Vision impairment is defined as a limitation of one or more functions of the eye (or visual system).
The most common vision impairments affect:
- The sharpness or clarity of vision (visual acuity)
- The normal range of what you can see (visual fields)
- Colour
Legal blindness in Australia means that someone with vision impairment, even with glasses or contact lenses, can see an object at 6 metres that someone without vision impairment could see from 60 metres. This is called 6/60 vision.
Normal vision is 6/6 vision (or 20/20 in imperial measures).
There are numerous causes of vision impairment.