There are two main reasons for creating GiveVision. The first is to provide useful information and resources to the general public. The second is to promote the fact that new advances in medical technology may help some people who were formerly classified as being untreatable.

The largest part of the project is to generate as complete a listing of informational resources as possible. This mainly involves websites, but can also include printed publications. There is a lot of informations out there, but it is scattered all about. An organized listing helps people find useful information quicker.

The other goal is to promote the fact that ongoing medical advances can made it possible to deal with some vision problems that were untreatable before. A lot of people and even doctors may not be aware of these new treatment options and therefore some patients may not get the help they need. The goal is to increase awareness through this website, placing materials into doctors offices, listing this website in where ever practical, and even handing out business cards to everybody we can.

The Internet offers a method of communications never before available to this degree to the public. There is a lot of useful information out there, but it is scattered all around. Search engines help to find things, but an organized list would be much better. This website is designed with that goal in mind. The focus of the resource lists here is vision related material, although general health and other medical resources are included on a limited basis.

I wish I had come across a list such as this when I started searching for Aniridia information and am proud to be able to provide it for others in similar situations.

The resource lists are provided to assist people in quickly finding the information they want. The list is divided into catagories for easier navagation. However, there are many resources that cover multiple conditions and/or general topics.

If you are interested in providing vision related resources on your website, please include a link to this website rather than trying to copy any portion of the listing. Sending people to this website will give them the full benefit of the site as well as any updates that occur regularly.

Rather than have a seperate link to each area of one resource (such as a website), usually only the main reference will be listed. There are advantages and disadvantages with this method, such as:
Disadvantages:

• You must search some sites yourself to find a certain topic
• More websites are listed as general in nature

• Very few duplicated sites, many more different sites instead
• You get to pick your areas of interest, usually from menus or search boxes on the site.
• Less chance of broken links due to website changes. Many sites that have moved will automatically redirect from the former main URL while not from embedded pages.

With so many websites included here, if I were to list many topics on each website (as some lists do) the list would be so big that navigation would be difficult and many people wouldn't bother with it. Instead, the goal here is to provide as many different sites as possible and let the visitors find their interests from the main page. This method allows more sites to be listed in the same amount of space. Usually topics of interest can be found fairly quickly on most websites.

The use of catagories greatly improves your ability to find resources of interest as oppossed to a big list ordered by alphabetical means only. The quick index at the top helps explain the catagories and offers quick access directly to those areas.

Included with the list now is a growing directory of major diseases which are not directly related to vision problems. This is provided to offer fast access to information on these conditions.

I have also included a growing list of websites of doctors and facilites around the United States. This could help people to find a care provider near their area. Some of these also have information on vision conditions or treatments.

Also included are college and university websites on the listing. Most of these have ophthalmology departments or health care sections. Many universities have attached eye institutes. These will be listed with doctors and facilities.

Many people do not have access to the Internet or know how to use it. Therefore, if you know of somebody who would be interested in this listing but they do not have ability to access the internet and you can not provide them with a printout, please send me an email and I will send them one.

We shall make every reasonable attempt to confirm resources at the time of the listings and hopefully will be able to review and update these on a timely manner basis thereafter.

Everybody can help to build this resource tool. Whether you'd like to submit a website or reference for the listings, inform us of a link that needs to be updated or removed, or help us to promote the GiveVision website itself.

Use the Submit a listing form to request that a resource be added to the list. The more resources listed, the more chance that people can find the information they need.

You can also purchase items with the GiveVision logo on them to help promote this free resource listing website.

Each person must be the judge of the contect of each resource listed for accuracy and their own use of the information provided. Because we have no control over the content within the listed resources, GiveVision will NOT be held responsible in any way for the content or advice given within listed resources. However, we will gladly review any resource when requested for content and adjust the lists accordingly.

Possibly the best way to use medical information obtained from Internet sources is to visit several sites and compare the results. Then confirm what seems to be valid with a vision or health care provider. While much of the information out there is good, personalized tailoring to each individual is best left to the trained people who understand the uniqueness which each patient possesses. PLEASE consult medical professionals before self-treatment! Use these resources to help educate yourself about your condition outside of the physicians office.

There is no financial relationship or bias to the resource listings. We do not charge anything for the links nor do we limit listings based upon the business. If we feel it is useful to people, we list it.

Not all resources make it into the listing. Resources which provide useful vision or health information without being overly loaded with ads or pop-up windows stand the best chance of making it into the lists. Ads on websites is an evil that we have to deal with, but the content of the site must merit the worthiness of the visit in order to have it be listed here.

Websites with automatic pop-up windows will have to be an otherwise outstanding site. Those of us with vision problems really don't need the extra burden of new windows which we have to deal with and close. Screen readers often used by the visually impaired have a hard enough time informing their users what is going on with the regular screen, let alone the presence of a new window. Therefore, we make a point to specify if a resource is known for pop-up windows.