The white cane is an important tool and a clear symbol for those who suffer from blindness. But an Ontario woman says its usefulness doesn't extend to the more than 600,000 Canadians with a less severe form of vision impairment.

Libby Thaw, a mother of four who lives in Saugeen Shores, Ont., wants to change that.

Thaw has vision loss and is legally blind. She can get around easily enough, but performing tasks like buying a can of soup requires a magnifying glass and holding the can no more than a few inches from her face.

A partially-blind person is someone with vision of 20/70 or less -- a result of conditions such as macular degeneration or damage to the eye's retina resulting from diseases such as diabetes.

The Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) recently launched a campaign to let the public and those with low vision know that the white cane -- the universal symbol of blindness -- can also be a tool for those who have some sight.

One of the TV ads shows two young men standing in front of a man wearing sunglasses and carrying a white cane at a streetlight. One of them turns around and waves his hands mockingly in front of the 'blind' man's face before turning back to his friend, grinning triumphantly. The 'blind' man then immediately mimics the young man's gestures behind the back of his mocker, as the friend sheepishly looked on.

"Not everyone who looks blind is totally blind," says a voice-over. "Nine out of 10 people we assist have some vision"  (click on the video links at right to see the ads).

As clever as the ad may be, Thaw, whose inherited condition leaves a dark hole in her sightline, says the cane is too often misunderstood.

"People think (the cane) is only for blind people, and I'm obviously not blind," she told CTV News. "I don't use it to feel the sidewalk at all -- I'm just carrying it. So it's misunderstood an awful lot of the time, and it's just ignored sometimes."

Thaw said she often found the cane to be a nuisance.

"Sometimes I have my hands full," she said. But the cane can be more than just a nuisance for people who suffer from low vision and another disability that makes carrying a cane difficult or even impossible.

So Thaw believes people like her need to adopt their own symbol: the CheckeredEye.

Thaw founded the CheckeredEye Project, with the aim of increasing awareness of low vision and promoting her checkered-eye symbols for people with the condition.

Emblazoned on a button, the symbol can be worn and will help people with sight, she says, understand the needs of the "not-quite blind."

"I would like to make it something that's effective for anybody who wants to use it, anyone who has low vision," she said. "A CheckeredEye emblem so that people understand they have partial blindness."

Because Thaw, like many people with low vision, don't appear blind to the casual observer, she faces many unique challenges day to day.

As an example: "In shopping situations, when looking for items in stores, it looks like I can find things myself and read the labels," she said. "So if I'm asking a clerk in a store to give me what seems like extra help, it's good if they understand I'm not actually able to read the sizes."

Peter Wade shares a similar story. A CheckeredEye convert, Wade has only 10 per cent vision. He found the white cane he carried confused people who saw him walking and reading.

"When I have the cane, they don't understand why I can do these things," he said. He said people tend to ask, "Hey are you really blind or are you playing with us?"

Wade now wears a CheckeredEye button, and said everyone seems to understand what it means.

"It's rare that they don't get it. Sales clerks seem to get it simply by looking at the pin."

Thaw offered her idea to officials at the CNIB. But she said the agency declined.

"They're busy with people who really are better off with a white cane," she said. "The CNIB is offering only one emblem for any measure of blindness. There should be two symbols."

Cathy Moore, national director for the CNIB, said the agency is promoting the white cane in ad campaigns because it remains an effective tool for many people with low sight.

"People discover they've been struggling with their low vision and trying to travel without a cane, and do discover after they learn to use a cane they can go a lot faster,"she told CTV.

"Once people decide to use the white cane and take some training, they inevitably comment: 'I can go a lot faster now.'"

Thaw said she will continue on with a letter-writing campaign in order to raise awareness of the condition she shares with hundreds of thousands of other Canadians, and push her buttons in hopes that one day people with low vision around the country will be wearing them.

When asked whether she fears wearing the button will label those who don't wish to be labeled, Thaw, who also happens to be an entertainer, replied: "It does. But so does a white cane. So does a wedding ring. And it's optional. It's not necessarily a bad thing."

With files from CTV's medical correspondent Avis Favaro and medical producer Elizabeth St. Philip