The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal, state and local laws ensure that all people who want to work, regardless of disabilities, are able to work.
However, that doesn't always mean that jobs for people with disabilities are just rolling in, especially for those who are blind or severely visually impaired.
However, there are some great jobs for blind people if they know where to look.
Whether someone wants to work from home or outside the home, there are plenty of available jobs for the visually impaired.
Some of these may require some small amount of accommodations to be made by an employer, but they are all easily achievable.
Call Center Representative
With the ever-growing dependence on the internet, companies all over the world have an increased demand for workers in their customer service call centers.
Whether checking on their Amazon orders or asking questions about their Netflix accounts, people constantly have questions they need answered.
A call center is one of the best jobs for blind people. The main duties for this job are to answer the phone, direct callers to the correct department and answer questions concerning whatever site/product about which they are calling.
There is very little need for sight with this job. For those call center jobs where computer access is a necessity, though, special equipment can be added to the computer that reads the text to the visually impaired person.
Special Education Aide
There are blind and visually impaired students in schools all across the nation. Those students deserve the same education as everyone else; however, they will require some special assistance throughout each day.
Who better to help them than someone who has grown up knowing exactly what they're going through?
Blind or visually impaired people make great resource aides for children with the same ailment.
They can work with students to help them learn to read braille, keep track of their money and other important life skills.
Bottom Line: furthermore, they can relate to the students' emotional and psychological states of mind in a way non-disabled teachers couldn't.
Retail Associate
There are several jobs for blind people at retail stores. They can work the phones, assist customers, be door greeters and even be cashiers on registers which accept only credit or debit cards.
The visually impaired but not totally blind can also be stockers, backroom associates or cashiers.
If the store has specialty areas such as a bakery or a deli, people with visual impairments can also do well in those.
Bottom Line: there are many different retail chains all over the country, and they always need competent, hard-working and friendly employees. People don't need eyesight to fulfill those qualities.
Music or Art Teacher
Jobs as music or art teachers are perhaps some of the most rewarding careers for visually impaired individuals.
Being blind doesn't prevent people from being incredible musicians or talented artists. On their website, the American Foundation for the Blind has several success stories of blind people who make their livings by playing music professionally.
Sculpting and other art is also a popular form of expression for the visually impaired.
Whether someone plays an instrument or sculpts lovely vases, that is something that can be shared with students of all ages, making these jobs perfect for any lover of fine art, blind or otherwise.
Online Tutor
Oftentimes, blind people prefer to work from home instead of having to find a way to get to and from a job outside the home.
This has become much easier to do now that the internet has become so easily accessible and all-encompassing.
Online tutoring via webcam has become one of the most popular work at home jobs for visually impaired people.
There are all kinds of companies popping up which allow people to work from home to teach English to foreign students.
Bottom Line: The process is all done via Skype or some other network, and being blind is not an issue.
Motivational Speaker
Motivational speakers get paid a ton of money to go from town to town, school to school or church to church to spread their stories of hope, hardship and triumph.
Who better to share a story of overcoming than someone who is blind and has overcame his or her disability?
This is another extremely rewarding - and well-paying - job for a blind person to have because it gives him or her the opportunity to tell his or her story to the world.
It allows that person to spread hope and the message that nothing can hold you back unless you let it.
Massage Therapist
It generally takes less than a year for someone to become a massage therapist, making this a great and incredibly lucrative career for anyone.
However, it is one of the best jobs for blind people because the job relies on the power of touch, not sight.
The art of massage is all about touching, relieving pain and working out knots in sore muscles, all of which can be done without the person needing to see the body on which s/he is working.
This job pays well, too, and can be done from inside or outside the home.
Factory Workers
Although people may not realize it, working in a factory is probably one of the most common jobs for blind people to have.
Many factory jobs require little more than pushing a button or lifting a lever. These jobs are so easy to do, people could "do it in their sleep".
This means visually impaired individuals can easily learn to do the job and continue to do it by rote memory.
If something goes wrong with the machine, someone else might have to help, but as long as things run smoothly, a blind person can very easily do this job.
Chef
The most important part of cooking is, of course, tasting. Throw in a pinch of this and a dash of that; give it a taste, and voila! Delicious!
Blind people rely heavily on organization and routine, and as long as a kitchen is well-organized, one doesn't actually need to see what s/he is adding to a pot to make something delicious.
This means blind people can be excellent chefs. Often their senses of smell and taste are stronger than other people's to make up for their lack of sight.
Therefore, they can concoct enticing smelling dishes that taste amazing without ever seeing their ingredients.
Radio Personality
Most music is digital now, and if something is digital, it can be made easily accessible to those with vision impairments.
Being a radio personality, radio talk show host, deejay or emcee can be an easy way for blind people to make a living, especially if they have a great voice, are funny or have lots of interesting stories to tell.
Plus, being on the radio is one way for people with a disability to be themselves without anyone knowing they even have a disability.
No one sees radio personalities unless they want to be seen. This job is great for those people who just want to go to work, do a good job and not worry about how people are going to perceive their vision problems.
