Ali Lundberg

Designing for the Eye

Accessibility is often treated as purely functional, but this project argues it is also expressive, emotional, and deeply tied to identity. Visual impairment is not simply a loss of sight, but a lived, variable experience that shapes how people engage with the world, art, and themselves.

Drawing from research on low vision, museum accessibility, and social interaction, this project reframes vision loss as a spectrum of perception rather than a limitation to be corrected. Many accessibility solutions separate visual and non-visual experiences, overlooking that people with impairments still rely on and value what they can see. At the same time, social behaviors and institutional norms often create greater barriers than vision itself.

Rather than aiming for perfect simulation, the project prioritizes empathy and awareness. It challenges sighted assumptions, introduces the role of the sighted ally, and positions accessibility as an expansion of design that embraces multiple ways of seeing.