screen fatigue Archives

Why the Display Screen Optimiser is NOT a digital accessibility overlay

(And why it’s essential to understand what it is).

When you enter the world of vision, accessibility and colour, you often come across the word ‘overlay’, and indeed there are products called overlays.

Initially, you find they are coloured pieces of plastic or coloured glasses that people, generally with Dyslexia, use to help them read.

But then you start to enter the minefield of research, anecdotes, and ‘serious science’ (whatever that qualification means). You become acquainted with software companies that market accessibility overlays as a ‘quick fix’ for your website yet are often anything but.

And this makes our job just that bit tougher because the Display Screen Optimiser (DSO) is not an accessibility overlay, nor is it a sheet of plastic that you put over your PC screen, yet it is a piece of software.

So, to prevent any further confusion and uncertainty – let’s explore what the others are and how the DSO differs.

First up are the digital accessibility overlays.

They appear to have this name because they use a short bit of code like a plugin or a widget that is supposed to correct specific accessibility issues business or government websites may have.

It is supposed to ‘overlay’ the problem.

One definition of overlay is:

e.g. cover the surface of (something) with a coating.

“Their fingernails were overlaid with silver or gold.”

And it sounds great, doesn’t it? Add a plugin, and boom – your website passes all the accessibility guidelines and regulations.

Only as many have found, they can make the matter worse for some users.

Woman looking at her laptop, feeling stressed — When widgets make things worse

The most recent and high-profile case involved a company called Eyebobs.

To quote accessibleweb.com:

“Eyebobs, an online glasses company, was slapped with a lawsuit for failing to meet web accessibility requirements in January 2021.

In September 2021, ADP was sued by LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired over persistent accessibility issues with ADP’s HR and payroll platform.

Both companies were using overlay products provided by one of the largest accessibility overlay companies on the market. Despite this, their websites were not still accessible for blind users.”

The companies in question provide a line of code that, according to nbcnews.com, interferes with many accessibility products.

They write:

“When they visit those sites, it can prevent screen readers — which read out loud what’s on websites, including image descriptions, menus and buttons — from reading the pages correctly and has rendered some websites they used to use unnavigable.”

Some accessibility overlays don’t allow for accessibility products already in use by some users, disabling them and doing the opposite of what has been advertised.

It’s a shame they’ve coined, taken, or have the term accessibility overlay.

As one of our colleagues stated, “Overlays aren’t functional unless they can be attributed to the user’s actual/matched needs. If they don’t, they are just fluffy attempts at pacifying the accessibility regulations”.

To truly make your website accessible, you need to get into its nuts and bolts, down to the coding and ideally work with a professional who understands what needs amending.

A plugin /widget super duper bit of blah won’t work, and they certainly won’t help with the WCAG compliance.

For example:

When we turn our gaze to the USA, where suing is as much a part of life as breathing – ADA claims regarding section 508 have gone up by 23% in 2020 alone

“Section 508 is part of the US Rehabilitation Act, which requires US federal agencies to make their information and communications technology accessible to people with disabilities. Access must be in a “comparable manner to the access experienced by employees and members of the public without disabilities.”

Next, we look at the plastic overlays used by some people with Dyslexia.

Please note the word some – Dyslexia is a broad diagnosis, and as we are all individual human beings, a one size peg does not fit all.

And it’s here we need to look at visual stress.

Eyesite.co.uk describes visual stress as:

“Visual Stress is a perceptual processing condition that causes reading difficulties, headaches and visual problems from exposure to patterns in text, such as lines of text. Visual Stress is linked to Dyslexia and similar visual learning difficulties. Sufferers experience print distortion and fatigue when reading”.

Visual stress occurs when the visual cortex (an area at the back of the brain that is part of interpreting what the eyes see) is oversensitive to specific coloured wavelengths.

Using a plastic coloured overlay can help filter the problem wavelengths, making text clearer for the reader, and often reducing headaches at the same time.

The coloured overlays help the brain interpret what the eyes are seeing without the problem wavelengths interfering.

Some heavily invested in the Dyslexia world are suggesting that visual impairment may not be the cause of Dyslexia, and it may well not be, and as such coloured overlays do not help everyone, yet there is no denying that coloured overlays have helped many people with visual stress and that are Dyslexic to improve their reading.

image of pink plastic overlay on text — Pink plastic overlay for assisting with reading image from Dyslexic.com

Below is a link to an excellent video showing what a person suffering from visual stress experiences.

Editor’s note: Watching this video will give you a much better understanding of the profound role vision plays in our quality of life.

Messing with your binocular vision/brain’s perceptions of how things should be naturally, versus learned experience can produce some very uncomfortable symptoms.

So WARNING – watching this may cause nausea, you may need to look away, you may need to spend time away from the pc after you watch this, and if you have epilepsy – DO NOT WATCH:

https://youtu.be/olsLiMXjpEs

For those that have chosen not to, or cannot watch the video – the following image gives a glimpse of what it is like to experience visual stress.

Image of blurred text — Example of visual stress

Dyslexia appears to be a multi-faceted condition, there is much ongoing research, and as we learn more and more about it, then understandings and therapies ( including colour therapy) will, we hope, inevitably improve.

So, we have two mentions of the word overlay, meaning two very different things.

But back to visual stress.

According to crossbow education,

About 30% of the population are uncomfortable with black text on white backgrounds because their visual cortex is oversensitive to certain wavelengths

The WHO state that 2.2 billion people are visually impaired, but it has yet to recognise visual stress as a medical condition.

However, we would argue that doesn’t stop visual stress from being experienced by many people (ref: the video above) and documented.

Why talk about visual stress?

Because too much time on screen can cause, although in the main temporarily, visual stress.

This manifests as Screen Fatigue when the visual stress becomes a habitual act of self-harm.

And by self-harm, we are referring to the everyday habit/routine/work-related needs you have to keep looking at your digital display screen for over 8 hours a day.

It’s affecting your vision, but you keep rinsing and repeating.

The Display Screen Optimiser.

By understanding the increased visual stress that’s been placed on display screen equipment users, The DSO took the idea of the plastic coloured overlays used for reading on paper and brought it into the 21^st Century to assist those with mild to more serious photophobia (eye discomfort in bright light).

The DSO colour contrast calibration is of the background contrast to text, it is not an ‘overlay’ tinting everything on-screen, or like an overlay for placing over the screen, or even tinted glasses the user may have.

DSO Finished in Viewer — Example of how the Display Screen Optimiser looks when installed

Reading text against a very high, or low contrast background can be challenging and stressful.

By developing a simple and quick risk assessment to determine the degree of deficit or impairment experienced by the user, the Display Screen Optimiser is an interactive, objective screen calibration application that not only improves accessibility to text, at the same time it mitigates the risk of early-onset eye strain, screen fatigue, computer vision syndrome, myopia (short-sightedness) and asthenopia (eye strain).

Reading and working online means a bright white lit background; screen glare (that may surprise you to know can cause discomfort and produces a natural avoidance strategy directly linked to the body’s survival response of fight, flight or freeze),

moving images, colour contrast that hurts the eyes and much more ‘visual noise’ that overexcites the poor visual cortex, all ultimately leading to fatigue.

(The fatigue occurs due to the natural visual adaptations as the body attempts to reduce the eyes strain by suppressing the vision in one eye or the other.)

The DSO is designed to provide visual comfort and accessibility for the individual screen user. Created with the Display Screen Equipment regulations in mind, it is a “personal custom reasonable adjustment” to the “ergonomics of the screen interface” for anyone on-screen for longer than an hour a day, which is the recommended maximum time spent on standard DSE settings found on public access machines.

It’s designed to mitigate the harms of repetitive visual stress that, in 2017, 58% of DSE users reported experiencing.

And that 58% will include 10 to 15 or even 20% classified as Dyslexic and functionally illiterate with a reading rate below 180wpm.

And here’s a not so fun fact: Anyone with preexisting visual impairments is at a ‘4’ to ‘7’ fold increased risk of early-onset 3D vision stress when compared to those without, after only 20 minutes looking/working on screen.

What Screen Risk has discovered (and is being thoroughly tested in clinical trials) is that by finding the objective colour contrast validation for you, as a living, breathing individual, the DSO reduces your visual stress.

The DSO is not a one size fits all, hence needing to complete a reading exercise, and it’s not a website band-aid plugin.

By focusing on the colour contrast validation, (that is finally coming more and more into website design awareness), the DSO can help users to decipher the foreground from the background, make visual sense of the on-screen environment and help the visual system to interpret what it’s seeing, be that lines of text or images. And it does this by finding the unique colour that helps calm and soothe your visual cortex.

This leads us to Screen Fatigue.

Screen Fatigue, also known as computer eye strain and computer vision syndrome, are manifestations of visual stress.

Whatever label you give it, by staring at a screen all day, you will inevitably experience it.

Screen Fatigue tires you out, which reduces your productivity and increases the risks of mistakes, and who wants to spend their lives with sore eyes, blurred vision and headaches?

In conclusion

Carrying on regardless of a repetitive stressor that causes discomfort or pain will simply result in the body adapting to cope and/or tolerate said stressor until it reaches the point of “adaptation exhaustion”.

This is when the body presents more serious incapacities/symptoms of one kind or another enforcing an escape from the stressor.

With Screen Fatigue and visual stress, you can no longer look at or work on a digital display screen. You become too fatigued, your vision is blurry, you have headaches, productivity drops, mistakes are made, and there you are, the embodiment of presenteeism.

The Display Screen Optimiser is software that’s designed for the individual’s screen. To mitigate the harms of what spending your life on screen can do to your visual system. And for one more added benefit for the coders and designers out there – it allows for images to be displayed naturally and design work to happen uninhibited

What does Screen Fatigue feel like?

Imagine, if you will, feeling as if an invisible force is slowly squeezing your head.

And it’s applying just enough pressure to be annoying but not painful. It’s probably making you feel a bit irritable.

Your head feels tight, your eyebrows are scrunched up, your facial muscles are becoming more rigid, and you have that inner tiredness.

Chances are you also feel uncomfortable in your chair, your body is heavy, and you simply need a break away from the PC as you struggle to focus.

But you can’t leave, as you still have the afternoon to get through with at least one more zoom meeting.

Walking to the door and back gives minimal relief, as the symptoms start again as soon as you sit down.

You’ve tried coffee to keep you going. You have a bottle of water by your side, and maybe you are one of the lucky ones that get to go outside for their lunch and away from the office glare – that glare that no matter how many times you try and readjust your pc, always seems to be bouncing off your over bright screen.

As the afternoon wears on, the tightness in your head begins to build up into a headache, and you know that soon your eyes will start to feel tired and dry. Some of you will feel as if they are burning around the edges.

You start to rub your eyes often; you’re yawning and feel uncomfortable.

You manage to get through the zoom meeting, but you notice that the screen is getting a bit blurry, and by the end of the call, you see two of each attendant.

You sit back and try and look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds, but it only brings minimal relief.

And by the end of the day, you are physically drained, mentally tired and want to get home.

Where you might chill with a glass of wine, spend the evening looking at more screens, and then doom scrolling lying in bed until the small hours, feeling drained but too wired to sleep.

And then you get up the following day and repeat.

You spend your time willing the weekend to arrive so that you don’t have to sit in front of your digital display screen feeling frazzled and sore because your screen hasn’t been individualised for you.

It is, in fact, harming your wellbeing.

This is what screen fatigue – or computer vision syndrome feels like.

Your eye muscles are fatigued from the screen. A screen that’s comprised of a bright white background with high colour contrasts and probably a decent amount of glare.

This tires the entire visual system that then starts to deplete the body, mistakes are made, and productivity decreases. Still, sleep procrastination goes up, and there you are, on the hamster wheel of screen fatigue, not knowing what’s wrong but knowing things are not right.

If this describes you, click here to go to our self help page and make the adjustments to your screen that we suggest.

Then sign up for the individualised colour contrast validation tool because your body and mind need all the help they can get.

These are a few steps to improving your wellbeing, productivity, and maybe even your sleep. And all in, it won’t take longer than 30 minutes, but they’ll be the best 30 minutes you’ve spent on your screen for a long time.

And don’t just take our word for it.

Read a couple of case studies from people that have found a world of difference when they started using the correct, individualised colour contrast background, for them.

RISK THROUGH A NEW LENS – why do smart people do dumb things?

“They (smart people) are no more or less likely to suffer the debilitating effects of carrying on regardless of the work/life balance, suffering presenteeism, effectively self-harming, and, at risk of self-medicating their way through the 21st Century with an addiction to display screen devices.

Too often they spend longer on-screen than asleep, and then wonder why they constantly feel fatigued……….“ Nigel Dupree 2022

Smart people are damaging their well-being via their screens.

Your digital display screen should be classified as a hazard, as long-term use causes dry eyes, blurred or double vision, headaches and fatigue, and many other symptoms and knock-on effects.

But you know this.

Yet…If you know this and are carrying on regardless, the question is, why?

Why are you, as a smart person behaving in a dumb way?

Risk assessment is a term used to describe the overall process or method where you:

Identify hazards and risk factors that have the potential to cause harm (hazard identification).
Analyse and evaluate the risk associated with that hazard (risk analysis and risk evaluation).
Determine appropriate ways to eliminate the hazard, or control the risk when the hazard cannot be eliminated (risk control).

Have you seriously risk assessed your screen? If not, why not?

You know in the back of your mind that doom scrolling is not good for you, you know when you need to step away from the screen as you start to feel tired, your eyes are sore etc, but do you?

We can risk a guess here and state probably not.

And one possible reason for not doing so is bias.

You could be suffering from bias regarding this issue, and it’s probably not your fault, and you’re not even aware of it.

Plus, you’ll be fighting the team of behavioural experts employed by social media giants to keep you on screen and scrolling, and they know all about bias – it’s their job.

A group or troupe of bias?

We all have a degree of confirmation bias – wanting others to approve of our choices.

Then we’ll have a smidgen of Groupthink – aligning with others. Maybe a dash of anchoring bias where we are informed by things we see (advertising and everyone is always on their phone).

Status quo? Sure, keeping things as they are and not wanting to rock the boat, especially at work.

Then finally, Hindsight – we all can attest to that and realise things could have been different.

We want to prevent you from looking back thinking, well, I knew it was not good for me, I did know better, but I didn’t do anything.

Going the wrong way — Don’t go the wrong way

Can we rely upon others to assess risk for us?

Yes, up to a point. We all depend upon HSE to ensure our work areas are safe, and we hope they are aware of their biases when assessing.

Yet still…

Occupational Health and well-being hazards and “predictable risks” are expediently omitted or worse, ignored.

Why?

Is it Stress? Maybe. Lack of money, time, resources? Maybe. Or simply they don’t know? (Spoiler – they do but they are not implementing what they know.)

This leads us to the minefield of self-assessment.

Because if those paid and responsible for assessing risk are not implementing the regulations that will mitigate harm, we must do it ourselves to reduce our risk.

But this is where our bias is even worse, as we all love to think things are either way better or way worse than we imagined.

We need to self-assess our risks, and so it’s wiser to use an objective tool or tools as we can.

Let’s talk about assessing the risks regarding your digital display screen.

You need to assess them, and you also need to evaluate them for accessibility, whoever you are. Accessibility is not just for those we perceive as disabled; it’s for everyone.

Reading/working on a digital display screen is not optimal for humans. Recent research shows that it impairs your comprehension and alters your breathing – as reading on screen is more energy-intensive than reading on paper.

“The convenience of smartphones and other electronic devices is immeasurable, and I believe that much of what we do cannot be replaced by paper,” Honma said. “However, if both smartphones and paper can serve the same purpose, I would recommend paper.”

So, you need to assess your screen to ensure it’s as optimal for you as possible – and we have an entire page of advice to help you do just that.

Our guide will help you find the correct settings for your pc; most of it is intuitive, e.g., brightness, font, text size, adjusting for glare etc.

But as we said, you need to account for your bias, and this is when you need to become objective and use tools to help you.

https://www.screenrisk.com/ss/scorescreen.php will help with objectively assessing the accessibility of your screen.

From here, you can take the results your receive to HR/HSE ( or both) – along with our reference guide of the rules and regulations that should be implemented.

Or you take matters into your own hands and look at what you can do to improve your experience of working on your screens.

This post describes some wonderful inventions that we can all use to ease the intensity of working with a screen all day, and this post will advise whether your screen could be damaging your eyesight or you simply need to get an eye test!

But there is still more you can do.

And this is where colour contrast enters the frame.

Our visual system can become overwhelmed by colour contrasts (think black/white, purple/yellow). Legislators are doing their best to encourage best practices for websites to reduce harm and increase accessibility.

Southampton University has created a short video explaining how to ensure the use of colour is both on brand and accessible.

Why look at colours?

The wrong colour contrast (black text on a bright white background is poor colour contrast) causes fatigue of the visual system, which causes fatigue of the body, which leads to mistakes, which leads to presenteeism. Still, we carry on and on, essentially and unknowingly, self-harming.

Think about all the images you see on screen during the day – social media scrolling, work-related graphs, charts, whatever. It’s a lot – and your visual system, created for scanning the horizon and looking at your hands, must decipher and translate all that it sees on-screen to your brain.

It’s a lot of work and something we all take for granted – until you get tired, have sore eyes, headaches, and no longer sleep well and you, a smart person, are on a dumb hamster wheel.

Colour contrast is an issue – and now we are seeing the likes of Widows creating options to change the colour contrast in your browser, but it’s not perfect, still needs work, which is why people in the industry are discussing it and creating improvements where they can.

There are apps out there where you can choose a background-coloured theme for your pc, and they help – but here’s where you need to risk assess and be aware of your bias because you might not like the colour orange in any hue, but what if an orange tone is an optimal colour for you?

The objectivity of testing is vital.

Colour contrast therapy works when it’s individualised. Objectivity means you don’t choose a colour you like – it means the software selects a colour that works for you. One that will soothe your eyes, and aid in reading and working on a screen – basically one that helps your visual system do all the heavy lifting.

Here are a few tools regarding colour contrast:

One will objectively choose the optimal coloured background for your visual system, the second to assist with accessibility issues.

Patented Display Screen Optimiser, providing a personal, objective assessment of the best background colour contrast values for you. It’s a self-administered, interactive, online test and takes 15 minutes to complete.
The Bureau of Internet Accessibility is more web design-related. They state: “The tool is offered free of charge and is intended for website owners and developers to test their web pages for colour contrast issues that can impede usability for people with visual disabilities.”

Risk assessing our environment, especially our work environment is something that HSE ad HR should be doing, but when you realise that only 10% of businesses are implementing Display Screen Equipment regulations, hot desking is a real thing, and many are now working from home – it is down to us to risk assess for ourselves.

If you don’t want to join the ranks of the 58% (pre-Covid) DSE operators that already suffer from screen fatigue, then you must act and do something about it.

You need to get on your own white horse because currently, there’s no cavalry from HSE insight.

Screen Fatigue, Computer Vision Syndrome or Computer Eye Strain. Do we have an invisible pandemic?

You can call it what you like; you can diagnose it as whatever you want – but it’s a vast, unacknowledged problem that’s only getting worse.

Call it blurred or double vision – or call it by its medical name, AMBLYOPIA in children, and PRESBYOPIA in adults.

But it refers to the gradual loss of eye-muscle stamina to sustain “convergence and accommodation”, when focusing on the near indoors or close up on the screen. This could be in any indoor space, less than 20ft in size, with little natural daylight.

It could be at the office, or at home.

Reading and working in these conditions leave you with tired eyes, and generally fatigued as your eyes do their best to adapt.

The eye muscles become tired and then stop working as efficiently.

Some of us will experience stress-related vision suppression over time. Others will wake up one morning effectively monocular, living in a 2D world without depth. This is because the image from one eye has been ‘re-directed’ somewhere else, leaving the other eye dominant.

The visual system and brain process that dominant “single image”, ignoring the other fainter double image.

Then there’s Astigmatism, the suppression of the vision from one eye, with or without visible lazy eye.

Strabismus; misalignment of the eyes or unstable alignment of one eye

Asthenopia; weakness, or debility, of the eyes or vision

The list goes on and on, and you can find out more @ WHO ICD-10

Call them by their generic or medical names, but all are mirrored in Computer Vision Syndrome, more commonly known as Screen Fatigue, tired eyes and/or eyestrain.

Screen Fatigue/Computer Vision Syndrome is the name given to a cluster of symptoms that arise from looking at a digital screen for prolonged periods.

The symptoms can include eye strain, dry eyes, headaches, overall tiredness with reduced productivity, blurred vision, and often includes other musculoskeletal disorders, e.g. a sore, stiff neck, from being unable to sustain an ergonomically comfortable posture while struggling to see clearly

Screen fatigue is also cognitive fatigue.

The visual system has to work harder processing uncomfortable, distorted, blurred or double images, demanding more blood-oxygen as fuel to the brain to support the additional processing demand.

The more ‘close up’ work you perform, the more oxygen is required, the more fatigued you become, and round and round it goes.

It’s a thoroughly unpleasant merry go round.

28% of the population are immune from eyestrain or vision stress. Still, the rest of us, the 72% are not, and so easily succumb to visual repetitive stress fatigue and/or stress-related adaptations.

We are at a four to seven-fold increased risk of earlier onset of associated adaptations when over-exposed in early life or later to the near indoors and/or close-up at our school desks and on-screen.

China and now Instagram are seeking to introduce Exposure Control Measures, either by cutting off access to the internet after a period or having pop-ups advising “Take a Break”.

Instagram is bringing this in due to political pressure. China, for the simple fact that they are noticing 80% of students are graduating with severe myopia.

Linked to the ‘take a break’ concept is the well-known occupational health advice of the 20-20-20 rule for DSE operators (look away from your screen every 20 minutes, at something 20 feet away and for 20 seconds) when working with standard, unmitigated, inaccessible display screens that have not had their contrast optimised for the user in education or the workplace.

Computer Vision Syndrome is serious.

For example, in 2007, 58% of Display Screen Equipment users suffered from vision issues related to their screens.

What’s the number now, as 2021 draws to a close?

But more importantly, what can be done about it?

Sure, we put the smartphone down, look away, and take a coffee break. We all know about not being ‘online an hour before bed’, and many of us know about getting out and moving about in natural daylight – but how many of us actually do this?

But unless we adjust the screens we are looking at, we go straight back to the problem.

It then becomes a repetitive stress injury.

We need to adjust our screens because colour and light play a massive role in screen fatigue and cannot be left out of the conversation.

Researchers became aware of colours and sensitivity to light in the 1960s. As more and more has come become evident, we realise that every one of us experiences colour and light differently.

We use light; we don’t necessarily ‘see’ it. Instead, we interpret the waves of colours that surround us individually, as we interpret the speed at which they uniquely arrive in our visual system.

One person will see glare; another will not.

One person will find dark purple hurtful for their eyes; another will not.

Photosensitivity is an immune system reaction triggered by sunlight, which unsurprisingly

manifests in a high degree of visual discomfort and, for some, may trigger migraine, fits or convulsions, especially when presented with flickering lights/screens or strobe lights, or even sunlight flickering through trees beside the road, depending on the speed of travel.

Irlen Syndrome, first described by Helen Irlen, is a sensory disorder of how the brain interprets bright white light, whether reflected off white paper or from an illuminated background to text on-screen.

Visual Illusions are often created by playing with light and dark or shadows to challenge our visual perceptions and constructs of the brain’s typical or expected responses. Experience of typical images can also leave impressions on the retina interpreted as changing colours.

We all experience these differently, to one degree or another.

But Helen Irlen spotted a connection between visual stress and visual stress relief.

Through trial and error, she found that existing or early-onset eyestrain when reading could be relieved by selecting the best effective contrast other than a “high contrast white” background to text. The ‘normal’ white background with black text is painful for many.

Clashing contrasts of often unnatural (as in not found in nature) colours are uncomfortable and painful for many.

Hence her coloured overlays and coloured glasses for reading, aimed at reducing glare, and thereby reducing the discomfort experienced by the brain and visual system.

Other pioneers in colour therapy, including Arnold Wilkins, have sought similar methodologies for subjectively selecting the best contrast, thereby improving reading skills and abilities.

No one should experience vision stress, discomfort or painful headaches when reading.

But this is where ScreenRisk has joined the dots but flipped the script.

We don’t do the things we are supposed to do for our health, and in 2021 our lives are run through our screens, and those screens are damaging our eyes and causing us stress.

Understanding that many visual issues are replicated in screen fatigue and understanding that we are all unique in interpreting light and colour means we need an individualised response.

Knowing that stress affects the eyesight and all parts of our body and that digital screens that we are now addicted to cause cognitive fatigue – we created the DSO.

A tool that considers all of the above and chooses the best-coloured background objectively for your eyesight and visual system, providing you with that coloured theme for your screen.

Objectively choosing means your body, not your personal colour preference, selects the optimal colour that soothes your visual system. Reducing all of the above stresses also means that you are not repeatedly self-harming when working/studying online.

The induced near or close-up indoor eyestrain and 3D vision stress, created and exacerbated by hours on-screen, where no reasonable adjustments have been made, can be mitigated.

It’s simply a question of joining the dots as to what’s going on and then creating an app to make the eyes and visual system as comfortable as possible.

What can I do when ‘don’t do as I do, do as I say’ is dismissed by my children, as clearly, I’m spending as long on screen as they are?

Hmm, good question.

Years before covid arrived on our shores, the WHO classified a global pandemic of a different kind.

One of Display screen users’ 3D vision loss.

A few years later, in 2018, regulations were released to help mitigate this 3D vision loss, in the guise of WCAG 2.1 Colour Contrast Validation Standard for e-learning & websites. (HSE RR5612007)

It was created to recognise the 2007 statistics of 58% of those using digital display screens in the workplace presenting with a range of visual and physical repetitive stress injuries, often referred to as MSD’S – Musculo-Skeletal Disorders.

In 2020, MSD’s which are conditions affecting muscles, nerves, tendons, joints, cartilage and spinal discs, often caused by repetitive stress injuries and adaptations, often caused by manual handling and Display Screen Equipment use – have persisted as the second highest cause of ill health’.

The number of children now presenting with 3D vision loss has skyrocketed and is linked to overexposure to the near and close up, prolonged periods of display screen use, coupled with lack of time outside in natural daylight.

So, it’s not without reason that wellness and health experts are screaming at you to put your phone down, your laptop away and “disconnect” and want you to do the same for your kids.

No one anticipated the 2020/21 pandemic and how that would increase screentime.

Yet here we are, and still today, no one in ‘power’ mentions the pandemic is increasingly disrupting children’s eyesight, in effect mirroring the visual repetitive stress injuries seen in the workplace.

We know the addiction to social media is endemic (it’s designed to be). Netflix got many of us through lockdowns, and zoom was essential for family contact and work. But what if reducing screentime or exposure control is not an option?

We’ve all read the articles about reducing screen time for your children, but what do you do when life is lived online or through a screen, and you can’t reasonably reduce the amount of time online?

According to a recent study, the incidence of ocular problems has dramatically increased in line with the continuous rise in digital media consumption.

An estimated 49.8% (4.8 billion) and 9.8% (0.9 billion) of the global population will have myopia or high myopia.

Myopia is short-sightedness. But it’s more than simply wearing glasses because distant objects appear blurred. It’s also about distance and depth perception.

Which impacts the way we live our lives.

It’s not able to see loved ones faces at a distance. Driving becomes more challenging, and navigating life becomes more difficult and expensive due to eye checks every year.

But children were learning online before 2020, and with digital literacy programmes sponsored by Apple, computers have been steadily making their way into schools. Then, with the pandemic, online schooling became the norm.

Preschool? Screentime is there, too, with a third of preschool toddlers having their own tablet.

UK children spend an average of 23 hours a week online or looking at a screen.

UK adults spend over 5 hours a day – and we don’t believe this solely refers to the time at work.

Digital display screens are here to stay, so we need to become savvy about mitigating the harms they do because exposure control alone, limiting time online, is challenging.

So, we won’t tell you to get your kids off their screens. Instead, we will give you the information to make informed decisions for yourself and your children.

The Eye Science of fatigue is similar to sleep fatigue in terms of triggering the HPA Axis of hormones directly linked to stimulating our stress responses.

This means it activates the survival fight, flight or freeze reactions to a real or perceived threat.

In adults, this activation can result in cyclical behaviour.

For example, knowing you can’t reduce the stressors/fatigue related irritability in the workplace, you go home in a mood, too often self-medicate, unwind while still over-stimulated by staying on-screen, and then can’t sleep—the cycle repeats.

Translate this behaviour to children, and they come home moody, slump in front of the pc, and stay up watching videos or playing video games, messaging friends, and can’t sleep. The cycle repeats.

So how do you do best for your child, knowing they will be online for most of the working week and that it impacts their physical, mental and emotional health?

With less than a couple of weeks to go before it’s ‘back to school’, the first step is to be aware of the school environment and policies regarding screens.

Talk to the school – do they have a policy regarding phone use?

Is there one for the amount of online time allowed per session, per day?
Do they have enforced vision breaks every 20 minutes?
Are they aware of calibrating digital display screens to reduce vision stress and eye strain?
Do they know how to make reasonable adjustments – e.g. re-calibrate Screen Colour Contrast, increase the font size, avoid glare and/or ask for help to access accessibility features?
Ask too about their school accessibility policy and whether they actually have an Accessibility Statement. For example, do they have a policy of complying with Accessibility Regulations for e-learning and digital display screens? (Spoiler: it’s been over two years since introduced so they should be compliant).
Are they compliant with sufficient ambient lighting policies surrounding day and/or supplemental artificial work-lighting, and are the display screen positioned so free from glare?

The aim is to reduce the eye fatigue that leads to general fatigue and the cycle outlined above.

Kids use their phones in school, and they use PC’s – so teach them how to adjust the screen brightness to reduce glare. The glare from an overhead light or screen makes it much harder for our eyes to focus, which cause the eye muscles to become tired as they overwork – much like doing too many reps at the gym.

Laptops, again if it belongs to your child, adjust the screen performance – the brightness, font and text size to suit them, and of course, get them their own personal DSO themed background colour that reduces the colour contrast.

The DSO reduces fatigue and mitigates against the likes of screen fatigue, which will impact their learning.

We have an entire page dedicated to mitigating the risks of digital display screens, plus a post that outlines 14 quick and easy things you can do today.

Of course, reducing time online is essential; using the 20-20-20 rule of after 20 minutes look away for 20 seconds, at something 20 feet away is a must, perhaps you could pass this onto your kid’s school too?

Schools will have a lot o their plates in 2021, the attainment gap is widening, and some now say children from more deprived areas are a good 22 months behind their more affluent peers. However, further damaging eyesight and increasing stress for children due to poorly calibrated screens don’t need to be part of the issue.

If you’ve reached this far, this video might be worth your time. We are addicted to our smartphones; we miss out on human interaction when we’re online, and perhaps we can all benefit from turning off the devices now and then?

Ultimately, it’s the human interaction, interpersonal relationships in person or on-screen that is essential for children’s inclusion, growth, learning and development, not their smartphones.

Presenteeism; is the pc its silent ally?

In 2010 the presenteeism rate was at 26%. By 2018 it had rocketed up to 86%.

And for an issue that costs the UK economy at least £15.1 billion a year, only 25% of companies are doing anything proactive to reduce it.

It costs companies about £4000.00 per employee, per annum in wages alone.

It’s a big problem.

And not as simple as someone coming in sick, barely working and then infecting the rest of the team.

Presenteeism: Understood by many as people showing up to work when they are sick, but it also applies to work stress and carry on regardless, resulting in fatigue and risk of burnout.

It’s being present in the room but not doing the work to the standard required. Also, not being optimally fit for work, due to deficits in your wellbeing and health – mental or physical.

It leads to poor performance, increased error rates, poor decision making, reduces safety and can and does affect others.

Presenteeism is a severe drag on productivity and overall contribution. It is related to poor health literacy, both by the employee and omissions by the employer to ensure some of the very basics to ensure optimal working conditions.

Most employees will spend an average of 2.5 weeks at work when they should be home, recuperating.

We can be optimistic that post-COVID, this will change, and we’ll have an instinctual aversion to someone coughing and sneezing in the office, but ingrained work and cultural habits are not always easy or fast to change.

We have a current paradigm where employees feel they always need to be available.

In the US, if TV shows like Suits are anything to go by, workers are expected to be in the office upwards of 12 hours a day.

This is crazy when research shows that 3-4 hours a day of sustained, deep work is as much as most of us can cope with if we are to be productive.

With smartphones and laptops, even if we are not physically in the office, we are there in virtual reality.

We don’t switch off.

“Advances in technology are generally seen to have more of a positive than negative impact on employee well-being. However, almost nine in ten respondents call out employees’ inability to switch off out of work hours as the most common negative effect of technology on well-being.”

Perhaps we are all suffering from presenteeism at some point during the day or week?

But ignoring presenteeism won’t make it go away, and it’s not as simple as sending someone home.

There are four types and two measurements of presenteeism, according to The Leader’s Council

Functional: Where the employee is unwell, but the illness doesn’t impact their basic levels of work.

Dysfunctional: No positive impact on the employee or productivity, and can impair the future of both.

Therapeutic: Assists the mental health of the employee, but not the performance or long term recovery.

Overachieving: Great performance by the employee, but at considerable cost to their health.

The above can be measured by:

Absolute presenteeism, where performance is related to possible performance.

Relative presenteeism is where performance is related to other workers in the same role.

So, to that silent, unassuming ally.

It’s your digital display screen.

The following may resonate:

There you are, it’s 1 pm, you’ve had back to back zoom calls, and you noticed on the last one that your eyes were burning, Doris from accounts began to look a bit blurred, and then frighteningly, there were two of her, and you left the meeting feeling exhausted.

You lean back on your chair, rub your eyes and neck, and noticed a mild headache.

This isn’t the first time you’ve felt this way. You’re noticing the longer you spend working on your screen, the more tired you feel, your eyes feel drier, and the feelings of exhaustion are creeping in earlier in the day.

You also know that the rest of the day is shot because your eyesight will prevent you from doing any serious work on your pc, as will the headache, and all you want to do is get out of the office, but you can’t, because it’s only 1 pm.

It’s not just sickness that causes presenteeism; it’s also your work environment and your screen as they contribute to fatigue.

We have a raft of research and legislation that tells us exactly this.

Your screen should come with a safety warning.

Seriously.

Working on a digital display screen for too long induces the symptoms of screen fatigue, which cause fatigue of your visual system and musculoskeletal system, which means you are unable to work to the level required.

Presenteeism in a nutshell.

Covid has taught us many things: working from home is possible, and many thrive by doing it.

It’s also shown us that presenteeism levels are a problem, whether WFH or not.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has put a huge strain on employers and individuals. Employers should take a strategic and preventative approach to well-being to tackle work-related stress and unhealthy behaviour like presenteeism and leaveism, and this must be role modelled by those in senior positions.”

Presenteeism is a multifaceted issue, but one thing you can do, and very quickly, is reduce your screen fatigue, take that out of the equation, and then hone in on other factors.

The DSO is designed to mitigate screen fatigue, and it’s straightforward to use. It could improve your productivity by up to 20%, preventing those afternoons from being shot to hell because your eyes can’t focus and you feel physically exhausted.

Do you need an eye test, or is it your computer screen?

Did you know that 13.4 million eye tests took place in 2019?

‘74% of people in the UK either wear corrective eyewear or have had laser eye surgery to help them see better.’

But, in a recent study to find out why many were not having eye tests, the reasons given were:

My vision hasn’t changed – 31%

COVID – 19%

Too expensive – 18%

Not having the time – 13%

Eye tests UK — Survey results eye exam UK

COVID – I think we can all understand that one!

Cost – Another understandable one.

The price can be eyewatering. Without the glass, frames can be £80-£90 if not in the designer range. And that’s before the test, before the lenses and the upsells of scratch proofing, glare resistance etc.!

Probably not much change from £200 once it’s all added up?

Specsavers (we are not affiliated) have a great page with all the pricing and frames available so you can budget before you step instore. (We have some advice regarding the cost later in the post).

Plus, a quick Google of cheap glasses brings up plenty of websites – however, caveat emptor! Buyer beware!

But back to you.

Are you experiencing changes or difficulty with your vision?

Are you noticing you can’t see the food on your plate so well, or your eyes are burning and sore at the end of the day?

If so, now is the time to channel your inner Sherlock and get on the case of:

Do you need an eye test, or do you need to mitigate against screen fatigue, also known as computer vision syndrome and computer eye strain?

And how can you tell the difference?

If you need an eye test, these are the general symptoms – and you will notice them most of the time:

Headaches when reading or looking at your computer screen.

Having trouble reading or seeing the computer screen or television
Getting double vision
Difficulty with colour discrimination
Difficulty when driving
Difficulty with glare
Difficulty with night vision
Mobility problems especially bumping into or tripping over objects, particularly those on one side.
Changes in your vision.

Now, here’s something you probably didn’t know regarding the cost:

“If you must spend some of your working days using a display screen (or are due to start using a screen), then you are entitled to an eye test paid for by your employer”. Unison

Yup – straight away, that’s roughly £25 you won’t have to fork out.

Then, if you do need glasses for your job – you might be eligible to have those paid for you as required PPE– again, Unison have the details:

“If an eye test shows that you need to wear glasses when using a visual display, then your employer is obliged to pay for your glasses.

Even if you need glasses for other work activities, your UNISON rep may be able to help you get financial support towards the cost of glasses.”

Not bad, eh? Certainly, worth investigating.

Is it computer eye strain, computer vision syndrome or screen fatigue?

Sore eyes — Sore dry eyes due to computer eye strain

(Remember it’s all the same thing – it’s just so bad they named it three times)

Screen fatigue is the name given to a cluster of symptoms that arise from looking at a digital screen for prolonged periods.

The symptoms are generally:

Eyestrain
Dry eyes
Headaches
Overall tiredness with reduced productivity
Blurred vision
Sore, stiff neck and shoulders
Struggling to see

There is a difference between needing an eye test and suffering from screen fatigue and you will need to decide, but generally, when requiring an eye examination for disease, the visual problems will be progressive and constant.

Bear in mind :

There is a difference is between age-related disease and induced repetitive stress injuries causing dis-ease and stress-related adaptations from visual suppression to asthenopia

With screen fatigue, if you give yourself a break for the screen and follow the tips we have laid out on the website, the risk of visual repetitive stress injuries and symptoms will be mitigated or significantly reduced. Often the symptoms will disappear while you are away from your screen, only to re-appear like an evil genie once you are back on.

And of course, we have some advice for this as well.

Having an individualised Display Screen Optimiser is another option to consider.

The ‘optimiser’ creates the optimal coloured background for your digital display screen. It’s 100% geared towards your needs. It reduces screen fatigue/ computer eye strain/ computer vision syndrome (Why can’t there be one name for it??) and increase productivity.

Well, it would, because suddenly you’re not hampered with the symptoms mentioned above.

Plus, spending £1 on the individualised optimiser is an excellent investment for your eyesight.

We would strongly suggest that you look after your eyesight, have regular check-ups with an optician, and use the tips and Display Screen Optimiser.

This way, you will reduce the harms of working all day on a screen, and perhaps when you go along for your wellbeing eye test, you won’t need a new prescription?

Do you have screen envy?

(And no, we are not talking artfully crafted zoom backgrounds or the latest, coolest green screen design, we are talking about something else, entirely.)

Years ago, I spent many hours training our outreach “Colour Therapy Practitioners” to administrate Digital Literacy Sessions.

This consisted of first popping the trainees on the binocular eye-trace kit, and using them(selves) as guinea pigs, they pretty quickly realised how much effort is required from their eyes / visual system to sustain, complete, or repeat the sequential, serial, fixations and saccades – essentially focussing and refocusing – necessary to read fluently.

It was experiential learning at its best.

Then, not only did I have converts in terms of the learned experience of what it feels like to have easier relatively stress-free access to text but, engaged learners for the remainder of the course who were far from indifferent to the outcomes and impact they potentially had on their clients.

That was in the early days, long before developing the technology and knowing how and/or who was competent and experienced enough to create an AI driven, online version, mirroring our practitioner lead administered Dupree ‘Display Screen Optimiser’ (DSO).

When I was contracted to work with a company, I was always surprised by the number of individuals participating who were convinced that they didn’t suffer vision stress or eye strain. They were adamant they were fine and were only taking part because well – take your pick, the boss said they had to, they wanted a cream bun and time away from the desk, safe from discovering anything new, or, they were open-minded, while still firmly believing they didn’t have a problem, and this really didn’t apply to them.

And it never failed to astonish me how many physically and emotionally reacted to finding their ‘optimal colour values’ as a more accessible and less stressful contrast to the text.

These were people that believed they had no issues working on a display screen, they believed any discomfort they were experiencing was part and parcel of work, and so had never taken steps to rectify them. As far as they were concerned, any discomfort was normal for display screen equipment operators. They were unaware that they were self-harming.

This fact didn’t amaze me, it saddened me then, and still does to this day. This discomfort is often being dismissed as a temporary visual anomaly, and all will be well after a good night’s sleep.

So, you can imagine their surprise, as they took the test and went from not knowing how much stress they were actually under, to feeling their shoulders dropping and relaxing, their respiration and heart rates slowing, all coinciding with improved, measurable gains in accessibility or reading rate of the subject text on-screen, as we came closer and closer to their optimal colour.

This occurred so often, it soon became normal that post-session, over a cup of tea or as they were walking out the door, those involved would admit to not knowing how stressed they must have been and had experienced feeling butterflies in their stomach when we reached the optimal most visually comfortable colour value for them.

Their body knew before they did.

Even more surprising for them was that their optimal colour was often nowhere near their favourite colour. (Another reason why our DSO is objective.)

Then, of course, there were some adults who, at first presented as poor readers. Having discovered they could read fluently with the right colour contrast, they would then understandably become very angry and want to know why no one found this out when they were at school, convinced their life chances would have been significantly different had that been the case.

In this digital age, which is now considered the ‘new normal’, we are so used to the conventions of dark text on a bright white background, flashing images and stark colour contrasts on websites that we naturally assume there must be something wrong with us. If we find it visually uncomfortable, sustaining convergence and accommodation (focusing) while reading text on screen, why are we not asking – is there something wrong with the screen?

This should be one of our first thoughts.

2021 is going to see an increase in digital use, in education and the workplace ( interesting that this Forbes article cites a safe workplace as the number 1 priority, and perhaps working from home should be included there?) But whatever the latest trends, online is very much here to stay, and this means you need to take care of your eyes.

Would you consider driving a new car or operating unfamiliar equipment without adapting it to your needs? Be those comfort, safety, or both. Yet nobody does this with out of the box display screen equipment, so they carry on regardless of any discomfort and then wonder why they are fatigued, depressed and have sore eyes at the end of the day.

Our eyes have not evolved to stare at unnatural screens all day. They evolved for our survival in nature. For muted colours, soft lines, not harsh vertical or horizontal stripes but distant horizons and watching our hands work.

Out of the box digital devices need reasonable adjustments from the generic settings, and they need to be adjusted to you – you that is the unique individual reading this post.

You will have an optimally synchronous colour contrast that minimises vision stress for your eyes, that also reduces the associated risk of physical stress, related to the ergonomics of your working environment.

If you are curious about your optimal colour contrast, you can find it using the DSO – (we only charge £1 to help cover admin costs – and one doubts you could find a decent cuppa or java for that price.)

Due to the emotional and physical reactions I’ve observed, for our next stage of research and development, as a therapeutic tool, we are working toward including remote Biometrics Screening in combination with Binocular Eye-Tracking. At present, we are having to depend on body-worn sensors for biometrics but, we hope to achieve remote status in due course.

But here’s the ask from us and why we are only charging the price of a cheap coffee for a product that will change your life.

Your assistance with the collection of interactive anonymised data, will be highly appreciated as this data will not only be used in Proof of Concept, but will go toward getting a head start with “machine-learning”.

We won’t be selling your data to the highest bidder; we will be using it to help people read better on screen.

Would you agree to be the subject of screen envy?

Would like to boast that your colour contrast background is unique to you, that it’s helping you mitigate the risks of screen fatigue/ computer eye strain/ computer vision syndrome (one wonders what they will call it next), and it’s helping your reading rate and giving you a wee boost in productivity – (around the 20% mark, which is not to be scoffed at).

Will you help us to help you, to help others?

If it’s a yes – Please try the DSO, then rate and share your personal experience of the DSO, that also cunningly complies with ISO 30071.1, DSE Colour Contrast Calibration – optimising your screen ergonomics for accessibility and, mitigating the degree of risk linked to vision stress, eye-strain and visual repetitive stress injuries presenting in vision suppression, myopic or asthenopic adaptations.

We look forward to reading your reviews!

14 Quick and easy steps to prevent computer eye strain.

Blink more often!

Yes, you need to consciously think about blinking when you’re working with a digital display screen. Why? Because studies are showing we blink 50% less than we should when online, which means our eyes become drier, and dare we say it – a little grungier than they should? No one is really sure why we blink less, some put it down to intense concentration, but more research is definitely required in this area.

Adjust the light.

You should not have any light (artificial or sunlight) reflecting off your screen, because it will make it harder for your eyes to focus. Plus, if you are in a really bright environment, you may be screwing up your eyes, which increases muscle usage, which tires them out quicker. Overuse of the eye muscles is the main cause of computer eye strain.

Take breaks.

The culture of busy, busy, busy! well and truly needs to go, if only for the sake of your eyes. Give them a break, get away from the screen. (We sound like your Mother, we know – but mother knows best!)

Limit screen time

Still firmly sounding as if in parenting mode, but limit the time. Get off the screen/phone/laptop and give your eyes and your body a break. When looking at a screen, your eyes are constantly having to refocus due to colour contrast, moving images, pop-ups, and so on. Our eyes were not designed for this, so like any workout – you need to include the rest time.

Fresh air and natural surroundings.

Being in nature is an absolute balm for your eyes. They have evolved to be in nature – to scan the horizon for grizzly bears or a yummy buffalo to eat, to look down at the fire, pick up the flint – you get the idea. We have not evolved to look at screens all day – well not yet anyway.

Glasses

Do you need them? When was the last time you had your eyes checked? You may need a visit to the optician, and glasses are sexy.

Check the brightness of your screen

Many of us are unaware that the factory settings on the pc/laptop/phone are not always optimal for you. Yes, this is an individual thing, so have a play – dim the screen and see if it helps – if not, brighten it a tad. You can always do the White Paper trick.

Position your screen

Place it an arm’s length away from you and have it about 10-15 degrees below your eye line – this has been found to be the optimal position ergonomically.

Supplements?

Why not – Omega 3 and Bilberry are said to help and here’s why –The Omega 3 helps to slow down the ageing of the retina, while the Bilberry is said to reduce retinal inflammation. There’s a really lovely story about Bilberry Jam and night flights by the RAF in WW2, but that’s for another time!

Adjust the screen settings

Do you need to increase the font size of the text? Do you need to adjust the browser settings because you are squinting to read? Don’t be shy, increase the font size if you need to.

Wear contacts?

Show your eyes some love and wear glasses a few days a week.

Pimp up your screen

With a customised colour contrast background – yes, this works, it’s not just for those with dyslexia, it’s for all of us. We each have a unique colour palette that our eyes love, and having this as your background colour, to contrast against images and text helps with reading/watching and soothes your eyes. It might even be a colour you don’t instinctively like, but it will be much easier on your eyes than the regular black and white contrast that comes as standard.

Put paper documents alongside the screen.

Don’t have them down in front of you – get one of those cookbook stands, and have the paper alongside the screen. Reducing looking up and down will reduce the effort of refocusing your eyes.

Do the 20-20-20 Cha Cha Cha.

Look away after 20 minutes, at something that’s 20 feet away (6 meters) for at least 20 seconds.

Zoom fatigue – what is it, and is it the same as Screen fatigue?

Zoom fatigue is NOT screen fatigue but adjusting for zoom fatigue will help with screen fatigue.

Yes, we are now fighting digital eye strain on several fronts, but zoom fatigue is more to do with how anxiety-inducing watching other’s faces can be.

Stanford University conducted a study and found 4 things that they believe are the causes of zoom fatigue. In the article, they give solutions as to what you can do about it, but essentially it boils down to – turn off your camera.

Zoom meetings cause you to be close up to someone’s face, often many faces in a confined space, which is not natural.

The only time you would do this in ‘real life’ would be in a rugby scrum, a group hug, or hiding in a fort with your friends.

It’s this close up, zoomed-in images of faces they feel triggers the anxiety of public speaking, alongside … wait for it …triggering primal instincts of fighting or mating because the zoom call is that intense for our reptilian brains.

Top tip no 1 then is to reduce the size of the faces, and not be on speaker view. Instead switch to gallery mode if there are more than a couple of participants.

Seeing yourself on zoom is unsettling, (let’s face it, zoom is not flattering) and this increase our negative self-talk, which increases our anxiety.

How many of you have been unnerved at your appearance on zoom, because that’s not how you looked in the mirror 5 minutes ago?

The solution is to right-click on your image once you are on the call and hide the self-view.

Try it, it’s very relaxing and only takes a few minutes to get used to.

Next point: We move a fair amount when we are chatting face to face, we gesticulate, and we look away a lot more.

When on zoom we continuously look at the faces, we don’t look away, and this is unnatural, plus, it increases cognitive load, which means your brain has to work harder, it burns more calories and you become tired quicker.

The solution is to either have an audio call only or turn the camera off every now and then.

One writer suggests having the camera further away from you, so you can look at things on your desk and doodle – exactly the same way we do in a face-to-face group meeting.

The cognitive load increases on zoom because the non-verbal’s are not as obvious.
Non-verbal’s, according to verywellmind.com include facial expressions, gestures, paralinguistics such as loudness or tone of voice, body language, personal space, eye gaze, touch, appearance, and artefacts.

Nonverbal communication amounts to between 70-93% of communication.

When we are online, over zoom or another video conferencing app, we have to exaggerate our nonverbal communication, which makes the brain and body work harder, so the solution here is… you guessed it – have an audio call only.

Turn the camera off.

What about the introverts? Are they loving this?

Nope. They are screaming internally and are becoming well and truly frazzled, but that’s another conversation that will involve exercise, mindfulness and yes, you guessed it – turning off the camera. (There is a link to an article for introverts at the end of this post)

So how does tackling zoom fatigue help with screen fatigue?

Turning the camera off allows you to look away from the screen – it allows your eyes to rest and relax. (Remember, screen fatigue is due to the eye muscles overworking.)

Screening for the risk of screen fatigue is as important as accepting the degree of stress associated with public speaking from your platform at home, as both are problematic when working online.

Being on zoom triggers anxiety. Screen fatigue also triggers anxiety, so this taking back control of your environment will allow you to reduce the anxiety.
Turning off the screen lets you move around, reducing the musculoskeletal issues we all get being glued to a screen, and finally, it allows you to stop pretending.

Screen fatigue and zoom fatigue both make you tired – hence the word fatigue. But when we are forced to stare at a screen for hours on end, with no decent break, our productivity drops, and we fall into what is called presenteeism – basically being at the desk pretending to work to avoid punishment, but we are not actually working.

In conclusion:

Zoom fatigue and screen fatigue are in the same ‘family’, as they both cause eyes strain and anxiety, but like siblings, they are not the same.

What is similar, is whether zooming or working on-screen, the display screen is just as close-up, requiring sustained convergence and accommodation ( focusing to you and me), but, with zoom, it’s larger objects to focus on, rather than the small text symbols that require serious visual stamina to continue making serial, sequential searches, fixations and saccads (again, more words that mean to focus and re-focus) when reading.

Turn the screen off. Rest your eyes, and don’t forget our patented software can help reduce screen fatigue.

Having the optimised coloured background for your screen is not only soothing for your eyes, it means you won’t need to fake it as much, and you’ll be far less anxious.

Further Reading:
Nonverbal Overload: A Theoretical Argument for the Causes of Zoom Fatigue

How Zoom is Combating Zoom Fatigue

Zoom Fatigue Is Real — Especially For Introverts: 6 Ways To Recharge

Colour Contrast

Colour Contrast 101 – why is it important for eye health?

When we refer to colour contrast, we mean the tone, brightness and amount of text, images and background on a webpage or website.

Essentially, it’s looking at how easy is it to read regarding the colours, the fonts, and the background colours and images.

These all impact our vision, and ultimately the health of our eyes.

The regulation that colour contrast falls under is WCAG 2.1, which is why you will see it mentioned plenty of times throughout this site. It’s an important proponent of website accessibility and on-screen eye care.

A quick look at this website and you will see numerous technical definitions used for colour contrast when creating webpages. There are plenty of numbers, codes and geek speak but also some excellent examples of poor colour contrast that make reading the text much harder.

Above is an image we have put together to illustrate poor colour contrast and poor use of text. The word ‘action’ is in outline, and in that blue colour on that pink background, it’s hard to read and many of us will need to look away.

WCAG 2.1

The WCAG 2.1 regulations tackle contrast ratio, especially the luminance or brightness between colours.

1.1 is white on white which means you can’t read it. But a ratio of 21.1 is black on white, and you certainly can read that – though you might be surprised that that can be damaging long term to the eyes.

4.5: 1 is the minimum colour contrast suggested in the latest regulations.

Font and outline also play a role as we showed in the example above, and this excellent video below, put together by the University of Southampton explains colour contrast and accessibility very well.

Is it a lifestyle thing?

Colour contrast if done well, will mitigate (reduce) the harm done to our eyes, a harm that is being done by stealth, and very much down to the way we live our lives.

We now spend on average 4866 hours a year using either a phone, tablet, tv or pc.

Divide that 365 and it’s around 13 hours a day.

But were you also aware that 1 in 12 men and 1 in 20 women have some degree of colour vision deficiency?

This means before they open their laptop/phone they are at a disadvantage when it comes to the digital world.

Plus, 6.3 million people in the UK suffer from dyslexia, with 1 in 6 people with a reading age of 11.

That’s a lot of people struggling to read.

What do these stats, (which are real people with real lives) have to do with colour contrast?

Get the colour contrast right, and it mitigates the above issues, plus soothes irritated and tired eyes.

Colour contrast can help reduce the distortions of the printed word and can increase reading ease and speed, plus, as already mentioned it mitigates the harm done by looking at a screen all day, where the eyes are dealing with sharp colour contrasts, vertical and horizontal lines, flashing images and screen glare.

When did they discover colour contrast was a thing?

Colour ‘therapy’ for reading goes back to the late 1950s, but it was in the 1980s that Meares & Irlen, two Australian graduates discovered coloured overlays improved reading fluency.

“Scotopic theories” (meaning vision in low light setting) and coloured overlays were then picked up by a businessman called Peter Irons who unsuccessfully put forward his own theories called TintaVision, but thankfully this was then followed by Professor Arnold Wilkins from Sussex Uni, who in 2014 developed the more successful “Colorimeter”. His Colorimeter helped readers to subjectively find the right coloured tinted glasses.

Meanwhile, back in 2004, we had the first iteration of ScreenRisk’s colour contrast validation tool, the only objective Display Screen Optimiser. This was then improved upon and patented in the UK & US in 2016, as a novel, therapeutic treatment for eye-strain, myopic and asthenopic disease.

Asthenopia, (also known as eye strain) can be and is being induced by over-exposure to the near or close-up, (think phone in front of your face, working too many hours on screen), and/or exacerbated, ( made worse) by the standard poorly calibrated out of the box, display screen settings, i.e. back-lit bright white background or contrast to text display screens that haven’t been altered since the factory settings.

Why highlight the words subject and objective?

The objectivity of testing is vital. Colour contrast therapy works when it’s individualised. Objectivity means you don’t choose a colour you like – it means the software chooses a colour that works for you. One that will soothe your eyes, that will aid in reading and working on a screen.

You might not like the colour orange, but what if an orange tone is an optimal colour for you?

One of our beta testers had this to say about the optimal coloured background for him:

“ I have found dark purple to work best for me. But really the darker the screen and environment, the better.”

How does colour contrast therapy work?

Scientists are still looking into how coloured backgrounds and tints can help with reading, and there is still plenty of debate around it, but what they are finding is that it reduces the excitation to the brain.

The following excerpt is taken from our White Paper:

“Professor Wilkins gives the example of the word MUM, made up of vertical stripes. This sensory input can cause overexcitement in the visual cortex, causing cognitive and related visual discomfort which is measured by an increase in oxygen use. The body’s natural response is to turn away from this discomfort. High oxygen use is a sign of high energy expenditure, which can then lead to fatigue. However, when you are learning to read, or having to read, to turn away is nowadays seen as an inability to focus and concentrate, it is not seen as a natural physiological response. Coloured overlays dissipate excessive excitation and lower visual stress. This calms down the central nervous system, and increases ease of access to the text, and thereby reading speed, which is transformed from halting to fluent.”

ScreenRisk is all about mitigating the risk to our eyes – but the secret to it is to individualise the coloured background because we are all as unique as our faces.

If you look at the market today, there are apps to change the background colour of your screen, and they do a fine job, initially.

Google Chrome has an app called Screen Shader, made by Marc Guiselin. You might want to give this a try and see what you think.

But none of us are the same, our DNA shows us that, and what works for one person, might not for another – which may explain why colour contrast apps don’t work if not all of the colours are available.

Remember our guy above who needed the dark purple?

Many apps have a limited choice of 12 colours.

Just think how many colours and hues are missing from that?

A few questions to ask yourself…

Questions to ask yourself when surfing or working online regarding colour contrast.

- Can you read the text?
- Is the text over a picture and so obscured?
- Is the colour too pale, too strong?
- Does it make you screw up your eyes in order to focus?

Our colour contrast validation tool is specifically designed as a therapeutic intervention for early-onset eye-strain. It was initially created for the visually impaired, Neurodiverse and Dyslexics, but we are finding more and more are signing up for it due to our modern lifestyle of living life through our screens.

If you come away at the end of the day suffering from screen fatigue, a colour contrast validation challenge might not be a waste of your time, and it might just save your eyesight.

You can sign up for it here, it will only take you about 15-20 minutes.

Is eyesight affected by computers?

Quora Answer to: Does eyesight get affected through the PC? My mother says it was not inherited from her…

…Go to original article

Quora Answer to: Does eyesight get affected through the PC? My mother says it was not inherited from her as she only got bad eyesight from after my birth. Is computer usage one of the problems?

…Go to original article

Digital Accessibility

Hooray – the time has come the Walrus said for many things and eye-strain (Asthenopia) Computer Vision Syndrome or Screen Fatigue as a disability which has, for far to long, been dismissed as temporary yet, as an everyday uncomfortable even painful impairment to performance and productivity in the majority of DSE workers contributes 20% or 30 days to the total 57.2 days lost productivity in the UK. Maybe now, whilst recognised as a Global Pandemic elsewhere we can do something to raise awareness in the UK by revisiting the 2007 HSE Better Display Screen RR561 that subjectively reported 58% of user operators experienced symptoms

Lazy eyes everywhere?

50 to 90% of the general population WILL suffer from Asthenopia, the WHO ICD medical term for eye-strain that, is significantly exacerbated by display screen use or operation in the workplace where it is more commonly known as Computer Vision Syndrome or Screen Fatigue.

Lazy eyes everywhere?

(And why it’s essential to understand what it is).

So, to prevent any further confusion and uncertainty – let’s explore what the others are and how the DSO differs.

The most recent and high-profile case involved a company called Eyebobs.

A plugin /widget super duper bit of blah won’t work, and they certainly won’t help with the WCAG compliance.

Next, we look at the plastic overlays used by some people with Dyslexia.

So, we have two mentions of the word overlay, meaning two very different things.

Why talk about visual stress?

The Display Screen Optimiser.

It’s designed to mitigate the harms of repetitive visual stress that, in 2017, 58% of DSE users reported experiencing.

This leads us to Screen Fatigue.

In conclusion

Walking to the door and back gives minimal relief, as the symptoms start again as soon as you sit down.

You sit back and try and look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds, but it only brings minimal relief.

It is, in fact, harming your wellbeing.

And don’t just take our word for it.

Smart people are damaging their well-being via their screens.

Risk assessment is a term used to describe the overall process or method where you:

Have you seriously risk assessed your screen? If not, why not?

A group or troupe of bias?

We want to prevent you from looking back thinking, well, I knew it was not good for me, I did know better, but I didn’t do anything.

Can we rely upon others to assess risk for us?

Why?

This leads us to the minefield of self-assessment.

Let’s talk about assessing the risks regarding your digital display screen.

But there is still more you can do.

Why look at colours?

The objectivity of testing is vital.

Then there’s Astigmatism, the suppression of the vision from one eye, with or without visible lazy eye.

Screen fatigue is also cognitive fatigue.

Computer Vision Syndrome is serious.

We all experience these differently, to one degree or another.

But this is where ScreenRisk has joined the dots but flipped the script.

Hmm, good question.

No one anticipated the 2020/21 pandemic and how that would increase screentime.

Which impacts the way we live our lives.

So, we won’t tell you to get your kids off their screens. Instead, we will give you the information to make informed decisions for yourself and your children.

Talk to the school – do they have a policy regarding phone use?

The aim is to reduce the eye fatigue that leads to general fatigue and the cycle outlined above.

The DSO reduces fatigue and mitigates against the likes of screen fatigue, which will impact their learning.

Most employees will spend an average of 2.5 weeks at work when they should be home, recuperating.

Perhaps we are all suffering from presenteeism at some point during the day or week?

So, to that silent, unassuming ally.

It’s not just sickness that causes presenteeism; it’s also your work environment and your screen as they contribute to fatigue.

Covid has taught us many things: working from home is possible, and many thrive by doing it.

But back to you.

If you need an eye test, these are the general symptoms – and you will notice them most of the time:

Now, here’s something you probably didn’t know regarding the cost:

Is it computer eye strain, computer vision syndrome or screen fatigue?

Having an individualised Display Screen Optimiser is another option to consider.

Years ago, I spent many hours training our outreach “Colour Therapy Practitioners” to administrate Digital Literacy Sessions.

And it never failed to astonish me how many physically and emotionally reacted to finding their ‘optimal colour values’ as a more accessible and less stressful contrast to the text.

Their body knew before they did.

This should be one of our first thoughts.

Our eyes have not evolved to stare at unnatural screens all day. They evolved for our survival in nature. For muted colours, soft lines, not harsh vertical or horizontal stripes but distant horizons and watching our hands work.

But here’s the ask from us and why we are only charging the price of a cheap coffee for a product that will change your life.

Would you agree to be the subject of screen envy?

Will you help us to help you, to help others?

Blink more often!

Adjust the light.

Take breaks.

Limit screen time

Fresh air and natural surroundings.

Glasses

Check the brightness of your screen

Position your screen

Supplements?

Adjust the screen settings

Wear contacts?

Pimp up your screen

Put paper documents alongside the screen.

Do the 20-20-20 Cha Cha Cha.

Zoom fatigue is NOT screen fatigue but adjusting for zoom fatigue will help with screen fatigue.

Zoom meetings cause you to be close up to someone’s face, often many faces in a confined space, which is not natural.

Top tip no 1 then is to reduce the size of the faces, and not be on speaker view. Instead switch to gallery mode if there are more than a couple of participants.

The solution is to right-click on your image once you are on the call and hide the self-view.

Next point: We move a fair amount when we are chatting face to face, we gesticulate, and we look away a lot more.

The solution is to either have an audio call only or turn the camera off every now and then.

Nonverbal communication amounts to between 70-93% of communication.

Turn the camera off.

So how does tackling zoom fatigue help with screen fatigue?