ZOOM is a way to watch YouTube videos, specifically designed for people with cerebral visual impairment (CVI) especially those who have difficulties with clutter, or seeing things that move quickly.

On this page we have information about:

• What ZOOM is.
• Why we created ZOOM.
• How ZOOM works in relation to CVI and the brain.
• Teaching and learning opportunities using ZOOM.
• Using ZOOM with typical and reduced visual acuity.
• Using ZOOM with non-verbal children.
• What using ZOOM can tell us about the person.

We also have a separate page of instructions explaining the different screens and a troubleshooting page if you are having difficulties.

Click here to open ZOOM in another window. If you have not used ZOOM before, click on the bar beneath the owl's feet and select one of the demonstration videos. This will let you play with ZOOM. By doing so the information below will make better sense.

What is ZOOM?

ZOOM is a way to play YouTube videos, designed for people who are affected by CVI. ZOOM may also be beneficial for anyone who may struggle with maintaining visual attention and need quiet calm clear environments to do so, including older people.

You can copy the share link of any YouTube video and watch it on ZOOM. Note, this must be a video on YouTube and the share link and not the page link (see 1 minute video below).

The share link on YouTube, and how it is different from the page address.Video Link: https://vimeo.com/671863668

ZOOM has many features but five are particularly important:

• 1. Black background. In terms of visual processing, black = nothing. A black background reduces the demands on your visual processing systems, as opposed to a white background or coloured background. ZOOM is set to a black background. We do have some other colour options because we know some people, particularly children, have very strong colour preferences, and a different colour may make the experience more enjoyable. We recommend starting with black though, for optimal effectiveness.
• 2. Video Window Size. For many with CVI and typical visual acuity, making things smaller can make them easier to see. But - that all depends on what is being watched and how the person is feeling. With ZOOM you can easily change the video size and other settings, including whilst watching the video, just pause it and click settings then make any changes. Your place in the video will be saved.
• 3. Clutter Free. While the window size and speed are functions on YouTube, a key function of ZOOM is to bring these settings together and to play the video on a clutter free screen. In the top right corner of the screen is a 'Full Screen Mode' button. Click this and you will see just the window of the video within a completely black surround (or other colour if you selected a different colour). Just click Esc (escape) to exit full screen mode.
• 4. Speed Options. You can choose to watch the video at normal speed, or make it slower / faster. We know that looking and listening can be difficult for many with CVI. Combining diminished clutter with reduced speed, can help make videos more accessible, particularly for those more severely affected, and children with learning difficulties.
• 5. Save Settings. Using an email address and password, you can save your chosen YouTube video with your settings. In this way you can plan and set everything up in advance if you are supporting someone. If a child has a favourite video, you can easily access it on any device with access to a web browser. You can save as many videos on ZOOM as you wish, just using a different password for each one, making sure to remember or record it.

Devices
ZOOM can be used on any device with Wi-Fi where you can access a web browser, including:

• Computers & Laptops
• Tablets
• Smartphones
• Televisions / Streaming Devices *

Using ZOOM on a Television
* Many televisions come pre-programmed with access to a web browser. There are also many streaming devices for televisions that include a web-browser (for examples search 'streaming devices for tv'). ZOOM can be used on a television through the web browser, but it may be easier to set up the video in ZOOM on a computer first. Then, when you want to watch it, you only need to enter the email address and password on the TV. Copying video share links may be more familiar and more practical on a computer or tablet, than on a television.

Why We Created ZOOM

We know that the world can be too complicated and fast for children and adults with CVI.

Things can be missed, or be confusing.

Videos can be fun and are a great motivator.

Videos bring many opportunities to learn, catch-up, relax and enjoy, but only if they are accessible. We explain this in more detail in our guide Using Videos to Support Learning with CVI.

That's why we have created and commissioned ZOOM, to make watching videos more accessible for people with CVI.

How ZOOM works in relation to CVI and the brain.

Think about everything in your visual field right now, including to the outer edges, called your peripheral visual field. Everything is being mapped in a part of the brain called the posterior parietal lobes. That mapping process means you know accurately where things are in relation to where you are, and if you see something or want to look at something in particular, because it has been mapped, you can do this, and know what it is... because it has been mapped and identified. This mapping process is an unconscious but essential visual process. When it is impaired, as is the case with many with CVI, there can be difficulties, especially in complex, cluttered, crowded and noisy environments. We explain this in more detail in Level 9 of our lessons. The black background reduces the demand on that mapping part of the brain, meaning there is more brain processing power to focus on the video. It means for affected people that the video is easier to see, hear, understand and enjoy.

Teaching and learning opportunities using ZOOM

If you are supporting a child with CVI, you can use ZOOM and plan in advance, sourcing salient videos and saving them under different passwords. If a child is struggling keeping up with lessons, and recordings are possible and can be made available on YouTube, they can be uploaded and saved for the child. YouTube accounts are free so you could even create your own account to upload resources, and then play them on ZOOM. Using the slow setting not only slows the video pictures but also the speed of sounds including talking. This can make it easier for the child to look, listen and follow. Observe the child, and the benefits of making things slower and less cluttered, including talking, and look for other areas that can be improved to help them enjoy learning in their wider environment.

It can also help for there to be no pattern or clutter surrounding the screen. This can be easily achieved by facing a plain wall or covering clutter using a plain bed-sheet or similar for example.

Using ZOOM with people who have typical and reduced visual acuity.

For people with CVI and typical visual acuity, making the video smaller and the black background larger means the proportion of the brain activity available to focus on the video is greater and viewing is improved (as explained above). But, this is only the case for those with typical visual acuity. If a person has reduced visual acuity, making the video window smaller means detail of the images will be lost. It is about finding the right balance, and that may vary depending on what is being watched, including whether it is familiar or not, and how the person is feeling.

Complex children with CVI and considerably reduced visual acuity can still use ZOOM and may like to watch and listen to the same videos repeatedly. What happens is that over time they come to remember parts of the sounds and images, and can progressively piece them together, so the experience becomes increasingly more meaningful - which means they are learning! This is a way of understanding how they learn through one thing at a time.

Using ZOOM with non-verbal children.

We know that many children with CVI who are non-verbal enjoy videos. Many of this group of children also have reduced visual acuities (see above) and considerable learning difficulties. If the child has a programme they like, see if you can find it on YouTube and copy across the share link. You could try changing the speed to slower and see how the child engages. We have in our demonstration videos an episode of the very simple 'Spot The Dog' YouTube video for this purpose.

Think about the device you are using. Might the child want to hold it? If so a tablet might be a good idea, but with a strong case as things can get dropped!

Someone who knows the child well will know how they communicate their being engaged and happy. We expect that for most children in this group, really slowing things down with the reduced complexity from the black background, should make the experience more enjoyable and engaging. This can bring opportunities, whilst having fun to...

• look and listen
• develop language
• learn

What using ZOOM can tell us about the person.

By observing how a person uses ZOOM and their preferred settings, many other improvements to their wider environment can be considered...

Clutter & Complexity - Zoom works because the black surround acts like a peripheral mask. Anywhere else where you can reduce clutter and complexity will help the person with CVI to access the salient environment more effectively, for the same reason.

Looking & Listening - We know that the ability to listen and look at the same time is difficult for many with CVI. If a person is needing to slow things down, or regularly pause or re-watch the same programme, it may be because they can't process both the sounds and images at the same time, even with the reduction in clutter. Think about this when out and about, or in school. Remember, one thing at a time. We explain looking and listening difficulties in Lesson 9d, The Sound Map.

Slower - A person preferring ZOOM when at a slower speed, could be for two different reasons. One is difficulties looking and listening at the same time (above). The other is because part of their CVI difficulties relate to how easily their brain processes things that are moving fast. From many accounts we have witnessed similar difficulties processing sounds that are fast, including more rapid speech. Slowing everything down may not only make the images easier to process and make sense of, but also the sounds. This type of CVI is called dyskinetopsia, and is common.

In this section...

• ZOOM - Instructions
• ZOOM - Troubleshooting

• Contents