What is considered “legal blindness”?
The ability to see, or “visual acuity” is found by using a system that compares distance vision between the patient and the standard set for normal vision. Separate measures are determined for each eye. The first value or numerator is the distance the testing distance, usually 20 feet. The second value or denominator is the size of the test letter. A “normal” person can see a 20 size letter at 20 feet. (20/20) If the letter size needs to be 10 times larger for you to see it, (10X20=200) your vision is 20/200. Legal blindness is defined as 20/200 or less visual acuity in the better eye with best refractive glasses or a visual field of 20 degrees or less.
