RNIB

Find out how to be more helpful to blind and partially sighted people than this TikTok commenter by downloading our Be Helpful guide: https://lnkd.in/eJRK5J-3 Recently, Kelsey Ellison starred in an ad for us, where she talked about the importance of moving obstructions from the middle of the pavement so blind and partially sighted people don't walk into them. The comments on TikTok were... not the best. On-screen there's an example that says: "maybe just walk around it like everyone else." And this was one of the nicer ones. At our See Differently Awards a few weeks ago, we asked Kelsey for her take on the situation. Hopefully this clears things up🔥 [Video description and transcript: Voiceover: Stitch incoming. Kelsey walks into an A board on the pavement in an RNIB ad. She says: Can I have a flat white without pavement obstruction please? Voiceover: Some of you did not like this content where we request that people maybe don't put a boards in the middle of the pavement for blind people to walk into them. Like this person who said: "maybe walk around it like everybody else." We caught up with the star of the advert, Kelsey, for her take. Kelsey, speaking on an award ceremony red carpet: Basically, all we're asking is to be considerate and maybe check to see if something's sticking out a little bit too much on the pavement. It's a really simple solution. We're not asking you to get rid of the signs or get rid of something that you like. It's just to maybe move it a little bit to the side so the people who can't see it don't bump into it because we can't just walk around it because we can't see it. Voiceover: Stick around for Kelsey audio describing the fabulous outfit she wore for her performance at our See Differently Awards. Kelsey: Tonight I am wearing an all pink jumpsuit, head to toe pink. And I have some sparkly gold and silver stars sprinkled around the jumpsuit because I love stars and the night time. And I have a sparkly silver tiara on as well, which are all stars. And to finish off the outfit, I have a pink prosthetic eye in my right eye. That's glittery. So I'm very pink and glittery today. Lisa: We love pink and glittery over here.]

"I lost my job after my eyesight deteriorated, so focused on things I could do, rather than dwell on what I couldn’t." Thank you to Berni Warren for sharing her experience as a low vision patient for our quarterly newsletter, Bolder. This was a sneak peek from Bolder, our newsletter for #LowVision Practitioners. Sign up for future editions here rnib.in/SignUpToBolder

“I’m not a technology savvy person, but I'm learning whilst helping other people learn to use a smartphone.” Feeling frustrated by the lack of support for blind and partially sighted people, Padma set up her own group to support others learning digital literacy. There’s lots of ways you can support blind and partially sighted people. Join us this weekend as part of #TheBigHelpOut. Find out how you can lend a hand: rnib.in/BigHelpOut2024 [Image description: Padma sits on a cream armchair. She is smiling away from the camera, wearing a floral shirt and holding a cup of tea.]

Dorothy has been one of our Sooty volunteers for over 20 years. Thank you, Dorothy! She tells us what her role involves. If you'd like to support people living with sight loss, find out more about our volunteering opportunities: rnib.org.uk/volunteering #VolunteersWeek [Video transcript: You go out with your Sooty box, or you approach somebody. Most of mine I have inherited from people who have now given up the role. So a lot of my Sooty boxes have been inherited from them. But what you do is, you approach a shop and you say to them “how would you feel about raising money for the RNIB? And this is the type of box, the collecting box that you would use.” And if they say yes, you provide them with a box. You provide them with a number, a site number, so that whenever you send in their money that you collect, and you bank for them, and then they individually know how much. And you do a little card for them once you collect their money. And you then phone them up, tell them how much money was in their box whenever you’ve counted it, and it’s now banked, and would you let your customers know that this is how much money they’ve raised. And that’s sort of beginning to end of how you do it.]

It’s #VolunteersWeek, so it’s the perfect time to celebrate our incredible volunteers. Thank you for your talent, time and dedication. Our work wouldn’t be possible without you! 💛 [Video transcript: Where to begin. It’s really, really important that we recognise and reflect on the importance that volunteers bring to RNIB. We couldn’t do so much of what we do without the gift of their time, their talent. They help with fundraising, volunteers work with visually impaired people to help us up our tech game. I’m one of the people who’ve benefited from that kind of input. So it’s utterly invaluable. Everything from campaigning, to working directly with visually impaired people. And, Allan, I should probably also mention, not least people who work at Connect Radio. You have volunteers there too. There’s just so much that we couldn’t do without volunteers contributing to all of these services, and more. And, I think over the last year, it’s about 2,700 volunteers donated their time to RNIB. And about 2,000 customers have had weekly Talk and Support groups. And if it wasn’t for those Talk and Support volunteers delivering those regular groups, we just, we wouldn’t be able to do it.]

We're impressed by this helpful and very detailed alt text guide from the BBC. A great resource for anyone wanting to be accessible online. Are there any other tips you’d add? 👇 https://lnkd.in/eRDGcfQ2

🗳️ Tag your local election candidates in this handy checklist. We want to help them make this the most accessible #GeneralElection campaign in history, with our top tips for accessible campaigning. Find all our tips, plus much more info, in our accessible campaigning guide, here: rnib.in/CampaignAccessibly On social media, your local candidates should: - Add alt text to all images. - Subtitle videos. - Camel case hashtags by capitalising the first letter of every word, like this: #BlindVotersCount. - Limit emojis to only one or two per post. In campaign materials, they should: - Offer options such as large print, braille and audio, so everyone knows what you stand for. - Follow our Clear Print standard, for example by using legible fonts and high colour contrast. - Ensure any websites are WCAG compliant. - Make online documents available in accessible formats, for example HTML, plain text and accessible PDFs (APDFs). On the doorstep, they should: - Introduce themselves and ask to shake hands - Avoid visual cues, like nodding, but use verbal cues, such as: “yes, I agree” - Face you when talking - Follow good guiding etiquette if you both need to travel anywhere together: to a meeting, for example [Image description: “Are your local candidates campaigning accessibly? Tag them in this handy checklist.” Bold black text on a yellow background with a voting tick box.]

Calling all #LowVision Practitioners. Want to stay up-to-date with the latest in low vision news? Conferences, training, good practice guidelines and more. This article is a sneak peek from Bolder, our newsletter just for you. Sign up for future editions here rnib.in/SignUpToBolder

Top tip: It can be helpful to ask fellow travellers with sight loss if they’d like to know the bus number when you're at a bus stop! 🚌 Getting around shouldn’t be difficult. But it often is, because society isn’t designed for people with sight loss. From knowing which bus is coming, to avoiding obstacles on the pavement; everyday life can be hard to navigate. That’s why we’ve brought together people with sight loss to create the Be Helpful Guide. It includes lots of tips for sighted people, giving you advice on how to make getting around easier for people with sight loss, created with people with sight loss. Get your free copy of the guide here: https://lnkd.in/eJRK5J-3 [Video Description: A man with a guide dog sits at a bus stop, a bus arrives, and a woman boards the bus, shouting "the bus is here" as she walks away. The man at the bus stop looks confused, and asks "which one?" but the woman has already left.]

Great to see Wes Streeting address our concerns with NHS wait lists. Demand for eye care services is at an all-time high. In England alone, over 611,000 are waiting for their initial appointment with an ophthalmologist as of March 2024. We strongly welcome any commitments by political parties to eliminate these waiting lists. We’re calling on whoever forms the next government to develop a national eye health plan to fix delays in eye care and stop avoidable sight loss. #BlindVotersCount Paywall article