What a year it has been for blind comedian Chris McCausland. Having just been crowned Strictly Come Dancing's 2024 winner, Chris joins the In Touch team for a very special Christmas edition of the programme, co-hosted by 11-year-old author and YouTube star Betsy Griffin. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: David Baguley Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the...
Dec 24, 2024•19 min
Sandi Wassmer is thought to be the UK's only blind female CEO. She heads the Employers Network for Equality and Inclusion, which is a membership organisation offering companies training and services to make their workplaces more inclusive. Sandi tells In Touch how she worked her way up to get to where she is today, how the impact of losing her vision nearly halted her career and how she no longer deals with 'cane rage'. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: David...
Dec 17, 2024•19 min
Transport for London describe what plans they have for making the London Underground system safer for blind and partially sighted passengers. This follows a recent incident involving Lord Blunkett falling between a train and the platform edge. Nick Dent, TfL’s Director of Customer Operations, describes their plans and how quickly they can be implemented. Elaine Macgougan, from Belfast, describes the notion of feeling like she is having to 'come out twice' to the people she meets. Firstly as visu...
Dec 10, 2024•14 min
Sir Stephen Timms is the new Labour government's Minister for Social Security and Disability. He answers your questions about issues such as benefits, access to medical information, digital accessibility legislation and more. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: David Baguley Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house ...
Dec 03, 2024•19 min
In Touch discusses sexual assault within the visually impaired community, with people who have experienced it or have witnessed inappropriate behaviours and attitudes. Our contributors describe how inappropriate behaviours can often go unchecked or are deemed as acceptable within parts of the visually impaired community, resulting in victims being afraid to speak out about their experiences. We also hear how in some cases, visually impaired victims have difficulty being believed by other people ...
Nov 26, 2024•19 min
The British Wireless for the Blind Fund have a free app called Speech Radio, which is set up to provide easy access to thousands of radio stations. They have recently partnered with radio aggregator Airable, and can now provide thousands more stations from all around the world. BWBF's Head of Technology David Beard tells In Touch about what is now on offer and how the app works. What is 'showdown' in the context of blind and partially sighted people? It could mean a confrontation intended to set...
Nov 19, 2024•19 min
The Ray-Ban Meta Glasses is a range of smart glasses that work in conjunction with a smart phone app. We have been hearing excited murmurings about their potential benefits for blind and partially sighted people and now they will soon work in conjunction with the free service, Be My Eyes. This service connects visually impaired people with sighted volunteers to assist with daily tasks. What we are also hearing is that there is some confusion surrounding certain AI capabilities, especially as UK ...
Nov 12, 2024•19 min
In Touch reflects on a specific element of the Autumn Budget that relates to the Work Capability Assessment, following concerns raised by the dual-disability charity, Sense. Their CEO, Richard Kramer explains how the proposed amendments could impact people's ability to find and maintain work and the receipt of certain benefits. We get answers to your questions: including why some visually impaired people are having issues with accessing a survey about the future of the NHS and why some people ar...
Nov 05, 2024•19 min
What are the big names from across the sight loss sector doing about the current provision of technology training? We have brought together a panel of guests from RNIB, AbilityNet, TAVIP, Visionary, Sight and Sound Technologies and rehabilitation specialists to discuss this issue. On last week's programme, we focused on why so many visually impaired people aren't able to access meaningful in-person technology support and what is stopping the sector from sorting it out. In this programme, we're g...
Oct 29, 2024•19 min
When the RNIB announced changes to the way they deliver their Technology for Life service, we at In Touch heard a lot of trepidation from listeners over where visually impaired people can now go for meaningful support with tech. We thought we'd bring together a panel of guests from some of the big names across the sight loss sector, to tease out where this kind of help can be found and, ideally, delivered in-person. This programme is part one of two, where we assess the issue with guests from RN...
Oct 22, 2024•19 min
The eye care support pathway is a framework developed by the RNIB and partners from across the sight loss sector. It aims to support people through the various stages of sight loss by helping them to understand those stages and signposting them to sources of assistance to navigate through each one. Rob Cooper, Director of Strategic Engagement at RNIB joins us to explain how the process will work, and Dr Peter Hampson, Clinical and Policy Director at the Association of Optometrists gives us an ey...
Oct 15, 2024•19 min
It's now two years since the publication of "The Unseen" - a report exploring domestic abuse experienced by blind and visually impaired people. Now Extant, a group of visually impaired performing artists, has adapted the report into an audio drama, and a short tour of the production starts on the 16th of October in Wolverhampton. Extant members, Ben Wilson and Georgie Wyatt join us to explain more about their work. Leeds Playhouse Theatre is one of a number of organisations to have collaborated ...
Oct 08, 2024•14 min
When you need help or information, where is best to turn? Perhaps reaching out to peers via online methods, or perhaps finding a group that you can meet up with in-person. Has the prevalence of social media and online meetings discouraged in-person get togethers and has it meant that the quality of our interactions has been diminished? Or does it make accessing information and help from peers and organisations much easier and more efficient. The answers will naturally differ from person to perso...
Oct 01, 2024•19 min
For many years, we've been used to in-stadium commentaries on football matches for people with no or only a little sight, but Crystal Palace have become the first Premier League club to offer another permanent high-tech accessibility feature to their partially sighted fans. It is called the GiveVision device. It provides people who have some remaining vision with an enhanced view of the game, up close to their eye. Fans Susan Vernon and Phil Green tell us of their experiences using the headset d...
Sep 24, 2024•18 min
Melanie Barratt is a decorated Paralympic swimmer, having won two Golds, two Silvers and a Bronze at the Atlanta and Sydney games. She has had a long career, but her most recent feat took her away from the swimming pool and into the English Channel. Melanie recently completed the 33km swim and made history while doing it, as she is thought to be the first blind woman to have finished. Melanie tells In Touch about how she prepared for the challenge (which involved regularly dipping into a barrel ...
Sep 17, 2024•19 min
New research done at Anglia Ruskin University's vision and eye research unit, suggests that people who lose their sight in early life, or indeed are born without sight, have more difficulty in judging the distance of a sound source, than those who lose their sight later in life. This seemingly counterintuitive idea piqued our interest and so Professor Shahina Pardhan, the director of the unit and lead author of the study, explains their findings, why they matter and what they plan to do with the...
Sep 10, 2024•14 min
The Paris Paralympic Games have got off to an explosive start, with many of our visually impaired athletes earning gold, silver and bronze medals. In Touch speaks to gold medal cyclist Lizzie Jordan and silver medal rower Sam Murray. We also speak to David Clarke, who is totally blind, and was appointed as the CEO of Paralympics GB fairly recently. David reflects on the legacy of the games and discusses the levels of low-vision athletes at this years games and how the issue of the lack of sporti...
Sep 03, 2024•18 min
Steve Darling is not the first visually impaired MP, but he is the latest, after winning Torbay in Devon for the Liberal Democrats in July's general election. In Touch speaks to Steve about the excitements and challenges of taking up his new role in the Mother of parliaments. In Touch visits an archaeological dig site in Cookham, where an 8th century monastery is being excavated. Our main interest there, aside from the various skull and bone discoveries, is visually impaired Jonathan Charmley. J...
Aug 27, 2024•19 min
Everyone has to put their trust in other people from time to time but when you are blind or partially sighted, do you have to do it more often than most? For example, when asking a stranger for help on the street or in a train station, when purchasing something in a shop and in our relationships. To help us analyse this topic are three visually impaired people with differing career backgrounds, relationships and life experiences, who also acknowledge there are many times when they have to take a...
Aug 20, 2024•19 min
Tony Sheeran tells In Touch about a recent incident when he was attempting to book a self-guided walking holiday on the Isle of Wight, along with his sighted wife and guide dog. Sheeran is an experienced walker, having conquered Mount Fuji and the Capital Ring, but when he came to book with travel operator Macs Adventure, he was initially refused the booking. Recently, the In Touch team released a documentary called Fifty-Fifty Vision. Within that, we meet visually impaired 16-year-old Sasha McB...
Aug 13, 2024•19 min
In Touch has been hearing that many local Talking Newspapers are experiencing long delays linked to the postal service. Talking Newspapers are an essential service to blind and partially sighted people, as it keeps people informed of localised events and news. Listeners access a TN via recorded readings of the local papers by volunteers. The recordings are then put onto the listeners preferred format - be that a USB stick, a CD or even a cassette tape - and then are delivered to the listener's f...
Aug 06, 2024•19 min
In Touch has learnt about changes happening to the RNIB's Technology for Life service that will result in major changes to how the service is delivered, and may result in staff redundancies amongst the team that has many visually impaired employees. This change is separate from a ten-year proposed plan of changes that we recently spoke to the charity's Chief Executive Matt Stringer about. These included a need for cost savings of around £10 million and may also result in redundancies for staff. ...
Jul 30, 2024•19 min
Researchers from Moorfields Eye Hospital and University College London (UCL) have identified markers in the blood that may predict which Glaucoma patients are likely to continue losing vision despite treatment that aims to lower the pressure that causes their sight loss. Professor Ted Garway-Heath tells In Touch more about their clinical trial. On In Touch, we've always tried to be careful not to raise false hopes about new eye treatments, but occasionally its too irresistible to not take a peek...
Jul 23, 2024•13 min
After 15 years, Cathy Yelf is retiring as the CEO of the Macular Society. Over those years, Cathy has demonstrated a great passion for and has been instrumental in generating wider awareness for macular related diseases. She has also been a regular and trusted contributor to In Touch on issues relating to the diseases. Peter conducts a farewell interview with Cathy Yelf, discussing what has changed since her beginning with the charity and what the situation has evolved into, relating to the prog...
Jul 16, 2024•19 min
Like many charitable organisations, the RNIB is facing financial losses in certain areas and is having to find means of saving money across the organisation. It needs to cut around £10 million and staff have been told that redundancies will be happening. The RNIB's CEO Matt Stringer tells In Touch about the charity's current financial situation, whether any of services will be impacted and about the level of redundancies across the organisation. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Pro...
Jul 09, 2024•19 min
Emma Tracey has a long association with In Touch and is now the presenter of the BBC disability and mental health podcast "Access All". Emma has been speaking to politicians ahead of the general election about issues affecting disabled people. We welcome her back to tell us what she learned, including about issues specific to the blind and visually impaired community. Andrew Hesser is fascinated by wildlife. Indeed, his curiosity of creatures set him on a mission to identify ways of giving blind...
Jul 02, 2024•19 min
The UK Clinical Eye Research Strategy aims to provide focal points for research and funding into eye disease, treatments and prevention. They have updated their areas of focus, based on a survey of what patients want and need. Professor Rupert Bourne is consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, and has been the national lead on ophthalmology research for the past nine years. He describes what areas the strategy will now focus on and why, and gives details of other impo...
Jun 25, 2024•19 min
The NHS has launched a tool to try to improve bowel cancer screening for people with sight loss. The Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) can detect signs of bowel cancer and it is important to catch it as early as possible. The FIT aid tool is an adaptation which makes the standard test more accessible with a channel that enables the faecal sample to be guided into the bottle, as well as a stand that holds FIT tube steady. Steve Russell is National Director for Vaccinations and Screening at NHS Eng...
Jun 18, 2024•19 min
Alt-Text is an image description for those who use screen readers. It is an important accessibility tool that is often misused or is missing entirely, impacting on visually impaired people's experiences when consuming online content. The BBC's Johny Cassidy was instrumental in creating new mandatory training and guidance for journalists so that they can consider and begin to implement meaningful descriptions of images, graphs, maps and graphics etc in the content that they create. The guidance i...
Jun 11, 2024•19 min
Although not now new, gene therapy is an evolving procedure for the treatment of a range of eye conditions. Recent developments include an American-based trial involving a gene editing process known as CRISPR. We speak to Dr Eric Pierce and Dr Mark Pennesi, who were both involved in the trial, as well as Olivia Cook, who tells us about her experience of undergoing the pioneering treatment. Closer to home, we caught up with Professor Rob Lucas from the University of Manchester. Professor Lucas te...
Jun 04, 2024•14 min
