COVID-19 Online Resource Library

The COVID-19 Pandemic continues to have implications on people’s livelihoods across the globe and especially, for people with visual impairments including those with additional disabilities and the elderly. ICEVI-Europe provides you below with research, resources, and other practical information that describe the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the services for people with visual impairments.

COVID-19 Report: Impact and Responses across the ICEVI-Europe region

A report that explores the measures taken in ICEVI regions across Europe to combat the effects of the virus on services for people with visual impairment.
Covid 19 Report Impact and Responses in ICEVI-Europe

European Blind Union

The European Blind Union has published a comprehensive COVID 19 Resource Page on their website, which includes reports, good practices, interviews, advice and practical information from EBU, their member countries and from other international organizations and disability-related resources.

The International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI)

ICEVI has published a dedicated ICEVI-COVID 19 Response page on its website which displays learning resources and videos useful for parents and teachers of visually impaired children.

UNESCO

UNESCO has released the following policy brief on distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Brief: Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on the education of persons with disabilities: Challenges and opportunities of distance education. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000378404

UNICEF

UNICEF has released a Report, COVID-19: Are schoolchildren able to keep learning during school closures? A global analysis of the potential reach of remote learning policies, finding that at least 463 million students around the globe remain cut off from education, mainly due to a lack of remote learning policies or lack of equipment needed for learning at home.

American Foundation for the Blind (AFB)

The AFB, in collaboration with 16 other organizations, has published a Research Report, Flatten Inaccessibility: Impact of COVID-19 on Adults Who Are Blind or Have Low Vision in the United States (accessible pdf). This report presents data obtained through the survey of 1,921 U.S. participants with vision loss, including those with additional disabilities, (during the early stages of the U.S. response to the COVID-19 pandemic) and provides recommendations based on the study findings.The effects of COVID-19 were examined on the lives of adults with vision loss in the U.S. in the following areas: healthcare, technology usage, transportation, employment, education, social experiences, access to food, meals, and supplies, and voting.

European Country Case Study- The case of Israel

Useful resources and research contributed by various organizations in the field of visual impairment in Israel describing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education and rehabilitation services provided to children and adults with visual impairments.

• Aleh Activity During the Covid-19 Period. A report on how Aleh, The Society of Blind and Dyslexic Students in Israel, adapted the services it offers to blind and visually impaired people of all ages from early childhood to senior citizens, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The Experiences of “Ofek Liyladenu.”A look into how COVID-19 impacted the services for visually impaired childrenprovided by the Israel National Association of Parents of Children with Visual Impairments.
• ELIYA - Association for Blind and Visually Impaired Children: Adapting to COVID-19. A presentation on how this organization for the care and advancement of blind and visually impaired children,from birth to age six, adjusted their working method with the children in their Day Care Centers and implemented various necessary adaptations.
• A comprehensive Research Report on the Challenges arising from the COVID-19 crisis regarding Online Services and the responses developed as a result of the new needs & demands, conducted by the Lighthouse (Migdal-Or in Hebrew), a multi-service center engaged in the functional and vocational rehabilitation of blind and visually impaired persons of all ages.