Let me get this out of the way first; I have no intention of using any replies from this thread as the basis for an argument and I ask out of my own curiosity. I work in engineering on a software product and we had an issue arrive in our workload. One of our users told a product manager our use of the word blind was offensive. I understand how the word could be used in a context would hurt someone's feelings, and I see why nobody wanted to argue whether our use fit that bill. The context here stems from the academic use of the term blind study. An obfuscated portion of the content is called a blind field, which determines whether a given user will or will not see it.

I should clarify I realize a few anecdotes do not speak for an entire group. I am interested if this is understandably offensive to a proportion of blind people, not necessarily whether it's offensive to you as a blind person. I ask because I had a Navajo friend who once tell me, "I don't give a shit if a white person has an Az Native bumper sticker when real racism is everywhere. It doesn't make you a better person to pick my battles and get offended on my behalf. So stop and ask before you assume." The person who pointed this out definitely wasn't blind and the least I can do is formulate an opinion based on those of people who understand what it means to be blind.

So I pose the question to you. Is the word blind in this context offensive?