AI tools for blind & visually impaired students | Blindness Awareness Month
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month Artificial intelligence (AI), much like the internet, has become an integral component of our daily lives in recent years. Despite popular scepticism fuelled by mainstream media and misinformation on social networks, AI plays an important role in improving educational accessibility. Specifically, for blind and visually impaired learners, AI tools can significantly improve the learning experience by providing personalised assistance, increasing independence, and improving the accessibility of educational content. In this article, details are presented of various apps and websites that utilise AI to assist blind and visually impaired people, particularly [...]
University and work journey | Blindness Awareness Month
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month My name is Bilaal Ali. I'm 21 years old and live in Sheffield with my family and I’m severely blind. I have a syndrome called BBS (bbsuk.org.uk) which affects my eyesight, overweightness and slight learning difficulty. Despite having this rare condition, I always work hard and am determined to not let anything get in my way of life and just carry on thriving. I’m an undergraduate student at Sheffield Hallam University studying accounting and finance. I’m currently on my placement year after completing the first two years [...]
Influential VI people through history | Blindness Awareness Month
VICTA Changemakers Blindness Awareness Month Hi everybody, I’m Rhiana and I’m partially sighted, with a number of different causes and variables. I am 20 and live in South West Wales. I have always had a love of history. I have enjoyed writing this article for you. It was so much fun to research new people, as I am a massive history fan. How many historical figures do you know with vision difficulties? Galileo Galilei was born on 15th February 1564 in Pisa. He was an astronomer, mathematician, physicist, and philosopher. He [...]
Blindness Awareness Month – A VICTA Changemakers Takeover
October is Blindness Awareness Month The VICTA Changemakers are taking over the Student Portal throughout Blindness Awareness Month, bringing you the topics that matter to them. Whether you have a vision impairment yourself or are looking to learn more about living with sight loss, our team are here to share their stories to connect and inspire! Starting tomorrow, make sure you stay tuned throughout October and sign up to email updates to make sure you don't miss a thing. We will also be sharing across VICTA's social media channels @VICTAUK, so like, follow and subscribe! Many [...]
Introducing the VICTA Changemakers
Introducing the VICTA Changemakers We're excited to introduce to you our team of VICTA Changemakers for 2024! Passionate about sharing their views on the topics that matter to young vision impaired people, they'll be bringing you their stories, videos, podcasts and more across the year. So watch this space and stayed tuned. It's time to meet our Changemakers, find out what they enjoy, what inspires them, and what they'd like to change about the world. Hi, my name is Lucy Booker Wilson... I have recently finished my A-levels in biology, chemistry, [...]
Celebrating World Laughter Day with blind comedian Jamie MacDonald
In 1995, a doctor called Madan Kataria from India made it his mission to help people de-stress through 'laughter clubs'. These quickly spread around the globe and resulted in the creation of World Laughter Day in 1998. It is now observed on the first Sunday of May. To celebrate the day, I spoke to Jamie MacDonald - a blind, Glaswegian comedian who lives with his wife in Sheffield. The 43-year-old began losing his sight at 16 due to a degenerative eye condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa. He has since gone on to complete degrees, try [...]
Be inspired. Park runs and marathons as a blind runner
Running or jogging is considered one of the best cardio exercises out there. Just 5-10 minutes a day can help to build strong bones and muscles, while lifting your mood and energy levels. For many, outdoor running can also decrease feelings of loneliness, isolation and depression. However, when you have a vision impairment, it's not as simple as just popping out for a quick morning jog on your own. So how can we enjoy the benefits of outdoor running while keeping safe? One answer to that question is guide running. The activity, which uses a ramble tag, enables [...]
Interview – Accessing STEM subjects as a VI student
For British Science Week, Charlotte Bateman spoke to a blind 16-year-old student (AJ) at the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC), Herefordshire - about making STEM subjects more accessible to VI pupils. While she is currently studying A-Levels in English Literature, Psychology and German, AJ excelled at science during her GCSE education. Below she shares her tips for getting the most out of your lessons, and what to do if you are struggling with the syllabus. What was your experience of science at school? AJ: My experience was pretty mixed. A lot of the issues [...]
Be inspired. VI art student Millie-Jayne’s digital art
Image description: A high contrast digital image. The background image is an abstract photo that has been flooded with colour - bright pink and dark grey, a person is just visible in the centre of the image. In the top-right corner a white flower is overlaid over the other image with transparency allowing the background colours to show through. In the bottom-left there is a blue image overlaid of a tulip with bright yellow accents. Braille dots have been overlaid over the image reading: 'Better to be blind and see with your heart than have two [...]
‘My Voice Matters’ – Children’s Mental Health Week
We’re proud to be taking part in Place2Be’s #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek (5-11 February 2024). This year’s theme is My Voice Matters, and @Place2Be hopes to empower, equip and give a voice to every child in the UK. They've highlighted 10 ways that you can look after your mental health... Top tips for young people Don’t keep it all to yourself and spend too much time in your own head. This can sometimes make it keep piling up, and make you feel worse. Talk to someone you trust and feel comfortable with– a teacher, parent, sibling, cousin, friend... if [...]
