Tips for Using Hand-Held Magnifiers

Most low vision individuals have different magnifiers for different tasks — one magnifier for the newspaper, one for menus, etc. To use these magnifiers to maximum advantage with minimum frustration, the following tips should help improve efficiency.

• To increase your field of view and increase the number of words you can see at one time, hold the magnifier very close to your eye. This is especially important for magnifiers that are 4X and higher.
• Bring your reading material closer to your eye to again increase your field of view.
• Move the paper, not the magnifier, as you read. Moving the magnifier will slow your reading speed and increase distortion and frustration.
• Make sure the magnifier and your reading material are held at the same angle to prevent distortion. If your magnifier is straight up and down, your paper needs to be straight up and down. If your paper is at a 45-degree angle, your magnifier must also be at a 45-degree angle.

• Stand magnifiers are meant to lay right on the paper. Don’t pick them up and use them like hand-held magnifiers.
• To maximize your field of view, you must bring the magnifier very close to your eye. To get the magnifier near to your eye, bend over and put your eye right at the top of the magnifier. To prevent back strain, use a lap desk or reading stand.
• Slide the magnifier across the page without lifting it up as you read.

• No matter what style of magnifier you are using, be sure to have good task lighting that focuses on what you are trying to read.
• Adjust the light so you don’t experience glare or the light’s reflection in the magnifier.

(Source: Reprinted from Vision Enhancement, Vision World Wide, Inc., Volume 6, No. 1 – 2001)

Editor’s Note: Before purchasing a magnifier, please check with your eye care professional for the proper degree of magnification.

The Visionary, published as a service of the Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness,
is available upon request. The information contained in this issue,
taken from sources considered to be accurate,
does not replace the need for professional eye care consultations and treatments.

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