Experiences of individuals with blindness or visual impairment during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Hungary

Abstract

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and the measures of social distancing and national lockdown had a significant impact on everyday life. Individuals with BVI (blindness and visual impairment) are assumed to face increased barriers in numerous domains of their lives. This online survey research investigates, among Hungarian adults with BVI (N = 132), the impact of the lockdown on their access to shopping, daily support needs, access to remote studies of higher education or work, and leisure habits. Respondents accounted for negative impacts of the lockdown on their participation and independence in all research topics. Issues of accessibility were common both concerning shopping for essential goods and access to remote study and work.

Keywords

Blindness and visual impairment COVID-19 leisure activities remote education and work shopping for essential products support need

Introduction

On 11 March 2020, World Health Organization (WHO) announced the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak was a pandemic. Countries all over the world were expected to react rapidly and take measures to slow the spreading of the virus. The Hungarian government declared national lockdown on 28 March 2020. As the virus is so little known, discrepancies appeared in leading health organisations’ statements concerning who is at an increased risk of getting infected. WHO (2020b) emphasised that individuals over 60 and those with underlying health conditions are at high risk. National Health Service (NHS) differentiated high and moderate risk. People at high risk, meaning those clinically extremely vulnerable, are primarily individuals who are immunocompromised due to cancer treatment, organ transplant or other conditions, or have severe cardiovascular conditions or diabetes. Individuals classified as at moderate risk are over the age of 70, have mild asthma or other respiratory diseases, and are obese or pregnant (NHS, 2020). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, 2020) pointed out that living in a long-term care home is also a risk factor. United Nations (UN, 2020), in a joint statement, underlined that the coronavirus outbreak is a major hazard for individuals with disabilities, who often live in poverty and marginalisation, and have reduced or no access to information and services. The statement underlines that individuals with disabilities and elderly people are often treated unable to make decisions, and their right to reasonable accommodations is increasingly ignored during the pandemic (UN, 2020b).

For individuals with blindness and visual impairment (BVI) and deafblindness, national lockdown and social distancing caused formerly unknown difficulties. Organisations representing individuals with BVI raised their voice soon after measures of quarantine were widely announced and highlighted specific challenges and hazards the lockdown meant for people with BVI. World Blind Union (WBU), in their call to action, urged governments all over the world to take immediate measures to ensure the safety and integrity of the population. Key areas which, according to WBU, demand urgent action are participation and inclusion, access to inclusion, emergency response, groceries and home supplies, education, health, and employment (WBU, 2020). European Blind Union (EBU) called on governments all around Europe to design inclusive and accessible measures of stopping the spread of the virus. EBU also emphasised that in any country, cooperation between governments and organisations representing the population with BVI was essential in deciding on COVID-related policies (EBU, 2020; Senjam, 2020). In their study on people with BVI and self-isolation, Allen and Smith (2020) laid out five key recommendations which may help the population with BVI maintain physical and mental health during isolation. These recommendations are (1) provision of online support to help people with BVI build self-efficacy; (2) access to ration packs or priority in online shopping to avoid physical contact with guides or shop assistants; (3) access to physical exercise advice and exercise programmes delivered in a regular slot on radio or television, or in a podcast; (4) online support to help cope with mental health issues arising from self-isolation; and (5) setting up online self-support groups for individuals with BVI (Allen and Smith, 2020). In the United States, a joint effort of 15 organisations and companies was launched concerned with the impacts of COVID-19 on individuals with BVI. The online survey was open between 3 and 13 April 2020. The survey was composed of 10 sections. After completion of the first two sections (demographics; technology use), respondents could decide which other sections were relevant for them and filled in only those. The eight optional fields were health care; transportation; employment; current education experience; supporting children in education; social experiences; access to food, meals, and needed supplies; and voting. Results of the survey research were unpublished at the time of writing this article.

Our research took a closer look at the impact of the national lockdown due to COVID-19 on the Hungarian adult population with BVI. In determining the foci of the research, COVID-related communications of WBU and EBU, together with relevant literature, were studied. The four main areas we investigated are grocery shopping and buying medicine, need for sighted support, access to remote education and employment, and leisure. The latter is an aspect of everyday life which was paid little attention to by relevant international research. Allen and Smith (2020) underlined the importance of physical activity, which belongs to leisure activities. Meaningful free time activity is a resource of resilience and self-efficacy (Kelly et al., 2020; Kuonath et al., 2013), things that we all need during these unprecedented times. This is why investigating leisure habits formed part of the survey research.

Answers were sought, in the Hungarian adult BVI population, for the following questions:

RQ1. How did Hungarian individuals with BVI manage their daily shopping for food and supplies during the lockdown?

RQ2. Did the lockdown increase BVI individuals’ need for sighted support?

RQ3. Did individuals with BVI find remote work and education accessible?

RQ4. How were free time habits of individuals with BVI restructured during the lockdown?

The goal of this research was to map practical challenges and barriers which people with BVI experienced during the lockdown of Spring 2020 in Hungary. Familiarity with these challenges and difficulties may help service providers and professionals (e.g., personal assistants, rehabilitation team members, qualified teachers of students with BVI), on the occasion of another lockdown or restriction of movement, tailor their work with clients with BVI to suit COVID-specific needs.

Background

According to the latest census, in 2011, the total population of Hungary was 9,937,628. In total, 5.6% of respondents declared to have disabilities. The estimated number of individuals with BVI was 85,846. As seen in international tendencies, the large majority (around 70%) of the Hungarian population with BVI is over the age of 50 (Keeffe, 2019). In Hungary, visual impairment (VI) is diagnosed in line with the International Classification of Diseases-11 standards (WHO, 2020a).

Grocery shopping is a functionally challenging task for individuals with BVI, who often decide to shop with sighted company (friends, family members, volunteers, or shopkeepers) (Kuiyukin & Kutiyanawala, 2010), or stay away from supermarkets and choose online shopping (Elgendy et al., 2019). Shopping is a part of everyday life, representing independence. It is a socially prescribed role (Baker, 2006) which many individuals with BVI wish to enact in autonomy. In a survey study (N = 101), Jones et al. (2019) found that elderly people with BVI in the United Kingdom experience difficulties with shopping, cooking, and eating, with a third of respondents saying they shop independently, and over two-thirds shopping with support or not taking part in shopping at all. Grocery shopping is an orientation and mobility (O&M) challenge, with fully packed isles, often narrow corridors between isles, moving and parked trolleys, and varying numbers of busy and often impatient customers. For a blind or low-vision person, it is almost impossible to differentiate products based on packaging, while partially sighted individuals may need to touch products, hold them close to their face, or read labels with a magnifier or smart phone. Buying always the same brand products is common practice among low-vision customers (Jones et al., 2019). For many shoppers with BVI, the only solution is to ask for assistance in the shop and move around with shop staff.

Assistance needs of individuals with BVI vary significantly. Both working-age and elderly individuals with BVI experience a lack of information about support services (Hanson & Percival, 2005). The protection of personal autonomy may conflict with the necessity of asking for sighted support (Percival & Hanson, 2007).

In developed countries, information and communications technology (ICT) is incorporated in nearly all aspects of life (Massun Billah et al., 2017). Computer and smart phone use are as widely spread among individuals with BVI as among sighted people. Access to ICT has clearly multiplied BVI individuals’ access to information (Della Líbera & Jurberg, 2020; Douglas et al., 2001). Douglas et al. (2007) found that people with BVI in retirement age were far less likely to use the computer in their everyday life than younger generations, while individuals with BVI who are employed accounted for frequent computer use. The research highlighted that nowadays most jobs a person with BVI may get involved in demand computer use. This is crucial notion since individuals with BVI, and those with disabilities in general, are likely to have restricted occupational opportunities (Papakonstantinou, 2020). It is therefore clear that those knowledgeable of ICT may find jobs more easily (Douglas et al., 2007; Wolffe & Kelly, 2011). Improving access to ICT, however, does not mean that all softwares and online platforms, and all information available on the Internet, would be accessible with a screen reader (Argyropoulos et al., 2019). It is nowadays common that a single user uses various devices (desktop computer, laptop, smart phone) in getting access to the same system (e.g., accessing work from home) via ubiquitous access (Massun Billah et al., 2017). There are several screen readers and different operating systems work most efficiently with different screen readers. The most widespread are Jaws for Windows, NVDA for Windows, and VoiceOver for Apple products. Different operating systems require familiarity of users with BVI with several screen readers. Massun Billah et al. (2017) in a qualitative research about screen reader use and ubiquitous accessibility found that 5 out of 21 respondents had fallen out of full-time employment due to software updates. In these cases, the formerly used screen reader was no longer interacting with the updated version. Respondents had either decided not to challenge themselves learning a completely new and unfamiliar screen reader plus software combination, or took the challenge, but were dismissed due to reduced productivity. The same study examined access to academic institutional resources, which are commonly available via remote servers and virtual desktop clients. The study highlighted that these are often inaccessible, one respondent accounted for failing a course due to accessibility issues (Massun Billah et al., 2017). Vanderheiden (2009) emphasises that all computers and smart devices should be designed to provide ubiquitous accessibility for users with BVI.

Leisure habits are seldom investigated among individuals with vision loss. Cairns et al. (2009) surveyed the Scottish population as part of the Network1000 project. Forty-nine percent of the 165 respondents said listening to music/the radio was their preferred hobby, followed by reading/listening to audio books (46%). Gombás (2017) surveyed Hungarian BVI individuals’ leisure and leisure sporting habits. The majority of respondents (69.3%) had a congenital VI, almost half were blind. Two-thirds of respondents were between 19 and 35 and only 13.6% between 51 and 65 years of age. Ninety percent of all respondents said surfing the Internet was their daily leisure activity. Watching TV or films were also popular, 49.3% do either or both daily. As for socialising, 47.9% met their friends. Respondents were physically quite active: 27.9% said they walked or did some sort of physical activity at least three times a week or more frequently.

Bruce et al. (2007) in a sample of over 900 respondents with low vision examined perceived social support and found that scores were lowest among those living alone. Economically inactive working-age respondents also reported a need for more social support. The research highlighted a strong correlation between having indoor and outdoor hobbies and the perceived level of social support, namely that those who had no indoor and outdoor hobbies at all expressed higher feelings of loneliness than those who had at least one hobby. Conspicuously, the only physical activity in the list of hobbies was walking.

Ethical considerations

The research was carried out in accordance with the ethical standards of Eötvös Loránd University Bárczi Gusztáv Faculty of Special Needs Education (Budapest, Hungary), and permission to the research was provided by the faculty’s ethics committee (No. KEB/2020/007).

Method

Survey design

Following a review of relevant literature, a cross-sectional mixed-method survey (Lavrakas, 2008) with 48 questions was designed. The questionnaire contained both closed- and open-ended questions. The questionnaire covered respondents’ age, gender, domicile, VI and other disabilities, and multiple items concerning the focus areas. The items related to shopping for essential products, overall support needs, and access to online study/work platforms were developed by the authors based on relevant literature (e.g., Baker, 2006; Ginley, 2020; Kuiyukin & Kutiyanawala, 2010). The items related to free time activities were adopted from a survey research conducted by Gombás in 2017.

Online access was provided by Qualtrics XM and was first piloted on a sample of four persons with BVI. Special attention was paid to testing the accessibility of the questionnaire with different screen readers (Jaws for Windows, NVDA and VoiceOver for iOS). The questionnaire and the online layout were refined, redundant questions were removed, and some questions were reworded to increase clarity. The call and the link to the questionnaire were spread primarily in BVI-specific Facebook groups and via the newsletters of organisations representing Hungarian individuals with BVI. Eligibility criteria were a diagnosis of BVI and minimum 18 years of age. Participation was voluntary and anonymous.

Participants

A total of 176 questionnaires were filled in: 132 were 100% completed and 44 were partly (answers were provided to between 14% and 98% of all questions) completed.

Thirty-five percent of respondents were male. The mean age was 46.9 years (range, 18–75 years). 38.6% of all respondents were blind, 31.1% had a severe VI, and 30.3% had moderate VI (self-classification by the respondents).

Of all participants, nine persons had an additional hearing impairment, three had a motor disability, and five had other chronic conditions (epilepsy, diabetes, Marfan syndrome, stroke, psychiatric disorders).

Level of education

Almost half (49.5%) of the sample had a college or university degree; 47% had a vocational or high school diploma; and 3.5% finished primary school (eight grades in Hungary). Individuals with a low level of education were underrepresented.

Status of employment

Almost 61% of the participants had a full-time or part-time job; 16% were elderly pensioners; 7.8% live on disability benefits (working age without a job), two respondents (1.2%) were on maternity leave; and almost 5% (eight participants) were unemployed. As for the number of students, 1.2% of the participants were high school, and 7.8% were university students, five of them working alongside studies.

Residency

Almost half of all respondents (48.5%) lived in Central Hungary. Of all participants, 36% lived in the capital city, 50% in a city or bigger town, 7.9% in a small town, and 6.1% in a village. The vast majority (84.8%) lived in their own flats (or in that of a family member), further 13.4% lived on rent, and only three participants lived in a care home.

Results

Shopping and general support needs during lockdown

Results show that buying essential products was not easy for the BVI population: 57.9% of respondents had to elaborate, regardless their visual performance, new solutions for buying essential products. Shopping habits were significantly restructured (χ² = 119.1, p < .01). The decrease in the level of independence is pronounced, and the support need increased significantly, and there was a clear preference for online shopping (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Modification of shopping habits.

The lockdown had in many ways restructured people’s everyday life. Sighted support is, to varying degrees, part of BVI persons’ daily routine. When asked about their support needs, 22.7% of all respondents confirmed that they needed more help during the lockdown than in other times, and the form of support changed. Social distancing resulted in a decline in the amount of support involving physical contact. Text responses show that shopping for essential goods was the area where most sighted support (without contact) was needed, and some respondents did not have enough or any help.

Social distancing appeared in almost all contexts: respondents did not ask for help from fear of getting infected or feeling unwillingness from part of sighted people.

Access to online study and work

Twenty-seven out of the 80 working-age respondents declared that the pandemic in some way affected their employment status: 9 employees worked reduced hours, 4 lost their job, and 13 individuals faced other kinds of changes (their salary was reduced, they were sent on paid or unpaid leave).

As regards the use of online platforms, 57.1% of the respondents started working online, of whom 53.9% were required to learn to use new applications and software. The most mentioned applications to get familiarity with were Zoom and Google products (Classroom, Hangouts, Meet). Of all respondents, 65.9% needed support to learn to use these platforms, 7 respondents were supported by sighted family members or sighted friends, 11 by family members or friends with VI, 12 by sighted colleagues, and 9 by colleagues with VI. Only eight respondents searched for educational material on the Internet, and only two respondents asked for information in VI-related Facebook groups.

Almost a third (27.9%) of all respondents said that remote work was more time consuming, and 69% said working from home required familiarity with online platforms they had not used before the lock down.

Leisure activities

We were curious to know whether leisure habits of the population changed during the lockdown. The used items (before and during the lockdown) showed almost the same inter-item correlation which was an indicator of test–retest reliability. Test–retest correlations are above .65 for four variables (watching films online, reading, playing boardgames, chatting with friends online), intermediate – between .4 and .5 – for two more, and low for the remaining three. In these cases, the during lockdown values are much lower than the before lockdown ones, and correlation fades between them because the mean and variance of the during lockdown values is low. Cronbach’s alphas were low (before: .623, during: .474), which indicates a deviation from unidimensionality. More thorough dimensionality analyses were not conducted with the items due to relatively low sample size.

Almost half of all respondents (47.1%) reported an increase, while 42.6% declared no change in the amount of their free time. The frequency of getting involved in specific leisure activities significantly changed: there was an increase in the indoor and online activities and a decline in the on-site, outdoor, and social activities. The amount of watching television did not change (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Involvement in leisure activities before and during lockdown.

Discussion

Since the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, individuals with BVI all over the world account for discriminatory measures of multiple types, in relation to essential shopping, lack of accessible information, or unmet support needs. Many associations worldwide put forward recommendations on how shopping can be supported (Blind Veterans UK, 2020; National Federation of the Blind, 2020; Royal National Institute for the Blind, 2020; WBU, 2020). The International Disability Alliance (2020) has been collecting written testimonials of people with disabilities during the pandemic, some of which were written by individuals with BVI from all over the world. Like blind and moderate and severe VI citizens living in other countries, Hungarian people reported significant limitations of shopping independently and had concerns of keeping social distance with staff members and fellow customers. WBU (2020) underlines that grocery shopping is a major hazard for contagion, due to the need for touching products and getting in contact with staff members. In their guidelines, staff members are advised to provide verbal guidance, keeping social distance with the customer with BVI. Findings of this research show that Hungarian adults with BVI experienced a significant decrease in shopping, and the majority of respondents refrained from going shopping. Results also show a clear increase in support needs.

Remote access to work has major challenges for people with BVI, starting at setting up software products and applications, many of which require sight (Ginley, 2020). Respondents underlined that not only gaining familiarity with online platforms was challenging but also sighted support was inevitable when filling in inaccessible forms on the Internet or completing an online shopping process. There are many situations in which smart phone apps can assist blind users, for example, identification of bank notes, scanning, and reading short texts. More complex visual tasks may, however, not be solved without human assistance. Be My Eyes is a free app for both Android and iOS (https://www.bemyeyes.com), which connects individuals with BVI and sighted volunteers via a video call. Avila et al. (2016), in an international online survey (N = 30), found that reading texts and inaccessible screens (e.g., that of a microwave oven) were the most frequent situations in which respondents turned to Be My Eyes. The app was also reported useful in checking on make-up, or to check if colours of an outfit matched. It was found less useful in orientation and mobility (Avila et al., 2016). Since 2019, Hungarian individuals with BVI may use a similar system, operating with trained assistants, called Distant Eye (Távszem), which provided 24/7 support during the lock down. Social media is a powerful and increasingly accessible (Brinkley & Tabrizi, 2017) tool in the dissemination of information. As the lockdown was announced, 65.9% of all respondents were forced to switch to online education and work and reported that peer support from other BVI individuals was a key to their success. IT without Sight (Szemtelen informatika) is a Hungarian Facebook group in which users with BVI can ask for support in IT and smartphone-related matters. A COVID-19-specific Facebook group is People with Visual Impairment During the Pandemic (Látássérültek a járvány idején), a platform for sharing information and discussion on both physical and mental challenges of the lockdown. (The language of both Facebook groups is Hungarian.)

Finally, findings of our research confirm that participation in online leisure activities was dominant practice, while personal contact was low, or there was no personal contact at all. Considering the strict limitations of movement during the lockdown, the dramatic decline of personal contacts is not surprising, while respondents’ openness to getting engaged in online activities and online socialising is really positive.

Limitations

This research intended to map difficulties and challenges individuals, who live in Hungary and are registered blind or visually impaired, experienced during the COVID-19 lockdown, in the domains of shopping for food and supplies, personal assistance needs, remote study and work, and leisure habits. Responses were collected on an online platform, as personal contact with respondents was not an option. Our sample was therefore limited to those who had access to a computer or smart device and who had access to the Internet: the call was spread online, and surveys were filled in online. We therefore assume we had no access to respondents with lower socioeconomic status (SES) and the vast majority of elderly individuals with BVI. The high proportion of respondents with a college or university degree shows that access to less educated cohorts was limited. A further limitation was accessibility: although both the researchers and the pilot sample tested the questionnaire with different screen readers on different operating systems, some individuals had difficulties when filling it in, for example, in some cases, frequency variables in the leisure-related items were not read by the screen reader.

Footnotes

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Judit Gombas

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