An online eye test is not an eye exam at all, but rather just a vision or sight test—and a partial test at that. It is designed to measure your visual acuity and refractive error (nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism) and to determine an eyeglass prescription—the lens power needed to correct the refractive error in your vision.
Given that there is no one with medical training performing or checking the accuracy of the test, it is questionable how well the exam does even this. When an eye doctor performs a refraction for glasses or contact lenses, it also involves some judgment on the doctor’s part. The eye doctor will often adjust the prescription slightly based on the patient’s age, occupation, or hobbies. The doctor may prescribe a prism in the lenses to help with binocularity and to prevent double vision in those who have deviations of the eye. There is no way an online exam can do any of this.
Further, a refraction is only one very small part of an eye exam, and if it takes the place of a regular comprehensive eye exam by an eye doctor, you put your eyes and vision at serious risk.
A Comprehensive Eye Exam – Where Online Tests Fail
Even if the eyes see clearly and you have 20/20 vision, there may still be vision problems or eye disease present even without pain, blurred vision, or other symptoms. What the online eye test fails to measure is your complete visual health and capacity (beyond just visual acuity), the curvature of the eye (which is needed for accurate lens prescriptions, especially for contact lenses), and an assessment of the health of the eye itself.
Just as we need regular medical and dental checkups as part of preventative healthcare to prevent disease and maintain our health, we also need regular eye exams. A vision test does not suffice. A comprehensive eye exam will examine much more than just how well you see. It will also check for visual processing, color vision, depth perception, and proper eye movement. It will measure your eye pressure, examine the back of your eye, and look for early signs of eye disease or conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetes, tumors, and high blood pressure—many of which threaten your eyes and vision if not caught early.
If you do have some vision loss, the eye doctor will be able to determine if there is any serious underlying problem that is causing the disturbance in your vision. If you don’t have symptoms, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem. Many serious eye conditions develop gradually without any symptoms. Some eye diseases do not affect the macula, and therefore, you may still have good vision even though there is a problem (such as glaucoma, early dry macular degeneration, early cataract, diabetes, blood pressure issues, and even tumors). Many of these conditions threaten the eyes and even general health if not caught early, and when undetected, they can cause permanent and irreversible damage to your vision.
Eye exams are the best way to detect these early and treat them before they develop into serious eye problems.
Will an Online Eye Test Save You Money?
No. Besides the fact that most eye exams are covered by insurance, the eye exam you are getting from an eye doctor is much more comprehensive than an online eye test, so you are not comparing apples to apples. The eye doctor’s exam uses real equipment and performs a complete and professional evaluation of your vision and eye health. There is simply no comparison to a self-administered test on a computer screen.
An online eye test may be touted as a time- and money-saving convenience; however, that is hardly the case. An eye exam is a medical procedure that requires training, precision, and proper equipment. Anything less can put your eyes and vision at serious risk.