Keratoconus

A progressive eye condition in which the normally round cornea thins and bulges into a cone-like shape, causing irregular astigmatism and significant visual distortion that cannot be fully corrected with standard glasses or contact lenses. Keratoconus typically begins in adolescence or early adulthood and affects approximately 1 in 2,000 people. The irregular corneal shape produces high-order optical aberrations that differ from the simple defocus of myopia or hyperopia, making conventional optical corrections inadequate. For digital accessibility, keratoconus is significant because affected users may experience distorted, ghosted, or blurred screen content even with corrective lenses, and may benefit from software-based image pre-compensation approaches that can counteract high-order aberrations that optical corrections cannot address.