelming mass of visual material to which they are continually exposed, such as books, images, signboards and other graphic materials, etc. Access to the digital environment continues to have substantial challenges for persons with visual impairments.
Optometrist Dr. Ramya discusses each of these challenges in detail in the following lecture, with feedback from her consulting beneficiaries who use assistive technology.