Dr. Joseph L. Fontenot has been a practicing cardiologist and vision rehabilitation specialist for over 26 years. In his early years he practiced cardiology exclusively, establishing himself in Alabama, the state he calls home. But the onset of a visual-impairment would eventually change the course of his career.

In late 1994 Dr. Fontenot was diagnosed with PXE, a form of congenital macular degeneration that slowly robbed him of his vision. Rather than allowing his condition to impede his professional or personal interests, he forged ahead using assistive technology designed to help the visually impaired remain productive.

In the early stages, Dr. Fontenot relied on simple devices like CCTVs and hand-held magnifiers, which allowed him to read his patient’s EKG’s, charts and other written information. In addition, his excellent staff and medical librarian were able to fill in any gaps that his impairment created.

The world of medical information was, however, undergoing massive changes at the same time that Dr. Fontenot was adjusting to his condition. More and more diagnostic, treatment and research information was migrating to the Internet, including large medical databases like “PubMed”. In order to stay informed and current in such a highly technical field computer access was becoming a must.

In 1995, Dr. Fontenot entered the digital world by purchasing a new computer and his first copy of ZoomText. With his technically literate wife by his side, he quickly mastered the basics of both. He’s been a ZoomText user and advocate ever since.

With each major release of ZoomText, Dr. Fontenot is always among the first to purchase the upgrade and begin exploring and using the latest features. Along the way, he’s become a hardcore fan of ZoomText’s reading tools.  He tells us, “I like using AppReader because, as it’s reading to me, it maintains the look and feel of the application and document, which really helps when I’m navigating pages on the web.  And the SpeakIt Tool makes it easy to spot read blocks of text on complicated web pages.”

A few years ago, Dr. Fontenot retired from his cardiology practice and founded the Community Services for Vision Rehabilitation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping those with low-vision and blindness. The community-based organization currently has offices located in Mobile and Fairhope Alabama, where they provide professional evaluations by eye doctors, occupational therapists, ophthalmic technicians, computer specialists and others. 

Dr. Fontenot reports that most people who have vision issues have no idea about the vast array of software and devices that are available to assist them. In addition many optometrists and ophthalmologists are so busy trying to “treat” the problems at hand that they spend little to no time helping patients adjust to their new lives. The good news is that information is starting to reach the public due to increasing use of the Internet, and folks like Dr. Fontenot who are living examples that vision loss need not mean a slow down in professional or personal accomplishments.

You can read more about Dr. Fontenot and the Community Services for Vision Rehabilitation at www.csvrlowvision.org.