Shortly before my second year of college, I received a few orientation and mobility lessons for learning how to navigate with low vision and a blindness cane. These lessons were helpful for learning general travel skills, but I noticed they didn’t get into specifics about navigating college campuses or using university resources available for students with vision loss. I wish I had gotten O&M lessons sooner, because a blindness cane would have been really helpful for touring colleges, and the specialist could have helped me figure out important places to visit. Here are my tips for touring colleges with a blindness cane, from a student who toured multiple colleges and would give tours to prospective students with vision loss (inclusive of low vision/blindness).
I wasn’t using a blindness cane when I went on college tours during high school, as I didn’t start using a cane until shortly before my freshman year of college. There are a few ways that students with vision loss can prepare for a college tour or research information ahead of time, including:
Each college has a different way of requesting college tours, though almost all tours are organized through the Office of Admissions. Tours usually take place at the same time every day of the week, though there are also special events throughout the year that allow prospective students to attend an open house-type event where there are lots of staff members to answer questions. I prefer to attend the smaller tours since it gives me a better feel for the campus layout when there aren’t a ton of visitors.
For requesting disability-specific tours, students should reach out to Disability Services to ask if a student from their office can give a tour. I received messages from Disability Services a few times asking if I could give a tour to prospective students with vision loss, even though I wasn’t part of the official campus tour guide program.
All of the college tours I’ve been on gave students the opportunity to visit the following locations:
These tours are incredibly helpful, though when I have students touring colleges with a blindness cane, I like to add a few other stops that are specific to students with visual impairments. I have an entire post written about where I take students, though if you only have time for one place, I recommend going to the Disability Services office – more on that in a minute.
I was thrilled to learn that every college I toured had a stairs-free or stairs-optional tour for people who did not want to walk up and down stairs, or that use mobility aids. I recommend those who are touring colleges with a blindness cane to take advantage of these tours, since they are often smaller and it’s more difficult to get separated from the group.
Some colleges also allow prospective students to use disability transportation services to tour campus, which means that students can ride around campus in a golf cart or similar vehicle with a guide, and the guide can provide descriptive information along the way. I have done a version of this tour for a tired student by narrating a trip around campus on the campus bus system, and it worked out well. I recommend contacting Admissions for more information on this option.
Before visiting campus, it’s helpful to reach out to Disability Services to get more information about what to expect when attending this college as a student with a disability, and to schedule an appointment with a staff member or student with the same condition. I’ve linked a few more in-depth posts on this topic below.
Many colleges will hand students flyers and papers filled with information for applying. I typically would request digital copies whenever possible for tour handouts, or scan in information so I could read it on my iPad or Android phone. If I was on a college tour right now, I would use the Microsoft Office Lens app to scan any documents I was handed so I could read them clearly, or use my phone as a magnifier.
Recently, I had a student go on a virtual reality tour of my college in addition to touring the campus in person, and the virtual reality tour helped to fill in a lot of information about the campus layout and what buildings looked like. I’m linking a post I wrote on the topic below about how to find virtual reality college tours and how to find tours that are accessible with a screen reader.
By Veronica Lewis/Veronica With Four Eyes, www.veroniiiica.com
Updated April 2024.
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