BLINDNESS, GAMES

How Blind People Play Bingo

What we did during Covid: Bingo across America.

During Covid, like everyone else, the Houston Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind of Texas organized social events throughout the year using the Zoom app. Using Zoom allowed us to include bingo players from across the United States, instead of only people who could meet at The Lighthouse of Houston to play in person. People from as far away as Pennsylvania joined in our games.

How do blind people play bingo? There are some fascinating differences, especially when it comes to verifying bingo cards you can’t see.

Fortunately, for blind people, distance activities are not necessarily a hardship. For some, doing things at a distance was extremely convenient, as it meant we didn’t have to travel.

Traveling while blind requires pre-planning, money, and time; it is not usually something a blind person can do on a whim. Shared ride para-transit services, for example, require a person to schedule trips a day in advance.

Gathering through Zoom eliminated the travel headaches. There were still the headaches of making sure you connected to the app properly, had the meeting passcode and meeting ID, but once you were in the room, the app was easy to learn.