Using a hammer is certainly do-able with blindness, low vision, or vision loss. All it requires is knowledge of safety techniques, preparation and organization, and specific adaptations for your vision loss.

Safety and Preparation Checklist

• Organize your work area. Collect all tools and equipment you will need ahead of time and have them arranged and sorted before you begin any home repair task. To help keep important items and equipment together, you can place your materials on a large tray, in a cardboard box, or in a work apron with pockets, arranged in the order you plan to use them.
• Organize your tools. Separate your tools according to type and always store them in, and return them to, a designated location. If you have low vision, wrap contrasting-colored plastic or electrical tape around your tool handles (pictured right) to make them easier to see and to increase contrast with the work surface. Use any of the methods and materials in Organizing and Labeling Your Workshop and Tools.
• Check the lighting. If you have low vision, make sure that the lighting in your work area provides sufficient illumination. You can read more about lighting at Home Modifications. A lamp with an adjustable flex-arm or gooseneck (pictured right) is usually a good choice because you can adjust the direction of the light as needed. A flex-arm floor lamp on wheels allows you to move the light with you as you move around your work area.
• For additional work preparation and safety tips, see Home Repairs Safety and Preparation Checklist.

Use the Two-Stroke Hammering Technique

• Using this method, you can strike the nail with two strokes: the first is a tap to locate the nail head and the second is a driving stroke.
• First, locate the nail head by tapping it lightly with the hammer head.
• Follow with a more forceful hammer strike (or series of strikes) to sink the nail into the wood.
• Touch the side of the nail head with your index finger to locate it during the first tapping stroke, and remove your index finger before the second forceful stroke.
• The resulting sound pattern will be "tap-bang, tap-bang," rather than the usual "bang, bang, bang."

Additional Hammering Tips and Adaptations

• A medium-weight hammer — about 16 ounces — provides sufficient leverage for most jobs. A hammer that is too small or too light will be more difficult to control and use efficiently.
• Hold the handle nearer the hammer head (pictured below) for better control.
• Try holding the nail closer to the nail head, rather than against the board surface. In this way, if you do strike your fingers with the hammer, they will be knocked aside, rather than "crunched" against the board.
• Try holding the nail in place with needle-nose pliers, a spring-loaded clothespin (pictured below), a piece of cardboard you've pushed the nail through, or even a long strip of paper that you’ve folded over several times and wrapped around the nail shaft.
• If you have low vision, wrap a strip of colored electrical tape around the hammer head to enable you see it and follow its movements. Most hammers are steel, which usually appears dark; wrap the hammer head with a contrasting tape color, such as white, yellow, or red.

• You can also place a colored dot (pictured top right) on the nail head and remove it when you’re done. The removable dots shown here are from Avery-Dennison and can be purchased from Amazon and at many office supply stores.