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10 Ways to Reduce Eye Strain from Technology
A college student's strategies for successfully reducing eye strain when using technology.
I don’t watch any TV, proudly says a person who spends her entire day on her computer, iPad, phone, and other assistive technology devices. When I first meet someone who doesn’t understand vision loss, they often are confused as to how I can see my devices, shortly followed by how I can use them for such long periods of time. Here are ten ways I help to fight eye fatigue when using my devices. While this is targeted towards people with low vision, anyone who uses computers for a long period of time can benefit from these techniques.
1. Blue light filter guard for Google Chrome – this extension helps to remove blue light, which can cause fatigue, eye strain, and blurry vision. It puts a warm tint over the page allowing the user to look at the screen for long periods of time. This has never affected my ability to see pictures, as images look very natural against this background. I use this extension.
2. Computer glasses – I found myself in the computer lab all day with virtual classes in high school. My low vision specialist recommended computer glasses, which have a special progressive bifocal, for helping to prevent me from bending my head funny as I try to read through my bifocal. I got mine through LensCrafters, and they took about seven business days to receive them. One downfall is that it’s impossible to see when the user looks away from the screen- when there was a fire alarm one day and I got up without changing glasses, I walked into the wall next to the door.
3. Non-prescription tinted glasses – One of my friends likes to use these when using electronics, and it helps them to see with a high contrast display. These have a yellow tint to them and help to reduce eye strain further. I have not tried wearing them over my thick glasses so I’m not sure how they will fit, but I do like the wraparound design. Here are the ones they have.
4. Anti-glare screen filter – This is a glass filter that hangs on the outside of the computer monitor. This is not helpful for touch screens, however for desktop computers that don’t use touch, it’s a great way to further filter out light and glare, making text easy to see. My mom has this on her home computer and it really helps. We use this model.
5. Reducing white point on iPad and iPhone. To do this, go to settings, then accessibility, and then display accommodations. It can be found on the bottom part of the menu. Mine is reduced to 50°
6. Color filter on iPad– This helps to filter out blue light on iPad. It can be enabled in display accommodations and then the color accommodations menu. I have a color intensity about 1/3 down the line and the hue at 100%.
7. F.lux – This free application is available for iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, and even Linux. Simply tell it what area you live in and what lighting you have and it does the rest, intelligently blocking out light, especially at night. You can download it at www.justgetflux.com
8. Eye pillow – Eventually, my eyes do get tired and I like the feeling of compression on them and total darkness. My eye pillow is one of my favorite purchases from Amazon and has a hot and cold side to it depending on what kind of relief I’m looking for. I find leaving this on for twenty minutes is invaluable. Find it here.
9. Microsoft Office backgrounds – My friend taught me this when I was in tenth grade. If you find the background behind the document you’re working on to be too bright, you can go into options and change the color of the background to dark gray/black.
10. Automatic brightness – What is better, a super bright screen or a super dark screen? For me, I prefer to use the automatic brightness settings across my devices to decide for me. Naturally, I prefer slightly darker to avoid triggering my photosensitivity, and I can adjust the automatic settings when needed.
Despite popular belief, you will not go blind by looking at a screen too long or too closely. This was true with the first cathode ray televisions, although with LCD/LED displays, it is no longer true. So use your devices for whatever you need them for, and avoid developing eye strain while doing so!
This post was originally published on veroniiica. com.
By Veroniiiica
