Technology, the Key to Independence
RNIB’s Technology Fair is Northern Ireland’s top tech event for people affected by sight loss. Bringing you skills and tools for modern living, this is the biggest showcase of assistive technology products for blind and partially sighted people in Northern Ireland and people like Sharon are delighted that it’s back and bigger than ever.
Building on the runaway success of last year's event, RNIB Northern Ireland is proud to announce the RNIB Technology Fair 2025 will take place in February.
From 11am to 4.30pm on Wednesday, 26 February 2025, The NI Tech Fair will be taking place at the Lagan Valley Island, Lisburn, BT27 4RL.
‘I just love technology. It’s my passion’
Sharon Neill is aged 59, has been blind from birth and lives in Annalong Co. Down and believes technology has changed her life.
Sharon has been a keen advocate for access to technology for blind and partially sighted people for many years now and was the founding member of TAG (Technology Advice Group).
Now, with over 30 members, the group exists to provide tech support and a safe place to get help or share advice and to learn about technology available for people living with sight loss.
Sharon says: “I just love technology. It’s my passion. I use it every day in all kinds of ways. I use both Apple and Android phones for just making and receiving calls or browsing webpages, banking apps or shopping online, whether for groceries or anything else.
“The Ray-ban Meta smart glasses are a personal favourite of mine. I purchased a pair at the end of July and with the advances in AI, they are really working for me now. One particularly good example of how I use these would be, when I’m looking for something in my freezer. The Meta glasses are great for identifying different food packaging. It can be difficult to line a phone camera lens up to food packaging to read it but wearing the glasses means the tech scans exactly what I’m looking at right in front of me and I can keep my hands free.
Sharon Neill
“I believe through making the most of technology, blind and partially sighted people can achieve real confidence and independence. It’s about being able to do all those little things by yourself without always having to ask a sighted person to assist. I get an amazing sense of achievement when someone I’ve been working with, goes from saying ‘technology isn’t for me’ or ‘I can’t use tech’ to then being able to manage their own money or do their own online shopping and realising that you don’t need to be a tech wiz, you just need to know the tech that helps you get things done.”
Sharon continues: “The TAG group has been going for four years now and we’ve now got our accessible website up and running and a thriving WhatsApp group that members use to stay in touch and swop tech solutions or ideas.”
The TAG group will be exhibiting at the upcoming RNIB Technology Fair in February and Sharon is really looking forward to it. She said: “I’m keen to get a look around myself at some of the latest tech that’s out there. There’s always something new to learn, a new solution to a problem that we face and it’s great to be able to speak directly to some of the suppliers.”
#Braille200
This year, we are also celebrating #Braille200.
RNIB’s braille products and services have remained at our core throughout our history. For this reason, this year we want Braille to be at the heart of the RNIB Tech Fair with a tactile exhibition from the RNIB Heritage collection.
To find out more, email [email protected], call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999 or scan the QR code!
