Here are some age-related statistics related to our vision:

• 1 in 10 people over 50 have an early form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
• 3 in 10 folks over 80  have an early form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
• Glaucoma affects over 3,000,000 Americans.
• By 2030, it is estimated over 4,000,000 American will suffer from glaucoma symptoms.
• Older adults (over 60) are six times as likely to have glaucoma.
• 24,400,000 folks over 40 have cataracts.
• By age 75, 50% of Americans will have cataracts.

Sources: 

https://ece.hsdm.harvard.edu/news/glaucoma-awareness-essential-health-aging-population

Prevalence of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD)

https://www.aao.org/newsroom/eye-health-statistics#:~:text=A%3A%20Cataracts%20affect%20more%20than,of%20all%20Americans%20have%20cataracts

These vision problems plus others can make using our iPhones and iPads problematic. Text and images become blurry. Activities like reading online news sources, playing games, and even watching videos become a chore rather than a pleasure. Staying connected to one’s friends and family becomes more difficult. These vision issues may lead to sense of isolation which we know is unhealthy.

“Research has linked social isolation and loneliness to higher risks for a variety of physical and mental conditions: high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, a weakened immune system, Anxiety, depression, cognitive decline, Alzheimer’s disease, and even death.”

(https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/social-isolation-loneliness-older-people-pose-health-risks#:~:text=Research%20has%20linked%20social%20isolation,Alzheimer’s%20disease%2C%20and%20even%20death.)

Fortunately, our iPhones and iPads have features that address some of the most common vision issues. Go to Settings and then tap on Accessibility.

With these features, you can make text larger, have it read to you, and magnify your screen. Notice, that each of the options has a little arrow. Tap on any of the arrows and you will find more choices.

We at BoomerTECH Adventures are fully aware of the challenges Aging eyes face. For example, I’ve had cataract surgery on both eyes. We feel it is important to provide our followers and clients the best information about their devices. Therefore we have created two resources that explain in detail the choices available in the accessibility options.

1. 15 iPhone/iPad Vision Accessibility Features — A BoomerTECH Adventures Ebook

Here are some of the topics addressed in this book.

2. The second option is an online course.

When accessing any of our courses, you receive an PDF pamphlet that contains a description of the contents and links to the videos.  You progress at you own rate and can view the videos as many time as you would like. Plus, we are just an email away if you have any questions.

There are five videos in this course.

Here is one of the videos in the course that will give you a taste of the information available.

Take good care of your eyes and schedule your annual eye exams! Our eyes are a valuable resource.

Both of these resources can be found on our website’s marketplace: https://boomertechadventures.com/shop/

Originally Published on https://boomertechadventures.com/

Ed Brazee Co-founder of BoomerTECH Adventures

Ed Brazee is co-founder of BoomerTECH Adventures with colleagues Jill Spencer and Chris Toy. BoomerTECH Adventures helps fellow boomers develop their digital expertise while modeling and encouraging compassion, honesty, fairness, respect for diversity, and adherence to ethical behavior. Using technology in this day and age is much more than knowing what buttons to push!

Ed is professor emeritus of education at the University of Maine where he taught for 25 years. He was also publications editor for the Association for Middle Level Education, and directed a highly regarded summer institute for teachers.