The Vision Council

The Vision Council began as the Optical Manufacturers Association (OMA), a group of eyeglass manufacturers who first met in the post-World War I era to devise standards for metal-framed eyewear. After World War II, OMA became more influential and helped the ophthalmic industry expand and improve its services. Among other things, OMA provided industry forums, technical standards, statistical information, and education to manufacturers, the government, and the public. In 1985, OMA created the Vision Industry Council of America (VICA) to include ophthalmic suppliers, practitioners, and optical laboratories.

In 1999, OMA and VICA merged to become the Vision Council of America (VCA). Over the years, several smaller associations (Better Vision Institute, Low Vision Council, Polycarbonate Lens Council, Anti-Reflective Council, and Sunglass Association of America, to name a few) opted to join VCA, which changed its name in 2008 to The Vision Council. The Vision Council continued to expand and add other agencies to its organization and currently works with both US and international members to manage industry standards and communications.

The Vision Council created the Optical Product Code (OPC) program, which enables the marking of optical products for automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) purposes. OPC is defined in the Optical Product Code (OPC) Guide for Lenses standard and is encoded by the Interleaved 2 of 5 barcode symbology.

For more information, refer to https://www.thevisioncouncil.org.