Whether you’re losing your vision or you lost most of it years ago and never really came to terms with it, you shouldn’t feel like you have to go through this alone. There are many ways to help you achieve the every day tasks that you may have thought were long gone; or maybe you’ve been thinking you’d never work again.
Here’s a list of links and resources that we think may help. Let us know if you think of anything we should have on here. We aim to make this a living list that keeps growing.
Localised help
National help
- Association of Optometrists
- CBM UK | The Overseas Christian Disability Charity
- Guide Dogs UK Charity For The Blind And Partially Sighted
- Health and social care – GOV.UK
- Moorfields Eye Hospital
- National Federation of the Blind of the UK
- Royal National Institute of Blind People
- Visibility Scotland – Listening and responding to people affected by sight loss across Scotland
Technology
Desktop computers
Information about accessibility features built into desktop operating systems.
- Use accessibility features on Mac
- Use accessibility features on Windows 10
- Use accessibility features on Ubuntu
Mobile devices
Information about accessibility features built into mobile operating systems.
- Get started with accessibility features on iPhone
- Get started with accessibility features on iPad
- Get started on Android with TalkBack
- Use VoiceOver on Apple Watch
- Use VoiceOver on HomePod
Screen readers
As well as built-in screen readers, there are also some others available.
- JAWS® – Freedom Scientific [expensive]
- NVDA [free]
Screen magnifiers
As well as built-in screen magnifiers, there are also some others available.
- ZoomText – Freedom Scientific
- SuperNova Magnifier
- SuperNova Magnifier & Speech
- SuperNova Magnifier & Screen Reader
Braille keyboards
Career advice
If you haven’t already got a list of bad websites or annoying things that web developers do to annoy blind and visually-impaired people, you’ll get there soon enough. Our advice to you is this: learn their job and become accessibility consultants.
Too many of them have never even used a screen reader or a screen magnifier, which is why a lot of websites don’t work very well. By learning some basics yourself, you can become familiar with the right ways to do things. You can become very employable with these skills.
Here are some links to courses that can help you attain these goals. They are all free.
Web development basics
W3C know a lot about the World Wide Web, so learning about how to build for it from them is a great starting point.
- Free online courses from The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
- HTML5 and CSS Fundamentals
- HTML5 Coding Essentials and Best Practices
- CSS Basics
- JavaScript Introduction
- Introduction to Web Accessibility
- HTML5 Apps and Games
- Introduction to Web Authentication
CS50 path
Take a Computer Science 101 at Stanford before graduating from Harvard. All at home.
- Computer Science 101
- CS50’s Introduction to Computer Science
- CS50’s Computer Science for Business Professionals
- CS50’s Web Programming with Python and JavaScript
- CS50’s Introduction to Artificial Intelligence with Python
User Experience
Testing
- Automated Software Testing: Unit Testing, Coverage Criteria and Design for Testability
- Automated Software Testing: Model and State-based Testing
Command line and Perl
Knowing how to use a command line is really handy. I’m linking Emily’s video just because it’s really cool to see how people adapt their workflow.
Lifestyle
We aim to add links to articles about how to use various bits of tech to help you continue to do the things you used to do before your sight failed.