RNIB responds to misguided Facebook comments around sight loss and technology use

David Clarke, Director of Services at RNIB, said: 

“Sadly, we hear of stories like this all too often where people going about their usual daily life are told that they ‘don’t look blind’ or face prejudice and discrimination.

“The reality is that blind people use phones, read Kindles and watch TV in a variety of different ways. These include through the use of any residual vision they might have, synthetic voice and digital braille technology and audio description amongst others. Here at RNIB we passionately believe that blind and partially sighted people should be able to lead the life they want to lead, not be dictated to as to what they can or can’t do by people who have no knowledge of their sight loss or individual circumstances.

“As this example shows, we clearly have a long way to go in raising awareness of what it really means to have sight loss. We also need to educate social media users and wider society as a whole as to the harm that posts like this can cause – ill-informed stories and ignorant reactions to them can really dent the self confidence of blind and partially sighted people. 

“At RNIB, we urge everyone to see the person, not the sight loss.”

Notes to editors

All media enquiries to Rachel Harby [email protected] or 020 7391 2223. For urgent enquiries out-of-hours, please call 07968 482812. 

About RNIB

We are the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

Every six minutes, someone in the UK begins to lose their sight. RNIB is taking a stand against exclusion, inequality and isolation to create a world without barriers where people with sight loss can lead full lives. A different world where society values blind and partially sighted people not for the disabilities they’ve overcome, but for the people they are.

RNIB. See differently.

Call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or visit www.rnib.org.uk