In the UK, there are around 340,000 people registered as blind or partially sighted.  I am one of these people.  I lost my sight about 10 years ago and have had limited sight ever since.  While many aspects of my day-to-day life are the same as a sighted person, other things work slightly differently for me.

When walking, I use a white cane.  This not only prevents me from walking into objects or tripping over steps, but indicates to other people my lack of sight. I received training from Dorset County Council's Vision Support Services.  This gave me the confidence to use the cane, and thereby, increased my independence.

Another skill I was taught by the Vision Support Services is braille.  This is a writing system which uses different combinations of raised dots.  The braille cell is an array of two columns of three dots—like a domino.  By having different combinations of raised and lowered dots, sixty-four patterns can be made.  Using this system, it is possible to write letters, punctuation, numbers and operation symbols, special characters and musical scores.  This allows me to read and access almost anything.

When it comes to the technology I use, there are many specialist and non-specialist pieces of equipment.  I have a laptop with a screen reader called Jaws (which stands for Job Access With Speech).  This goes with a keyboard with an inbuilt refreshable braille display (a device which has an array of plastic pins which stick up and down to create the word in braille).  Another piece of equipment I use is similar: it is a like a braille tablet.  It has a similar braille display, but with a braille keyboard.  I also have a standard Iphone with VoiceOver (the inbuilt screen reader).  With this, I can search the internet, message people and even play some games.

These are some of the differences in how I navigate life.  I use these things in my everyday life: in school, at home, when out and about.  With the right training and equipment, blind and partially sighted people can do anything.