VERA is standardized, foolproof and requires no clinical testing skills to learn.
All tests are preceded by helpful instruction screens and prompts will alert you if running a test may give unreliable results. The routine screening contains tests for visual acuity, hyperopia (+ lens) and basic binocular vision. Students find the screening fun to take and are generally engaged and cooperative. Here are a few examples of how easy it is to screen with VERA:

To test visual acuity
Have the student stand 10 feet from the monitor and identify the direction in which the "E" over the arrow is pointing while you input "ENTER" if correct and "0" if incorrect. The program will control the size and most efficient sequence of the lines presented and will record and score the results. You'll test right eye, left eye and both eyes in this manner. Since test characters can't be memorized or easily interpreted by squinting and every student receives the identical screening, you're likely to be surprised by the additional visual acuity deficits you'll detect.

To test Hyperopia
Have the student look through the clear test lenses in our lens flipper with test lenses #1 and #2 (or through a pair of +2.00D drugstore reading glasses) and proceed in the same manner as with visual acuity. The program automatically tests at best visual acuity level, so only one line of test characters will be necessary.

To test binocular vision
The student sits about 16 inches from the monitor. In the stereopsis test, for example, have the student look through the red and green test lenses in our lens flipper (with test lenses #1 and #2) and identify the "floating" number 1, 2, 3 or 4. The numbers are only visible through the testing glasses when the student is using both eyes together. The proctor inputs the number reported or "0" if no number is seen. All of the VERA tests are this easy to administer.

Your personalized Eye Doctor’s Report and/or Parent’s Letter can automatically be prepared after each screening or you can print them all at once after screening is done. This is particularly convenient when using a laptop! With VERA, you'll spend virtually no time transcribing results or replacing lost eye doctor's reports. You'll also have Second Notice letters to parents, a generic Screening Results report for your special educators or pupil review team, a Student List report for teachers and a Vision Skills Report should you perform this screening.

VERA gives you more control over referrals being fulfilled
The estimated number of children who do not visit an eye care professional after a failed screening varies significantly ‐ from 40% to nearly 70% (Vision Council of America). That's why follow‐up of unfulfilled referrals is so important, and it takes only minutes with VERA. Just enter the identification numbers on returned eye doctor's reports into the "Letter Check‐in" screen. Then, prepare all of your follow‐up communications at once in the "Reports" section of the program. With a few more keystrokes, you can prepare grade-specific lists of students with unfulfilled vision referrals for teachers. With these lists, teachers can encourage compliance with your referrals while better accommodating those students in the classroom.

Enjoy greater involvement with your student's education
With VERA, you can identify common vision skills-related learning problems (based in eye tracking, focusing and eye teaming) without referral to a vision specialist. If you're inclined to do even more than use the vision skills screening as a special assessment tool, you can:

• provide included protocols for teachers and parents to assist visually deficient students
  
  
• reach out to vision specialists in the community who treat vision skills and who can serve as referral
  options for special educators
  
  
• present more complete information to pupil review teams or at committee meetings when support plans are made
  for failing students

For additional information about vision skills, see our "Educator" section. For information about and locations of practitioners providing appropriate treatment, please consult www.covd.org and www.aoa.org.