An increasing number of non-optometric sources are selling standard glasses (with a range of lens powers available) for reading and other near-work tasks. Collectively these tend to be referred to as ‘ready readers’.

Evaluation of the quality of ready-made spectacles
This project evaluates whether ready-made glasses meet required optical standards.
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Project conclusions
- just over half of all ready-made spectacles used in the study provided the optical standards required of them by the relevant British and European Standard
- higher-powered ready-made spectacles were more likely to have errors (+3.50DS)
- the quality of these ready-made spectacles could be easily improved by the use of more appropriate inter-pupillary distances for the work they are intended for.
Further reading
This research was published open access in Optometry and Vision Science, the research journal of the American Academy of Optometry, in April 2012.
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