In Touch

Within the government's new road safety strategy, they have identified a number of areas they'd like to hear people's views on in order to make the UK's roads safer. One of these is whether or not to introduce compulsory eye testing for drivers who are over 70. In Touch discusses this idea with Lilian Greenwood, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department for Transport, Dr Peter Hampson wh...

At the end of what has been a rather eventful year in the world of visual impairment, In Touch assembles a panel of guests with varying personal and professional experience of visual impairment, to discuss the events and where it leads us. This programme is part one of two of the discussion, which starts with benefits and Access to Work. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Co...

In Touch talks to three visually impaired rising stars of show business. Betsy Griffin does many things: she writes music and sings, but her main goal is to become a radio host, where she has already presented on In Touch and a BBC Three Counties Radio show. Eleanor Stollery began performing with the National Theatre in her role of Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol, and she is now involved with delive...

2025 could be described as having been a rather eventful year in the world of visual impairment. In Touch has assembled a panel of guests with varying personal and professional experience of visual impairment, to discuss the events of the past year. This programme is part two of our discussion, which focuses on sight loss organisations and the direction of travel regarding representation and where...

Aarifah Karim is a visually impaired figure skater. She had a stop-start entry into the sport that she now loves, not because of her visual impairment, but due it being a tricky sport to master and other people's attitudes. Aarifah describes to Peter White what figure skating is, how she became involved and whether or not her visual impairment has ever become an obstacle in pursuing the sport. The...

Blind Matchmakers is a new dating programme from ITV which features three visually impaired dating experts. The pilot programme featured a range of participants looking for love, along with some visually impaired contestants. In Touch provides tips for visually impaired people who might be struggling to feel festive this Christmas season, with singer and psychotherapist Victoria Oruwari. Victoria...

In Touch pays a visit to two East Midlands highstreets to visit shops that have a direct connection to visual impairment. The first one, Seeing Solutions in Nottingham, focuses on specialist technology, provides some training and other technology services. The second store, a pre-loved clothing boutique in Castle Donnington called Wanted Wardrobe, is run by 'The Blind Stylist' Tilly Dowler. Presen...

What is it like to bring up a child who is blind or visually impaired in 2025? As a parent, how easy is it to find the right support and information and indeed, the correct level of understanding about your child's needs. Fern Lulham meets parents who attended a recent Parents and Professionals Conference hosted by Blatchington Court Trust, a visually impaired children and young person's charity b...

When it comes to finding the right screen reader to suit your needs, how do you decide which one to go for? It will depend on your budget, your requirements and familiarity. Earlier in the year, the company behind the leading screen reader made some changes to their pricing structures and another company within the market decided to respond to that with a limited-time discount. In Touch hears abou...

App-based taxi company Uber have launched a new accessibility tool for assistance dog owners. The optional feature allows people to self-identify within the Uber app, which will inform drivers that they are traveling with their dog. The aim is to offer riders better support and to try to combat trip refusals. General Manager of Uber UK Andrew Brem tells In Touch how people can use the feature and...

We at In Touch have increasingly been hearing from people who say that if you're totally or near totally blind, you are harder to pair with a suitable guide dog and are being given lesser priority over people with more vision. These impressions have been circulating for a while and so we address them with Guide Dogs' Deputy Chief Executive Officer Peter Osborne. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Be...

The RNIB's long term strategy involves making substantial financial savings. One of the services proposed for cuts was the transcription on request of braille books and other documents. Following a high level of complaints about this, a year's extension of the service has been agreed whilst a consultation exercise takes place. However, concerns remain, including from visually impaired people who u...

Changes at the Macular Society continue to generate a significant proportion of the contact we get from In Touch listeners. With the consultation exercise now at an end, we're joined by the Society's CEO, Ed Holloway. We discuss a range of issues with Ed, including the rationale for making the changes, what the new organisational structures will look like and what it means for those who provide th...

Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms provides In Touch with updates on the Access to Work scheme. AtW is the government programme that provides disabled people with support in the workplace; be that funding for support workers or things like specialist equipment. Throughout the course of this year, In Touch has been hearing many rumours about potential cuts to the scheme,...

The rumours continue to circulate about cuts to the government's Access to Work scheme. The scheme provides additional support for disabled people to get into and maintain work - such as specialist equipment and support workers. Following a summer of consultations, Disability Minister Sir Stephen Timms is due to begin a review of the scheme but what do we know at this point? To help dig into this...

Sight Scotland are a charity that provide support for vision impaired and blind people in Scotland. They have recently launched a report about the state of arts access across Scotland and a subsequent campaign that is calling for all venues across the country to be made accessible to visually impaired people. Scotland's culture secretary Angus Robertson has thrown his support behind the campaign b...

Since the spring, we have been receiving a steady stream of emails from people who are deeply concerned about developments at the Macular Society. The concerns have primarily been over the plans to make a number of the Society's regional managers redundant. In the background, there have been events evolving based around a WhatsApp group chat, which included a number of the regional managers who we...

The Royal Society for Blind Children has launched a new campaign called Bedtime Donations, and its aim is to generate better provision of audiobooks for visually impaired children. The idea is that people can record themselves reading children's stories into an app, where it will be published and be accessible to visually impaired children. The Society's aim is to develop the largest free service...

In Touch visits the Lake District and tags along to Ellie Bennet's holiday. Ellie booked a sighted guide through a free guiding service called Cambrian Visions. Cumbrian Visions provides visually impaired holiday makers with a guide to accompany them on their various activities. There is also a similar service happening in Devon, called The Cliffden Buddies, which came first. Julian Griffen, of Th...

Since this summer, age verification checks are required on certain websites under the Online Safety Act. The aim is to protect children and young people from content online that is deemed inappropriate or even harmful. But In Touch has heard from listeners that they are having issues with the accessibility of these age verification measures, and that they are being applied to a wide range of sites...

JAWS is a screen reader that allows visually impaired people to access information on their computers. It works by reading aloud information such as emails, financial information, documents and more. But the company who produce the screen reader have recently announced rises to the cost of the software, along with some of their other assistive technology products, and it has caused worry amongst i...

The ability for blind and visually impaired people to cast their vote privately and independently at elections is an issue we've followed closely on In Touch. We're joined by the head of guidance at the Electoral Commission, Charlene Hannon, who tells us about their research of the matter and how you can take part. Our reporter, Ian Hamilton visited the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to meet some of th...

The charity Macular Society provides support to people living with the UK's most prominent cause of sight loss, macular disease. They also help to fund research into finding a cure. In Touch has been hearing about the society's plans to reduce staffing levels within their regional team and so we speak to their CEO, Ed Holloway who explains what is currently happening with these proposals, which ar...

Natalie is a blind transgender woman and she contacted In Touch wishing to highlight the intersectional impacts of the UK Supreme Court's ruling in April, that ruled that a woman is to be defined by biological sex under equality law. Natalie describes how this could have major implications for how sex-based rights are applied and how society responds to her and especially those with disabilities....

How do you deal with a life changing disability? Penny Melville-Brown was a naval officer when she started to lose her sight. Now, decades later, she has used her experience as well as that of other disabled people to write her new book "It Could Be You". Penny joins us to explain, (among other things) what prompted her to write it, who might benefit from reading it and what its key messages are....