‘Disability’; the ‘D’ word generally speaks its own meaning, as anyone who is different from others in terms of physical and mental impairment. There are various types of disabilities; broad categories such as physical and communication disability, mental illness and mental retardation, learning disabilities and so forth. In this article, an attempt has been made to describe the term ‘visual impairment’ which falls under the category of physical and communication disability. The next section of the article presents activities of the National Institute for the Visually Handicapped, Dehradun, India to make the visually impaired self-sufficient and to recognize the role played by the Institute in disseminating information to them. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]