I'm not blind but my boyfriend has RP and is very limited visually (pinhole vision that's only useful in VERY well lit rooms).

He had an interview today, actually. I encouraged him to bring up his restrictions prior to the interview so they're not shocked. He knew there was going to be a written test on paper so beforehand he emailed the recruiter and explained that he had limited vision so the test would need to be on either a computer with high contrast or someone would need to read it to him. The guy emailed back and was very nice, and at the interview today my boyfriend didn't end up having to take the test because they couldn't have it reprinted or get authorization from the company they buy it from to have someone read it to him.

So I'd just recommend letting the recruiter know when you're calling/emailing to talk about details, and they will inform anyone else who needs to know.

I have learned that the phrase “legally blind” will get doors slammed in my face; I have had interviewers turn away from me and start looking out windows while tapping their pens on their knees and notebooks; I have had interviewers slouch in their seats, resting their heads on the backs of their chairs like they were going to take a nap on me; I have had interviewers tell me they could put me to work right away, go as far as show me the workstation I would be using then a day or two later inform me that the company is going to continue looking. I have had interviewers start talking to me as if I were six years old again or start talking to others in the interview as if I wasn’t there. I had one company tell me the job had been filled that very morning, pull the job off their website and re-post it a week later with a “REQUIREMENT” of a valid drivers license even though the description stated zero percent travel.

I truly believe that the average person doesn’t understand the difference between “legally blind” and “totally blind”. My empirical evidence indicates that most people sub-consciously make a connection that if your eyes don’t work and since your eyes are in your head then there must be something wrong with the rest of your head.

I no longer use the phrase “legally blind” when my vision comes up in an interview, instead I use the phrase “very near sighted” which seems to be more acceptable to people, it is something they can relate to I guess. Using “very near sighted” is a way to open the topic for conversation and allow me the opportunity to quantify my vision, offer examples of how my vision is an asset to me in my job as well as, hopefully, an opportunity for me to dispel some false assumptions the average person may have about people with visual impairments.

A potential employer needs to know and not making them aware of my vision during the interview would, I think, come across as being deceptive. One of the best opening I get is when I am asked what my strengths are to which I reply that being very near sighted from birth has given me a lifetime of experience in problem solving and that I have honed that skill to a razors edge. More often than not I am asked to elaborate on the “skill” of problem solving before I am asked about the “tool” of being very near sighted

Sorry about the novelette folks.

I would just let them know in advance, and appear very independent and confident when you show up. They will probably forget about the fact that your blind if you look like you know what your doing.