The Lancet Global Health Commission on Global Eye Health estimates that approximately 43.3 million people were blind in 2020, and nearly 295 million people had moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI). 10 Nearly 55 per cent were women, and 70 per cent were older than 50 years.
There are also significant regional variations in prevalence. Globally, 92 per cent of people who are blind and 88 per cent of those with MSVI live in LMICs. Western sub- Saharan Africa has the highest age-standardized prevalence of blindness (1.1 per cent), and North America the lowest (0.1 per cent). South Asia has the highest age- standardized prevalence of MSVI (6.4 per cent). Because of large regional populations, the highest number of blind people live in South Asia (11.9 million) and East Asia (9.1 million). MSVI follows a similar pattern.
While estimates exist of those who may require screen readers, it is challenging to estimate the market size for screen readers or even the number of devices and users in circulation. Even when using tracking measures like cookies, or self-reported surveys, it is still difficult to distinguish between those who use screen readers for convenience (i.e. when driving, multi-tasking, or senior citizens with decreasing vision proficiency) as opposed to disability. Further, individuals may have multiple disabilities complicating the analysis. Additionally, the utilization and popularity of built-in and open-source software contribute to the lack of certainty, as these have no ‘licensed’ user base that may be leveraged. Further, the lack of tracking of or reporting on web
13pages accessed through screen readers through standard web-tracking measures (cookies, Google Analytics etc.) is an added complexity.