I have a friend who is visually impaired but not blind. He is interested in trying out an OTB tournament for the first time. So far he has just been playing online with Chess.com on an iPad Pro which is large enough for him to see things. I’m going to help him experiment with some different size physical pieces and board colors, as well as a demo board, as possible solutions to play OTB. In case none of those work well for him, can anyone suggest a chess app we might allow him to use as a secondary board, as a similar concept to special boards used by fully blind players?
I assume the board display on an iPad Pro is smaller than the board on just about any OTB chess set, so it seems to me that size, in and of itself, could not possibly be a problem – unless, of course, the OTB board is too large, so that he cannot see all the pieces at the same time, without moving his head back and forth a lot. If this is the case, perhaps the only accommodation he would need would be an auxiliary smaller board, possibly a peg-in set.
But there are other ways an OTB board might create difficulties for him. He might find the colors or shapes of the pieces unpleasant, for example. But it seems you are already researching this angle.
Still another possibility is that, because of his visual impairment, he needs to use a 2-D board rather than a 3-D board. In this case, just about any END (electronic notation device) could be the answer. Even organizers who prohibit most or all ENDs should be willing to make some kind of accommodation here.
I’m sure there could be other problems that I haven’t thought of, that wouldn’t be covered above. Best wishes in finding a suitable accommodation for this player.
Bill Smythe
Check with the organizer. Many will automatically disallow any non-dedicated app (too difficult to spot whether or not an engine is hidden behind the app). As Bill said, a dedicated device like a Monroi will usually be okay.
In this particular case, I AM the organizer 
I happen to have an older iPad that I could loan for the purpose and control settings IF we could find a suitable app, and IF a physical board won’t be an option… I’m exploring that option first of course, just looking ahead for alternatives as plan C or D if needed.
Good point! If a traditional board is too big, I might try an analysis size set, or maybe magnetic or pegged travel set. Thanks for the suggestion.
Highly recommend all players understand “35F2. Announcement of moves.” and how they should ensure the player will hear the correct move.
I played a visually impaired expert at a national tournament many years ago. On his request, I allowed non-standard accommodations such as a traditional face clock (easier to see the hour and minute hands), and his ability to touch the pieces on the main board (not a lot of room for a separate board).
No one told us to announce moves or the next part could’ve been avoided.
As the opening became a middlegame the gentleman accused me of cheating, our scoresheets disagree on a particular move and are both written in pen, no witnesses for or against either of the scoresheets, and the NTD ruled that the least-harm result was to back up to the point of scoresheet agreement (likely based on 35F9).
All of that could’ve been avoided by following 35F2.