Giving Compass' Take:

• Agency networks like National Industries for the Blind and the Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind are pushing efforts to increase employment among the blind population. 

• What new barriers for blind people seeking employment might arise due to the changing workforce? 

• Read about these STEM learning opportunities for the visually impaired.

Could you operate heavy machinery with your eyes closed? Imagine if your livelihood depended on it.

Blind Americans confront a veritable sea of joblessness: 7 in 10 are without work. But the success story being written at one Texas factory is showing just how to turn the tide. Unemployment among the blind has long been an off-the-radar problem. According to the American Foundation for the Blind and the National Federation of the Blind, jobless rates have stood at 70% for generations.

Agency networks like National Industries for the Blind have helped drive attention and match job opportunities since the Great Depression. But with over 10 million estimated Americans blind or visually impaired, and studies suggesting that figure will double over the next 30 years, the urgency surrounding employment is growing.

While the burden for making tech-heavy work more accessible to the blind still rests with tech companies, in the meantime, new manufacturing jobs are being unlocked for blind Americans thanks to the pioneering efforts of the Dallas Lighthouse for the Blind.

Read the full article about the Texas factory fighting blind unemployment by James Poulos at GOOD Magazine.