All Formats Logo

Blindness Awareness Month: A time to? A Time To What?

David Smith MP with Jess and Pebble and Paul H and Pyrgo_
Blog by Paul Hopkins, Advocacy Lead – All Formats

 

Every October, Blindness Awareness Month offers the Blind and Partially Sighted community, numerous opportunities to shine on the national and international stage. But are we Commemorating? or Celebrating? And why are we writing about this at the end and not the beginning of October?

History:

Blindness Awareness Month launched in October 2009 from The Little Rock Foundation, an organization in Voorhees, New Jersey, dedicated to serving families with blind or vision impaired children. Tina and Rocco Fiorentino formed The Little Rock Foundation one year after the birth of their child, Rocco, who was born four months premature and blind.

According to the American charity, Foundation Fighting Blindness, who helpfully has a calendar marking related events throughout the year, October, with at least 7, could definitely be claimed as our month:

  • Vision Awareness Month
  • World Blindness Awareness Month
  • Meet the Blind Month
  • World Sight Day (second Thursday of October)
  • October 15: Blind Americans Equality Day
  • Home Eye Safety Month
  • 15th October celebrating White Cane Day held annually.

Read our More Advantages Than You Can Swipe A Cane At – Blog Post and discover our connection with canes.

 

Commemorating!

We live in a complex world which we know isn’t always optimised for us and can even feel hostile to some.

  • The World Health Organization (WHO) says: “Everyone, if they live long enough, will experience at least one eye condition in their lifetime”.
  • An estimated 2.2 billion people around the globe experience some form of vision impairment, including everyone who simply wears corrective lenses.
  • One billion of these cases could have been prevented or is yet to be addressed.

 

A quick note from your caring author: The Royal National Institute of Blind People, says you should get your eyes tested at least every two years, regardless of whether or not you are experiencing any issues with your sight!

Closer to home and with statistics we’ve highlighted in previous Blog Entries, we still face some startling realities which can seem difficult to budge:

  • People with sight loss are twice as likely to be digitally excluded than the general population and 36% of blind and partially sighted people never use the internet or don’t have access to it. This is significantly higher than the UK average of 10%.
  • 75% of disabled people and their families have walked away from a UK business because of poor accessibility or customer service.

 

Celebration – We All Love One

Blindness Awareness Month, while highlighting inequities, seeks also to focus on many areas of positivity:

  • Organisations in the UK and across the globe educate the public on maintaining good eye health, while highlighting the latest research and advancements in treating visual impairments.
  • Inspiring stories are shared of us coping with the daily in a world which isn’t always optimised for us and often punching above our weight when accomplishing tasks or achieving goals.
  • Charities and advocacy groups co-design and co-produce on projects leading to increased funding, improved access, progressive legislation, and greater public awareness.

Paul is sat on a bench with Pyrgo in front of him. Gordon McKee, MP for Glasgow South, is kneeling to the right of Paul. The Guide Dogs “Pave the way for clearer streets” message is behind them on an illustrated backdrop.

It is apt then that it has been a busy October for our Advocacy work at All Formats in and around Blind Awareness Month with us having Attended:

  • Labour Party Conference with Guide Dogs to Highlight issues around Pavement Parking. Access Exchange between Birmingham Hippodrome Advocates and Black Country Living Museum Access Advisory Panel.
  • Guide Dogs Access with Confidence online Seminar, discussing access refusals and how to resolve them.
  • Vision Impairment Awareness session with West Midlands Police and Birmingham & Black Country Sight Loss Council.
  • There is a personal sense of pride around these awareness raising initiatives for me as an advocate around being able to share my lived experience to help to drive change. And knowing I can bring companies, organisations, charities and blind and partially sighted end users together to co-design and co-produce outcomes which benefit everyone.

Jess Luke from Guide Dogs, David Smith, MP for North Northumberland, and Paul are stood next to each other smiling at the camera. David Smith MP is holding a sign saying “Time to end pavement parking.” Jess’ Guide Dog, Pebble, is lying on the floor in front of her. Pyrgo is sat up in front of Paul, looking up at him.

This All Sounds Good, how too Can I Become an Ally?

Ensure your products and services are inclusive and accessible: All Formats specialises in creating, transcribing and producing information from standard print to Braille, large print, audio and accessible digital formats on behalf of businesses for their end users who are either blind and partially sighted or have other reading disabilities.

We are well connected to the vision impaired community and related stakeholders meaning we can effectively raise awareness of businesses and organisations who choose to work with us around the accessible services they provide.

At All Formats, the journey starts with a conversation. Talk to us today via our contact details to find out how we can help you connect and communicate with a significant minority community to which we are proud to belong.

resource