In Touch Folgen

In recent years, charity Guide Dogs have published research that found 75% of guide dog owners had experienced some form of refusal of entry. Unfortunately, guide dog refusals are still very common and so we look into what steps you can take if it happens at an indoor establishment, for example: restaurants, shops, garden centres etc. We speak to a guide dog owner about his recent experience when being refused entry into a restaurant and to Clive Wood, the Lead Regional Policy and Campaigns Manager at Guide Dogs.If you're a savvy smartphone user, you may have heard of NaviLens. It is an app that enables visually impaired people to detect and scan special QR codes from a distance. On detecting the code, the app then makes the information contained within it accessible. It can dictate what you are facing toward, read signage at busy train stations and its also attached to many beauty and food products, enabling you to hear the ingredients. The RNIB's Marc Powell explains how it could be a potentially useful tool for blind or low vision smartphone users.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Fern Lulham Production Coordinator: Liz PooleWebsite image description: pictured is a golden Labrador guide dog helping a man descend some stairs. The image is blurred in places, representing how the legalities surrounding guide dog refusals are sometimes confused and misunderstood.

The Elections Bill passed the final reading stages in the House of Lords and will soon receive Royal Assent to be passed into law. We discuss the amendments which were approved in the House of Lords and were proposed by visually impaired Life Peer, Lord Holmes of Richmond. The amendments aim to provide blind and partially sighted people the right to vote at polling stations independently and in secret. We speak to Lord Holmes about what these amendments mean for you in future elections.The Graeae Theatre Company are currently touring the UK with an opera about an 18th Century blind woman composer called Maria Theresia von Paradis. The opera is called The Paradis files and it has disability access at its core; with integrated audio description, signing and an all disabled cast and artistic team. We speak to Selina Mills, who co-wrote the libretto and to the star of the show, Bethan Langford who sings the role of Maria Theresia. Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz PooleWebsite image description: pictured are five cast members of The Paradis Files on stage. Bethan Langford stands in the middle, inside of a large gilded frame with red curtains on either side. All of the cast members have their right hand raised and are smiling. In the foreground in front of Bethan, are two 18th century style chairs with dark brown wood and embellished with tactile markings. Photographer Patrick Baldwin captured the image.

We revisit the topic of how the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is impacting its visually impaired citizens. We speak to married couple Denys and Olga Petrov who evacuated to Poland soon after the war began. They tell us about how they got across the border with a small child, a pregnancy and... seven animals.A few weeks ago, we spoke to Olga Mahler about how she travelled nearly 10,000 miles across the world from Australia to help visually impaired refugees with food and accommodation once they have crossed the border into Poland. Olga attended a boarding school for the blind in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. We caught up with her to see how her blind parents, who refused to leave their home in Ukraine, are getting along and how her aid efforts have developed.Presenter: Peter White Producer: Beth Hemmings Production Coordinator: Liz PooleWebsite image description: pictured is two young women; one is guiding a visually impaired woman with a white cane across the border from Ukraine into Poland. Photograph taken at the Medyka border crossing in eastern Poland, on March 9, 2022. They are both wearing winter coats, hats and scarves and small snowflakes are falling around them.