Legal blindness and vision impairment

About this calculator

Choose the vision in your better-seeing eye with your glasses or contacts and, if you know it, your visual field. The checker shows whether this meets the US legal (statutory) blindness definition used by Social Security, and the ICD-11 vision impairment range.

What you need

• The vision in your better-seeing eye, with your glasses or contacts
• Your visual field (side vision) width, if your eye doctor has told you

How it is calculated

Legal blindness (20 CFR 404.1581): central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correction, or a visual field whose widest diameter is 20 degrees or less. The ICD-11 vision impairment range is shown for Snellen results.

What the result can and cannot tell you

Many state programs and agencies use the same definition, but each program makes its own decision. This is information only, not a benefits or disability decision. Vision outside this definition can still affect daily life, and low-vision services can help at any level.

References

1. Social Security Administration: 20 CFR 404.1581, meaning of blindness
2. ICD-11 vision impairment categories (9D90)
3. Netra Eye Institute: Functional vision assessment questionnaire

Related

• Visual acuity converter
• Glasses prescription reader
• Glasses to contact lens converter
• Functional vision guide
• All eye calculators

For information only. These tools explain numbers and do not replace an eye examination or your eye doctor’s advice. Values you enter stay in your browser.