First, let's talk about the tips for low vision. This can range from visual impairment to complete blindness. Follow these simple tips and you can make your home low vision friendly!

1. Adjust the lighting

You will want to provide plenty of lighting in the areas of the home such as reading, recreation and socializing. Light should always be at the point of focus (where you will be doing work, not at the eyes.) Some tips to help with this could include:

• Adding floor and table lamps around the kitchen, dining room and bedroom. Clip on lights can also help because they can be placed strategically around the house for added convenience.
• Used lighting that is 60 to 100 watts and replace burned-out lightbulbs regularly so you can see better.
• Allow for natural light throughout the house by using adjustable blinds or curtains.
• Experiment with lighting and find out which works best for your individual needs: halogen, fluorescent, incandescent or flood. Please note: fluorescent light bothers many visually impaired people.
• In case you need additional light at night, keep a flashlight, have a heavy-duty light on a keychain or keep several around the house.
• To more easily identify where your hallway curbs and ends, make sure light is consistent throughout your house.

2. Rearrange furniture

              Rearranging the furniture can help you move around your house more easily and stop injuries. There are many ways to rearrange furniture and still have functionality and added convenience for your living space. Some of these ways could include:

• Place mirrors strategically to avoid glare or reflecting light.
• In case you want to read, work or craft in the natural light, keep some chairs by the windows.
• Arrange furniture close together so that you can easily talk with others.
• Place brightly colored vases or lamps near key items of furniture so that you can locate them more easily.

3. Eliminate safety hazards

              Feeling safe inside your own home is important. There are plenty of ways to prevent falls and other injuries and many of them are quite simple.

• Keep table and desk chairs pushed in and encourage your family to do the same.
• Use non-skid or non-glare products to polish your floors.
• Remove low-lying objects that may cause tripping hazards such as coffee tables or end tables. If this is not possible or you have little to no space, people with visual impairments can often memorize where things are.
• Tape down or remove cords in the pathways so you don't trip.
• Tape down any area rugs you may have and replace worn carpeting or floor coverings.
• Keep floors dry and immediately wipe up any spills.
• In high-slip areas (the bathroom or stairs,) install grab bars. This may be possible to do yourself.
• Mark step edges with yellow reflective tape so that you can easily identify them.
• Always keep your fire extinguisher and first aid kit in the exact same place where it is easily accessible.
• In case of an emergency, make sure all exits are marked with a bright contrasting color.

4. Create an organized environment

              If you like to organize your home, that is great news. Organizing your home can help avoid confusion and frustration if you have a visually impaired Family member. Following these tips may help you find things when you need them. Remember, every person is different so some of these suggestions may not work

• Label, label, label. It's important to label everything in your house from reusable bottles, hangers for clothing two on/off switches. If you want to take a step further, you could even label your cabinets.
• If you want to separate clothing, use drawer dividers and closet organizers.
• Label clothing with the letter of the clothing Color on the tag.
• Develop a system to keep food and toiletries organized. Make sure to label as necessary and keep them in the exact place.
• With telephones, timers and calculators (anything with numbers that need to be seen,) it's best to use large numbered Devices.
• Ask Family members to respect the organizational System you've developed and explain to them how it helps you.

              Now, let's look at the modifications for the totally blind. Remember, totally blind people cannot see light or dark. If you or a loved one is at this stage in your lifetime, there are certain procedures you may want to implement and are very inexpensive. Once again, every person is different so some of the suggestions may not work.

5. Remove any tripping hazards

              as with the low vision, the totally blind can follow some of the same steps above. Having said that, you may need to follow these additional steps.

• Install a phone entry system for your door so if anyone comes to it, you can speak directly to them.
• Avoid having low-hanging lamps or any other objects that you would bump your head on. If you cannot avoid this, there is a technique that may be helpful to the blind called bumpers. For those of you who do not know what this is, allow me to elaborate. When doing this, it's important to put one hand directly in front of your face and one directly below your belly button. The hand directly in front of your face has your palm facing away from you just as if giving a high five to a friend. The other hand that goes directly below your belly button has the palm facing toward you.
• Try and keep furniture in the same place at all times and inform family members do the same. It's important to inform the totally blind of any changes.
• To make it easier, identify spots in your home where you can put your walking cane down so it can easily be retrieved.
• Keep anything that can be easily knocked off a table away from the edges. Try to avoid having too many lamps or breakable objects.
• Label all medicines or unidentifiable food with braille labels.
• Keep all cleaning products in a safe cabinet and make sure each product is labeled properly. To avoid food contamination, it can be handy to keep in a completely separate spot.
• Try to avoid having a flat top stove in your kitchen. Having a stove with a change in texture indicating where the burners are is an ideal choice. If at all possible, avoid easy to turn knobs on the stove and oven.
• As soon as you are done with closet and cupboard doors, immediately close them.

6. Give your home a tactile effect

              Adding tactile elements to your interior design can help use your sense of touch to navigate easier. Please be sure to follow these suggestions.

• Use tactile markers in your kitchen and bathroom to let you know where things are located in also when to use caution.
• To help you distinguish between different things, use embossed letter stickers.
• Mark toothbrushes and other important items with rubber bands or other tactile aids so they can easily be identifiable.
• For anything that means special identification, use braille labels.

              Next, we will look at accessible options for the hearing impaired. You may want to follow along and even implement these tips yourself.

7. Create an open floor plan

              Having an open floor plan can enhance one's ability to see the gestures along with faces of the people they are communicating with.

8. Create sound-dampening windows

              Dual pane windows or curtains can help with blocking out background noise. They offer more protection than single pain windows.

9. Having wider hallways

              Since people need to read lips to communicate with others, wider hallways are better because it gives space to talk side by side.

10. Use echo-dampening flooring

              Echo-dampening floors, ceilings and walls are perfect because they cut back on noise inside the house keeping echoes from bothering communication. Carpeting, acoustic walls and other materials are excellent echo-dampening properties. This can make life difficult for someone who is hard of hearing when building a home.

11. Get an LED smoke alarm

              Smoke alarms are very important to have around the house and can alert you to any danger. However, for people with hearing impairments cannot participate at the same level because they will not be able to respond if there is an emergency. To solve this problem, it may be wise to look for a smoke alarm that omits a strobe or flashing light as well as provides an audible sound. Here is a website with more information that may help.

              Now, let's look at some accessible options for those in wheelchairs. Having an accessible home is probably the ideal situation if you have someone with physical disabilities. You can either choose to buy a new home or convert the home you already have into a barrier-free design. Make sure to follow these tips to ensure you are doing things the right way.

12. Eliminate or modify steps near the entry

              The first thing a physically impaired person encounters is getting to the house at all. Check and see if there's an alternative way up to your front door (going through the garage, etc.)

13. Make sure you have access to a first-floor bathroom and bedroom

              In today’s modern 2-story homes, most of the actual living areas (the bedroom and bathroom) Are upstairs.  If you have someone with a physical disability, you may consider moving to a 1-story home or adding in a bathroom and bedroom to eliminate the use of stairs.

14. Create wider doorways and hallways

Expanding doorways and hallways may be necessary for making your home wheelchair accessible. Ideally, doorways should have a width of 32 inches. while you’re at it, check your flooring to make sure it is smooth. Replace carpet with linoleum, wood or tile. Remove hall liners and throw rugs so they don't grab wheelchairs and walkers.

15. Retrofit the bathroom

              The bathroom can be the most challenging room of the house to make accessible. You were probably thinking, “I can’t do this. Why does this have to be hard work?” With some time and patience, this can be easily possible and following these tips may help you sprint across the finish line.

• Install grab bars near the toilet area to ease the person transferring from the wheelchair to the toilet.
• Install a roll-in shower or one that otherwise has a low lip and add another set of graspable handles.

              Whether you are living in a home by yourself, have a family member living with you that has a disability or even have guests over, it’s important to have a house that is safe and accessible. Many people specialize in this field, so if you do not feel comfortable with doing the suggestions above, it’s not a bad idea to hire someone.