In Touch Folgen

September marks the start of the new university term. We hear from some visually impaired students who are returning to their studies. They tell us about their experiences with university life so far, and what they're expecting from this new academic year. We also hear from a former disability student advisor about what support is available for visually impaired students and from Rachel Hewett from the Vision Impairment Centre For Teaching and Research at the University of Birmingham, about all things student finance.

Audio Description has been around for over 30 years: it is filling in the silences on TV, films and the theatre so that blind and partially sighted people can follow the action easier. The current legal requirements for audio description, for all of the major broadcasters, is set at 10% but there are currently no legal requirements for on-demand streaming, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime etc. We speak with one of the Principals in Ofcom's Content Policy team, Cathy Taylor about Ofcom's plans for on-demand streaming and ask whether the requirements should be set higher than 10%.There has been a boom in people playing video games over the lockdown period, and there are plenty of visually impaired people who have been joining in on the fun. We hear about an audio only video game that is entirely accessible to blind and partially sighted players. It is rather rare for an audio only game to reach the major consoles but this one is available on the Xbox. Its called The Vale: The Shadow of the Crown. We hear a review from someone who has played it and we speak to the game's developer, Dave Evans.

It is claimed that social media is so popular these days, that there are now more people using it across the globe than are not. But how easy is it to navigate and participate in when you're blind or partially sighted?We'll be speaking to two social media influencers, who are using different platforms to educate people about sight loss. We'll also be speaking to Facebook and Instagram's head of accessibility, Mike Shebanek, about what they are doing to ensure ease of use for visually impaired people. And, if you're new to social media or tend to avoid it because its too tricky for you to navigate, we offer some general tips and advice on where you can go for help.