Is there a genetic component to blindness?

Sometimes: Many causes of low vision or blindness are random events, but some causes are hereditary and run in families. Retinitis pigmentosa (rp) is an example of a genetic, hereditary cause of blindness. Whether or not a parent's trait of blindness will be inherited by his children depends on the actual cause of the blindness, and the way is inherited (dominant trait, recessive trait, etc...).

Sometimes: Many diseases of the eyes can be inherited.