In Touch

For World Emoji Day the social media company We Are Social and the RNIB are collaborating to find ways to make emojis more accessible to visually impaired people. Sarah Bailey of the RNIB tells us what they've come up with so far, and we test social media expert Fern Lulham, on their uses and their meanings. The Tree of Dreams is a story about expectations, reality, fantasy and family, devised by...

William Phillips is a visually impaired cognitive behavioural therapy specialist who works to make CBT accessible to others with sight loss. He lays out how blind people can go about getting mental health support that suits them. There was a huge response to last week’s programme with Ashley Cox’s story about struggling to find a counsellor. We read a selection of your emails. Visually impaired ac...

From July 2019, all new electric vehicles will have sounds added to keep pedestrians safe. Transport minister Michael Ellis, gives us the government’s take. We also hear the thoughts of Jessica Schröder from the German national organisation for the blind, a member of the European Blind Union which led the campaign to add a sound to electric and hybrid vehicles. She tells us why she doesn’t think t...

Braille readers have enjoyed magazines from Scottish Braille Press for the best part of forty years. Now the charity says it is discontinuing all of its five publications. Scottish Braille Press CEO Mark O’Donnell explains the decision. Aletea Sellers moved from one side of Birmingham to the other about four months ago. She is still waiting for help from the Guide Dogs Association to learn her way...

Should blind people bother with the ironing? Blind mum Emma Williams and blind dad Allan Tweddle explain why and when you should bother and give our presenter Lee Kumatat a lesson and tips for getting it right. While some visually impaired people need a first aid certificate to move forward with education or work, some have found it hard to gain the necessary accreditation. Johny Cassidy meets Ala...

Blind and visually impaired prisoners in the US state of Maryland have been awarded $1.4 million by the correctional service for discrimination. They successfully claimed they were not given access to information, jobs and courses to give them equality within the prison or during rehabilitation. Eve Hill, representing the group, says some have had to pay for sighted guide assistance, and others to...

Joy Addo, sole parent to a three-year-old, shares tips on keeping her home tidy. Dave Williams of the RNIB says they have plans to increase the number of games available in its catalogue. And VocalEyes trustee Joanna Wood, tells the story of how going to a described theatre performance, revealed more to her than what was happening on-stage. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Lee Kumutat

There’s evidence that board games can sharpen cognitive skills and help us to connect socially. So why are the numbers available to visually impaired people dropping? There have always been fewer games available and most of us will have had to adapt a game or do something to make it work for us. Brailling your own cards, sticking bump-ons on boards and game tokens and having clues and questions re...

In Touch listeners share their voting experiences, and one Australian citizen tells how she was able to vote independently in the recent federal election. The European Blind Union has researched the main accessible forms of voting throughout Europe, and the results are surprising. A gym in Uckfield, Sussex has listened to the needs of one visually impaired woman, made some small changes, and enabl...

A sighted author on writing a book about a woman regaining sight. A project to tell the stories of blind women around the world. And one listener’s view on accepting her blindness. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Lee Kumutat Pictured: A blind girl learning braille in a school in India. Courtesy of the 'A Light in Darkness' project.

A landmark High Court judgment says tactile voting devices are 'unlawful'. And a new way of getting around Gatwick Airport. Presenter: Lee Kumutat Producer: Tom Walker

Two guide dog trainers from the Liverpool Guide Dogs Centre, Nina Swindells and Jan Johnston, tell presenter Lee Kumutat about Positive Reinforcement Training, which the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is in the process of introducing across its twenty training schools. Lee also speaks to David Grice, GDBA’s Head of Canine Behaviour and Training, about the rationale for the new methodology. F...

Dave Steele was diagnosed with the hereditary condition retinitis pigmentosa five years ago. He found translating his grief and loss into poetry was cathartic for him, and quickly discovered that it helped others who were also coming to terms with visual impairment. The Colorado Center for the Blind in the United States, run by the National Federation for the Blind, offers a nine month course to p...

Last week we reported on the concerns of some listeners that changes to the software Apple uses on its iphones and macs could compromise their privacy. We reported that by showing that a screen-reader was being used on a website, it could reveal that the person browsing was visually impaired. They'd released scant information about this new feature at the time, until the day after our broadcast. T...

In the latest version of Apple’s software for both iPhones and Macs, a feature has been included that tells websites a screen reader is being used. A screen reader is software that takes information from the screen and turns it in to digital speech or braille. This new feature is turned on by default. While it can be turned off, some blind people argue it shouldn’t be on by default as they don’t w...

Retina UK formed in 1976 as a voluntary organisation and is now helping to fund and develop treatments for genetic eye conditions. But for the first time in its history, it is conducting a wide-ranging piece of research into the lives of people who have genetic sight loss. Chief Executive Tina Houllaghan explains why. Tom Walker meets a keen blind archer from west Wales, who says the sport helped...

Richard Kramer, the chief executive of Sense, a charity that supports people who have a hearing and visual impairment, tells Peter White about his concerns over the delays in appointing a minister for disabled people, following the resignation of Sarah Newton MP nearly a fortnight ago. Peter White talks to Kerry Fielding, a visually-impaired woman from Blackpool, who is experiencing significant de...

Driverless vehicles are being tested at the moment but at the Blind Veterans UK Centre in Ovingdean, Brighton, a six month trial for the use of visually impaired people has just got underway. Reporter Lucy Edwards went to find out what some of the blind veterans think of them. Roy Symons is turning 100 on Friday. His secret to a long life? Keep organised, keep your independence and have a tot of s...

The Royal National College for the Blind has sold its southern campus to Herefordshire Council. Peter asks why did it have to be sold, and why did the council want to buy it? After 25 years of providing services to visually-impaired people in Merseyside, Henshaws Society for the Blind is moving out of Liverpool. Henshaws' director of community services tells us why. Jo Parsons used to be a chef be...

Dr Damion Corrigan wanted to be a medical doctor and when that seemed out of his reach, he took another route to working to improve medical testing. He says the field of science is opening up for prospective visually impaired scientists. Comedian Chris McCausland and actor Chloe Clarke debate whether it's a realistic assertion that all visually impaired roles on TV, in film and on stage should be...

Virgin Trains offers customers a new way of booking assistance during travel on its routes. It has developed a skill for Amazon Alexa-enabled devices. Emma Tracey tries it out for us and Vic Whitehouse from Virgin Trains explains why they've developed it. Hester, an eleven-year-old visually-impaired student from Bath, is going on a fund-raising journey to Ethiopia. She'll be visiting other visuall...

Peter White talks to Cathy Yelf, the chief executive of the Macular Society, about the first treatment to target the underlying genetic cause of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We feature feedback from last week’s programme in which we heard from Emily Brothers, whose guide dog was attacked by another dog. Guide dog owner Sandra Drewell, has had a similar experience. And Peter talks to Cha...

In November of last year, Emily Brothers’ guide dog, Truffle, was attacked by two dogs in Sutton, South London. As a result of her injuries, Truffle was out of action for six weeks. Emily was unhappy with the support she received from Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Reporter Dave Williams spoke to Emily at her home. John Carlin from GDBA responds. Also, we hear listeners’ feedback from the r...

Visually impaired tenants of a block of flats in west London, run by the Thomas Pocklington Trust, are concerned about the Trust's proposal to make changes to its housing scheme. They explain their worries and we hear from the Trust. Is it right to presume that mainstream schools are the best places for blind and visually impaired children to learn? Conservative Member of the Scottish Parliament L...

Reporter Tom Walker finds out why the closure of the RNIB Centre in Bristol has locals up in arms. Colin Whitbourne, RNIB's Head of Network Operations in the South, tells us the thinking behind the decision. And the writer Mandy Redvers-Rowe on the very personal story at the heart of her radio drama Blind School, which features a cameo performance by none other than Peter White. The play, co-writt...