News and issues on the disabled 11 Nov 2024
Azmi Anuar
Contents
1. Food Manufacture UK - Reading food and drink labels with sight loss
2. Mainline Media News - Blind hockey showcase raises awareness of visual impairments
3. Kerala Kaumudi India - Niyas leaps ahead of his visual impairment; gold in 100m
4. The University Network USA - Revolutionary Haptic Patch Transforms Touch Perception for Vision-Impaired Individuals
5. Penticton Herald Canada - City’s recreation centres lack accessible equipment or trained staff: disability advocates
6. Graphic Online Ghana - Sir Sam Jonah redeems $2,000 pledge to PhD blind student
7. Trinidad & Tobago Guardian - Living with diabetes
8. Hello Rayo UK - Blind college students in Hereford create graffiti art mural celebrating local athletes
9. Al Jazeera - Young and visually impaired in Costa Rica
10. BBC News UK - Fortnum & Mason party snub was 'hurtful'
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1. Food Manufacture UK - Reading food and drink labels with sight loss8 Nov 2024
Imagine walking into a supermarket with just 10% of your vision. This is the reality of Taylor Notcutt, who was diagnosed at the age of two with leber congenital amaurosis – a condition that means she has very limited sight.
“I have a rods and cones dystrophy – basically most of the receptors between my eyes and brain are missing. One of the receptors I have missing is depth perception, everything looks totally flat or too deep, so I have no idea how far away objects are or how deep a step is, for example,” she explained.
Notcutt had been on the list for guide dogs for several years, and in May 2023 she was matched with Jilly – a lab retriever cross. Jilly has given Notcutt a new-found independence and inspired her advocacy work.
Over the last year, Notcutt has launched her podcast How to be a VIP (visually impaired person) and worked with several charities and other brands, including Hush and L'occitane, to raise awareness and improve accessibility for those with sight loss – in the UK alone, that’s 2m people.
Reading F&B labels with sight loss
For a lot of ‘VIPs’, food shopping will not be a case of casually nipping to the shops, but an activity that requires planning and assistance.
Research from Müller which polled 200 people in Britain living with sight loss, found that as many as 68% avoid the supermarket because of stress.
“We also found 77% have mistakenly picked up the wrong item whilst food shopping, with almost a quarter (23%) admitting they waste an hour every shop trying to find what they need,” added Maiya Patel, brand manager for Müller Yogurt & Desserts.
With Patel at the helm, the dairy brand has since equipped its Müller Light and Müller Rice SKUs with NaviLens – a technology that enables an audible playback of the label information when scanned with a smartphone.
“These staggering statistics really made us think about how we could improve the shopping experience for blind and partially sighted people.”
Speaking with Notcutt on her in-supermarket experience, she said she relies a lot on her keen sense of smell: “I use my nose a lot in the store. I’m like ‘ah, this smells like vegetables or bakery’ [and] when I’m near the section I want, I usually then ask for help.
“But NaviLens has been a game changer. It means I am a bit freer with what I purchase.”
While audible playback is not a new technology, what makes NaviLens particularly unique is that it can be scanned out of focus and up to 12 times farther away than a QR code, due to its wider reading angle of 160 degrees. This means that the user doesn’t need to know exactly where the code is located in order to scan it, so a wave of a phone in the general direction of a store shelf is usually sufficient.
The app then sends audio and haptic cues allowing users to locate and centre the code in the smartphone’s camera.
It also, as Notcutt explained, reads the important details first: “I use two apps. For packaging without NaviLens, I use Seeing AI – it’s great but it reads absolutely everything. It could start by reading me the grammage of the item but I won’t know what it actually is! Whereas, NaviLens will tell me ‘this is a pack of Pringles, do you want to know more?’ and I can click to get additional details.”
While unexpectantly drinking lemonade when you thought you’d open a diet cola may come as a surprise to anyone’s taste buds, knowing what’s in your food and drink can be a life-or-death situation for some.
Navigating labels with a visual impairment and specific dietary requirements is, therefore, a minefield.
“Poor labelling has led to 61% feeling concerned they’ll purchase an item containing an allergen they can’t eat,” said Patel.
“The lack of accessibility also forces the community to rely on others to complete their shop, with nine in 10 turning to family, friends, or supermarket employees for assistance.
“Depending on shopper preferences, the [NaviLens] app can either read aloud the ingredients, allergens, nutrition and recycling information for the product, or the user can read the information on their phone using accessibility tools.”
Kellanova Europe also uses NaviLens and was the first to apply the technology to a piece of consumer foods packaging back in 2020, when it trialled a limited-edition pack of Coco Pops to raise awareness on World Sight Day.
Since then, it has added NaviLens codes on all of its product’s packaging across Europe and is beginning to include it as a feature to its point of sale materials as well.
“That’s over 1,000 SKUs across our cereal and snacks brands and equates to over 1.5bn pieces of printed packaging, each of which are now accessible to blind and partially sighted people,” Steve Wardle, senior manager, design operations & process for Kellanova-owned brands Kellogg’s and Pringles, told Food Manufacture.
“All the feedback we’ve had has been 100% positive, which has exceeded even our own expectations. We’ve started a purpose driven movement with people at the heart of it and you can see how it’s made a real difference by enabling people to shop independently.
“One item of feedback we get consistently is ‘why can’t we have NaviLens on all packaging?’ – and we agree, that’s why we continue to talk externally about the benefits of adding NaviLens with other brands.
“If all packaging had NaviLens codes on, it would be a fully inclusive experience. That’s what we are advocating for and actively talking with governments in the UK and EU for policy change to support this.”
More recently, we have seen Nestlé's Purina's Bakers announce it will be joining the NaviLens family, making it the first global pet food brand to announce such strides.
From early 2025, Bakers' main meal products will be equipped with the special code, supporting blind or partially sighted dog owners.
Alongside providing haptic cues to help visually impaired pet owners navigate to Bakers' products on shelf, the NaviLens app can also guide users to the correct Bakers' food based on preferences they’ve already set up in the app, such as life stage, lifestyle or preferred Bakers sub-ranges. Shoppers will also be able to access feeding guidelines for their pet via the app.
“The addition of NaviLens to our packs is an industry first and we are very proud to be able to offer this technology to make Bakers as accessible as possible," commented Natalie Golland, senior brand manager for Bakers.
While this is a new journey for Bakers, for Kellanova the NaviLens story started several years back. In 2019, the company spoke with a range of children attending St Vincent’s – a specialist school for the blind and partially sighted near Liverpool.
“These children told us in no uncertain terms how difficult it is for them to access information on all packaging and challenged us to make our packs more accessible,” Wardle explained.
Braille, textures and contrast
“That’s when we contacted the RNIB in the UK to discuss how we could do this. We included braille on our Coco Pops trial pack – which we thought was particularly important, but we learned from the RNIB that less than 10% of blind people actually use braille – people are switching to technology led solutions instead these days as it’s far more accessible.
“When we looked at what solutions we’re available, it was very limited, but we heard about NaviLens, which was originally created to help with guidance around public transport systems. We asked NaviLens if we could trial adding a small NaviLens code to our pack and share the product information data through the app and this ended up being the most important innovation on the pack.”
“Some people say it’s a dying thing,” added Notcutt on Braille. “I still find it helpful, but not many people can read it.”
For Notcutt, alongside NaviLens, a useful and perhaps more inclusive alternative, would be to include tactile elements to the packaging.
“Instead of adding Braille, you could just raise the normal print on the packaging.
“This could be quite useful for everyone, including sighted people. If you’re reaching in the back of the cupboard, you could feel the raised lettering and know without looking that it’s a tin of beans.”
When it comes to visual impairments and packaging, Notcutt noted that brands need to be mindful of those who don’t use technology or for occasions when one’s phone might be out of battery.
Post-purchase accessibility
She also pointed out that due consideration must be paid to a product’s use after purchase.
“I have to attach slow pourers to a lot of bottle tops to avoid spilling liquids,” she explained. “I like milk bottles with handles because they’re easier and squeezy bottles because it means I don’t have to worry too much about measurements.”
She continued: “I like packaging when it’s easy to open.” She referenced yogurt containers, where the lids sometimes peel off too quickly, causing the contents to spill.
“The number of times I've accidentally flung yoghurt around! There’s probably a yoghurt tsunami somewhere in this flat,” she added jovially.
She also pointed out that while some brands can be distinctive from others due to their shape (calling out Toblerone and Ferrero Rocher as SKUs that do this well), the options within a brand’s repertoire (such as different flavours in a range) can sometimes be difficult to differentiate.
“My vision is very light-dependent, so colour contrast is really important.”
Offering an example for food producers, she suggested packaging could be made more distinguishable by bright colours, for those, like her, who have some vision.
“Let’s take yoghurt, you could add a bold pink for strawberry, a bright blue for blueberry, or take that a step further and make the packs textured, so the blueberry pack is bobbled.”
Incremental changes, monumental impact
But as Notcutt said, it’s not just about the physical experience of shopping, it’s also the digital one that needs attention.
“Online shopping is, I think, the hardest thing – basically no brand, that I have come across, offer visual descriptions.”
As Notcutt alluded to, making changes to give way to more accessible shopping experiences don’t have to be drastic or all at once. Simple baby steps, such as adding alt descriptions to your website, can go a long way.
And for brands concerned over sustainability and waste, packaging alternatives can be made in phases – an approach which Müller is taking, with its Corner and Müller Bliss next in line (expected this month) to join the NaviLens family.
“Incremental changes can make monumental impact. Something as small as a paragraph under a picture or a discreet label that do not affect a sighted person, will hold significant positive impact for a visually impaired individual,” Notcutt shared.
“Being able to take ownership of our purchases is such a freeing experience and will give us another dimension of the sighted world. Just being able to say, ‘I did my food shop without assistance’ will be such an empowering experience.”
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2. Mainline Media News - Blind hockey showcase raises awareness of visual impairments8 Nov 2024
COLMAR — Over 100 local hockey enthusiasts skated for a good cause Thursday, Oct. 24 at Philadelphia Blind Hockey’s second annual Blindness Awareness Showcase.
Held at Hatfield Ice in Colmar, the fundraising event puts skaters under low vision simulators to raise awareness about blindness and visual impairments. The simulators demonstrate examples of the four leading causes of low vision, including macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts and glaucoma. Skaters additionally participated under blindfold.
“October is Blindness Awareness Month, so we like to allow those who are sighted to be put under low vision simulation so they understand what it’s like for our players to play hockey,” said Kelsey McGuire, founder and Executive Director of Philadelphia Blind Hockey and a teacher at the Overbrook School for the Blind.
The fundraising event puts skaters under low vision simulators to raise awareness about blindness and visual impairments. (Courtesy of Atlantic Amateur Hockey Association)
The first and only blind hockey team in the Philadelphia region, Philadelphia Blind Hockey was founded in 2022 after select students of the Overbrook School of the Blind partnered with the Philadelphia Flyers to have an opportunity to try hockey. USA Hockey subsequently contacted McGuire about starting a regional blind hockey team.
“That was my first real glimpse of what blind hockey could be like,” said McGuire. “They wanted a blind hockey team in the Philadelphia area and asked if it was something I wanted to take on, so I said, ‘Yes.’”
The organization currently holds free weekly ice sessions throughout the season for individuals ages 4-17 with a focus on teaching basic skating and hockey skills. The free sessions are made possible by fundraisers such as the Blindness Awareness Showcase, with this year’s event raising over $11,000, said McGuire.
Participants in this year’s showcase included members of local high school hockey teams, Philadelphia Blind Hockey coaches, the Neumann University men’s hockey team and Philadelphia Flyers staff and alumni. McGuire described the event as a success.
“It was cool to see more players learn about blind hockey and know what our program is about, and it allows our players a chance to see other hockey players play hockey and what it’s like for them,” said McGuire. “Growing awareness has been a big part of what our organization stands for, just so people are aware of blind hockey and to showcase that hockey is truly for everyone.”
Moving forward, Philadelphia Blind Hockey is planning to launch an adult team. Players will also have the opportunity to participate in their very first hockey game in April. McGuire said that the organization demonstrates that sports can be made accessible to everyone.
“I believe that no matter what your disability is, you should have the opportunity to participate in something, and blind hockey has shown that sport in general can be easily adapted,” said McGuire. “It gives so many more people opportunities to be able to have a passion in an activity that they’re participating in.”
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3. Kerala Kaumudi India - Niyas leaps ahead of his visual impairment; gold in 100m8 Nov 2024
KOCHI: Niyas Ahamed does not have even 50 per cent vision. He had no coach to train him. Although Niyas could practice on the synthetic track only for three days, he did not give up. Niyas Ahamed crossed the finish line wearing a thick spectacle and won the gold medal in the sub-junior boys' 100metres at the State School Sports Meet.
Niyas is also proud that he overcame his limitations and won the first gold for Kasargod. Niyas is a class 9 student of Angadimogaru GHSS. Niyas Ahamed finished in 12.40 seconds. In the photo finish, he defeated Sourav S of Kollam by a margin of microseconds to win the gold medal. Niyas's proud achievement was witnessed by his father Abdul Hamid and grandmother Mariam.
Niyas's family consulted a doctor when they saw him holding a book close to his eyes to read and stumbling while walking. Niyas was found to be 50 per cent visually impaired.
Many treatments were performed, but there was no other option but to wear high-powered glasses. Niyas can't even see the objects nearby if he takes off his glasses. However, those limitations did not prevent Niyas from becoming the fastest man on the track.
Synthetic track 55 km away
The training took place on the 200-metre non-finished mud track at the school. Niyas ran on the synthetic track for only three days for the school meet. For that, he had to travel 55 km from home to reach EMS Stadium in Neeleswaram.
Niyas and his family live in a leased house at Angadimogaru in Kasaragod. His father owns a small footwear shop. His mother is Naseema and he has three brothers.
"More synthetic tracks should come up in Kasaragod. We should also be considered." That's what Niyas needs.
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4. The University Network USA - Revolutionary Haptic Patch Transforms Touch Perception for Vision-Impaired Individuals8 Nov 2024
A team of engineers from Northwestern University has developed a pioneering wearable device that simulates a variety of complex sensations on the skin, offering the potential to revolutionize virtual reality (VR), gaming and health care. This thin, flexible haptic patch adheres to the skin to provide realistic and immersive sensory experiences.
While the device is a natural fit for enhancing gaming and VR experiences, the researchers envision far-reaching health care applications, such as aiding those with visual impairments to “feel” their surroundings or delivering feedback to individuals with prosthetic limbs.
The study, published in the journal Nature, showcases the latest in wearable technology from John A. Rogers, Louis Simpson and Kimberly Querrey Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Biomedical Engineering and Neurological Surgery at Northwestern.
“Specifically, these tiny devices can deliver controlled forces across a range of frequencies, providing constant force without continuous application of power,” Rogers said in a news release, elaborating on the device’s capabilities. “An additional version allows the same actuators to provide a gentle twisting motion at the surface of the skin to complement the ability to deliver vertical force, adding realism to the sensations.”
Innovative Engineering and Energy Efficiency
The wearable haptic patch consists of 19 small magnetic actuators arranged in a hexagonal array, enclosed within a flexible silicone mesh.
These actuators produce varied sensations including pressure, vibration and twisting. They receive data about a person’s surroundings via Bluetooth technology from a smartphone, which then translates the information into tactile feedback.
The device’s energy-efficient “bistable” design ensures minimal power consumption. The actuators store mechanical energy in the skin and the device’s internal structure, only using energy to change positions. This allows for prolonged operation on a single battery charge.
“Instead of fighting against the skin, the idea was ultimately to actually use the energy that’s stored in skin mechanically as elastic energy and recover that during the operation of the device,” first author Matthew Flavin, who was a postdoctoral researcher in Rogers’ lab at the time of the research and is now an assistant professor at Georgia Institute of Technology, said in the news release.
Testing Sensory Substitution
The device underwent rigorous testing where blindfolded participants navigated through obstacles, altered foot placement and improved balance based on haptic feedback.
One test involved subjects navigating a path lined with obstacles; as they approached an object, the device provided increasingly intense feedback, helping them adjust their movements in real time.
By substituting visual with mechanical information, the device “would operate very similarly to how a white cane would, but it’s integrating more information than someone would be able to get with a more common aid,” Flavin added.
Broader Implications and Future Directions
The device offers a form of “vision” through haptic patterns, which could be especially useful for individuals with vision impairments. Using data from smartphone LiDAR, the haptic patch can create a tactile representation of a person’s surroundings.
“This sort of ‘sensory substitution’ provides a primitive, but functionally meaningful, sense of one’s surroundings without reliance on eyesight — a capability useful for individuals with vision impairments,” Rogers aded.
This breakthrough encapsulates a significant leap in wearable technology, demonstrating the potential to change lives by enhancing sensory experiences and improving the quality of life for individuals with sensory impairments.
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5. Penticton Herald Canada - City’s recreation centres lack accessible equipment or trained staff: disability advocates8 Nov 2024
The lack of accessibility at recreation centres in Burnaby sparked a heated debate among members of the city’s Access Advisory Committee during its Oct. 24 meeting. Several resident representatives expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of adaptive equipment and the absence of staff trained to assist patrons with disabilities.
Brad Domaas, director of facilities management, said the city had just completed an inventory of the adaptive equipment in its recreational facilities and that it will do its best to improve accessibility in the future.
“Staff are aware of the importance of adaptive fitness equipment and do take this into consideration during equipment upgrade cycles. Older facilities do have design-based limitations and staff are doing their best to incorporate adaptive equipment into these,” Domaas said.
Karim Damani, a Burnaby resident who has been active in advocating for better accessibility in the city and a resident representative on the Access Advisory Committee, responded to the comments made by Domaas.
“I can say that at a number of fitness centres, there are no adaptive fitness equipment available. At, say, the Edmonds Community Centre there are no bicycles for fitness or spin classes,” said Damani. “You have to go to Bonsor Recreation Centre to access spin classes.”
Damani then suggested that the city add more adaptive equipment throughout the city so residents do not need to travel across the city to access fitness facilities, but can access adaptive equipment at facilities near their homes.
“Thank you for the excellent feedback, and for sure we’ll take that into consideration during all future upgrade cycles,” Domaas said.
Resident representative Rod Bitz responded to Domaas.
“That summation of the equipment is weak. Every community centre should have at least two or three pieces of equipment for a person with a wheelchair or anyone with a physical disability to do a cardio workout and two pieces for strength training,” said Bitz. “It’s not inclusive. If you don’t have it, it’s not inclusive, as simple as that. So that answer you gave is weak.”
The Beacon later spoke with Damani, who is blind and is a member of the Walkers’ Caucus of Burnaby. Damani spoke about his own personal experiences with Burnaby recreation centres as a blind person.
Damani has been advocating for improvements to signage and wayfinding in recreation centres for more than six years. According to Damani, it is difficult for people with low vision or blindness to find the entrance to recreation centres, which have few signs or other markers to help with wayfinding. Even before he lost his vision entirely, Damani struggled to find the entrance to the Edmonds Community Centre.
“That's when I still had my white cane, and I could still see the building. I couldn't even find the door. And then I even asked a sighted person, can you help me find the door? They couldn't find it either,” Damani said. “I asked the next person, and luckily, they knew where the door was, so they took me. You have to go around the side of the building to the front door. Inside, of course, there's no way to navigate, to find a way around.”
This was several years ago, but Damani said that things have not improved substantially. Although he has been advocating with the city since 2018 to improve accessibility for blind and low-vision residents, little has improved despite the passing of the Accessible BC and the Accessible Canada acts.
“We're still finding that there's a failure because they just built a new rec centre pretty close to me, which the other member, representative Odette Brassard, mentioned that she went to the new rec centre that's just off of Griffiths near the Edmonds SkyTrain station, and it's just a black steel and glass building with no sign for where's the entrance, and she couldn't find it either, and she’s sighted but she’s in a motorized wheelchair,” Damani said.
Damani attends a special aquafit class for blind and low-vision residents run by non-profit organization Aquafit for All at Bonsor Recreation Centre. To get to the centre, he takes the SkyTrain with his guide dog. A sighted person from the non-profit has to meet him at the Metrotown station and guide him to the recreation centre. Without the help of this volunteer, Damani would be unable to find his way to the centre on his own, even with his dog. This is another problem with the city’s recreation centres, they are not located close enough to transit.
Last year, members of the Walkers’ Caucus spoke at Burnaby Council about the challenges blind and visually impaired residents of Burnaby face, especially when it comes to accessing the recreation centres and crossing roads without getting hit by a car. Damani said members of the blind and low-vision community in Burnaby will be going to council on Nov. 18, 2024 to speak about this issue again.
The Beacon also spoke with Coun. Daniel Tetrault, chair of the Access Advisory Committee about the concerns of Damani and other residents with disabilities. Tetrault said that the whole purpose of forming the committee is to listen to the feedback of people with disabilities to help improve the city to make it a welcoming place for all.
“The point of this Access Advisory Committee is to relay some of these concerns. Our staff are trained in inclusivity, and in every fitness centre, we have staff who are trained to assist people with all abilities to find physical activities that work for them,” Tetrault said. “If that's not happening at our facilities, we need to know about it and make sure that we're improving our training and staff so that everyone can access a wide range of programming.”
Tetrault said that the city is developing an accessibility plan that will take all complaints, comments and feedback from people with disabilities into account in designing its facilities. Many of the city’s older recreational facilities are being redesigned to be more accessible.
“I think we do need to do a better job on our website of promotion and communication of what we do offer,” Tetrault added.
Tetrault also said Burnaby residents who encounter obstacles can use an online submission form to inform the city. Tetrault said the city handles every complaint on a case-by-case basis, although he did not mention a timeframe.
“Staff will always respond in a timely manner to the concerns and try to provide more information and try to address it as much as possible, and at times it would come back to the Access Advisory Committee if needed for more input. A lot of that feedback might go into the consultation piece and engagement, part of the accessibility plan in general for the city,” Tetrault said.
The new accessibility plan will come to council on Nov. 28. In the meantime, if residents have any complaints or encounter any obstacles, Tetrault said they can submit them using the feedback form on the city’s website.
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6. Graphic Online Ghana - Sir Sam Jonah redeems $2,000 pledge to PhD blind student9 Nov 2024
At the 56th session of the graduation ceremony of the School of Graduate Studies of the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in 2024, a member of the Guidance and Counselling Association of Ghana (GCAG), Dr Ben Bishop Nyanihorba Ayamba, graduated with a PhD degree in Guidance and Counselling.
Dr Ayamba is the first visually impaired student to have graduated with a PhD degree.
The Chancellor of the university, Sir Sam Esson Jonah, was impressed by his academic achievement and promised to offer him a prestigious cash award of $2,000.
“A statement signed and issued by the National President of GCAG, Prof. Godwin Awabil, expressed its deepest gratitude to the Chancellor of the university for fulfilling his promise by offering Dr Ayamba the prestigious award of $2,000 in recognition of him being the first visually impaired student to graduate from the University of Cape Coast with a PhD degree.
The statement said, “His attainment of the terminal degree is a testament to the university's provision of effective and efficient structures to promote learning among students, including those with special educational needs to attain their full potential.”
The statement said the GCAG, therefore, extended its heartfelt appreciation to the management and staff of the university for the support they provided, which enabled Dr Ayamba to obtain the terminal degree.
“The GCAG takes this opportunity to congratulate him on his prestigious cash award and to encourage him to continue to strive for excellence,” the statement added.
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7. Trinidad & Tobago Guardian - Living with diabetes9 Nov 2024
At its core, diabetes disrupts the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar, or glucose, which is a vital source of energy for the body’s cells. However, diabetes is much more than just high blood sugar—it’s a condition that can slowly affect multiple organs, from the heart to the kidneys, eyes, and nerves, if left untreated.
Living with diabetes can be challenging for anyone, but for individuals who are also blind or visually impaired, managing the condition can involve additional hurdles.
In celebration of World Diabetes Day, on November 14, 2024, it is important to highlight the unique challenges the blind and visually impaired have faced while managing diabetes.
Diabetic eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, and cataracts play a contributory role in the prevalence of blindness and visual impairment in T&T.
A report by the National Eye Survey of Trinidad and Tobago (NESTT) indicated that diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading factors to blindness among adults over age 40 in T&T (2019). However, it is important to note that blindness and diabetes are not always linked. Many blind individuals are born with a visual impairment or lose their sight due to other conditions, but the hurdles of managing diabetes remain.
For those living with diabetes, monitoring blood sugar levels, administering insulin, and managing medications are crucial components of effective care. However, in the past, for people who are blind or visually impaired, the usability of medical devices such as blood glucose meters, insulin pumps, and continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) presented a significant barrier to effective self-care.
This lack of accessibility and usability in diabetes management tools for the blind exacerbated health risks and created additional challenges for an already vulnerable population. Many glucose meters, insulin pumps, and CGMs relied on small screens or tiny buttons that were difficult or impossible to read or operate for blind or visually impaired individuals. For example, blood glucose meters typically displayed numerical results on a screen without any tactile or voice-guided feedback that could help someone with vision loss interpret the results.
For individuals with Type 1 or advanced Type 2 diabetes, insulin injections and pens are pertinent in the management of diabetes. Long ago, the syringes used for measuring the correct dosage had small markings, numbers, and lines, making it difficult for blind and visually impaired individuals to read. According to Trief et al (2016), administering an incorrect dose of insulin can have serious consequences, either leading to dangerously high blood sugar (hyperglycemia) or dangerously low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), both of which require immediate action.
Along with the aforementioned, other aspects of diabetes care, such as dietary management and exercise, can also be challenging for those who are blind when there is no proper accessibility to information and physical space for exercise. In terms of managing diet, blind and visually impaired individuals experienced difficulties in reading food labels or recognising ingredients.
Identifying whether a food is high in carbohydrates, sugar, or fat is essential in controlling blood sugar levels. Despite these challenges, with the advancement of technology, blind and visually impaired individuals living with diabetes can effectively manage their conditions. There are numerous tools and innovations in the 21st century that enhance the quality of life for this population.
Some of these are:
Audible Blood Glucose Meters: Many blood glucose meters now come with audio features that verbally announce blood sugar readings. These meters may use a voice output or a sound that indicates whether blood sugar is in a safe range, helping blind individuals manage their diabetes without needing to rely on sight.
Smartwatches and Wearable devices: Devices like the Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Watch can pair with glucose monitors to provide timely, auditory, or vibrating alerts about blood sugar levels, insulin schedules, and exercise goals. Wearables can also provide notifications when a person’s glucose levels fall outside a safe range, helping blind individuals to take immediate action.
Braille and Tactile Labels: For those who read Braille, insulin pens and syringes with Braille labels are available. Additionally, food manufacturers may offer products with tactile labels or Braille information, enabling individuals to identify nutritional details without needing sighted assistance.
Voice Assistants and Smart Home Technology: Voice-controlled smart devices, such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant, have become invaluable in providing hands-free control of tasks. These devices can be used to set reminders for medication, meals, and exercise routines and can even be integrated with diabetes management apps to log blood sugar levels or insulin doses.
Virtual Assistant Apps: Smartphone apps like “Be My Eyes” and “Aira” allow blind individuals to connect with sighted volunteers who can read product labels or help identify foods.
Exercise: A crucial aspect of diabetes management is regular exercise. Many individuals who are blind or visually impaired suffering from diabetes encounter numerous challenges when trying to find safe spaces for walking or running, particularly in outdoor areas with uneven surfaces. They can, however, engage in exercise from the comfort of their own homes.
This column is supplied in conjunction with the T&T Blind Welfare Association Headquarters: 118 Duke Street, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. Email: ttbw...@gmail.com; Phone: (868) 624-4675; WhatsApp: (868) 395-3086.
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8. Hello Rayo UK - Blind college students in Hereford create graffiti art mural celebrating local athletes9 Nov 2024
The Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) has unveiled a new art piece, created by its students in collaboration with professional street artists, Studio Jumble.
Funded by Hereford City Council and the Herefordshire Community Foundation, the project celebrates the achievements of blind and visually impaired athletes.
The idea originated after student Kai Codrington expressed an interest in trying graffiti art.
His enthusiasm inspired his classmates, and with the support of their art teacher and RNC's Fundraising Department, the project gained momentum.
Street art agency Blank Walls commissioned Andrew Everitt and Alex Thompson from Studio Jumble to lead the project.
The College's Estates team suggested brightening up an uninspiring bike store situated in a public space next to the College’s 4G pitch.
Art teacher Mel Davies said: “I was really pleased how the two artists engaged with our students. Their enthusiasm was infectious. Our students really enjoyed being creative with spray paint, a medium they hadn't used before and they were proud to be creating something that would be a legacy, long after they have left the College. Thanks to Andrew and Alex for their energy and passion in creating such a wonderful art installation celebrating blind sports.”
Student Kai was thrilled to see his idea become reality.
He said: “I loved it. I’ve done some graffiti art in the past, but on a much smaller sale and not with spray paints, so I wanted to have a go on a bigger canvas and find out what I could achieve. The professional artists explained what we were going to do really well. They made it accessible, guided us in the right direction, then gave us a free hand to experiment. My finished products were far better than I thought they would be! I surprised myself and found that I could achieve much more than I had expected.’
The mural features several RNC alumni who have excelled in their respective sports, including two-time Paralympic gold medallist Dan Pembroke (Javelin), England Blind Football Captain Owen Bainbridge and Team GB Goalball player Antonia Bunyan.
Mel hopes to invite the featured athletes to an official unveiling ceremony in the near future, providing an opportunity to celebrate the project with the budding new graffiti artists.
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9. Al Jazeera - Young and visually impaired in Costa Rica9 Nov 2024
About 18 percent of the population of Costa Rica, a country of about five million, lives with a disability. These individuals face difficulties when it comes to accessing education, work, and public spaces.
Among these disabilities are visual impairments. As a 23-year-old living with an eye disease called keratoconus, which causes loss of vision, I’m interested in how young people with visual disabilities navigate their everyday lives as they follow their dreams and work towards their goals.
I decided to focus on these “caminos invisibles” or “unseen paths” in my photo essay for the Safe Photography Project, run by the international youth agency Restless Development, and part of a global campaign to end violence against children. The project enlisted 10 young photographers from around the world to examine what “safe” means to them.
For me, a lack of accessibility signals a lack of empathy and is a form of violence that promotes exclusion. In my photo essay, I wanted to illustrate the challenges and courage of two subjects with visual impairments, Camila and Luis, both 13, as they adapt to the world to be as independent as possible. Key to this is the support of friends and family who provide a sense of safety, allowing both teenagers to grow and develop without the fear of being misunderstood or rejected.
We meet Camila Valverde Gonzales who was diagnosed with microphthalmia and bilateral cataracts when she was two months old and underwent multiple surgeries before the age of one. When she was nine, she lost most of the vision in her right eye and was forced to make changes in her everyday life, such as increasing the font size on her iPad and mobile phone and improving lighting at home to be as autonomous as possible.
Luis Diego Espinoza Cedeño was born with limited vision due to ocular albinism, nystagmus and strabismus although his parents were initially told he was blind at birth. At age one, Luis had to start wearing glasses to protect his eyes. He spent his first five years at a school for children with disabilities and then was able to join a regular school.
“As an adolescent, Luis Diego has developed just the same as any other person. My son is very disciplined, he can cook and do everyday tasks, he plays football, rides a bicycle, draws very well. He is the kind of boy who gets frustrated very easily if he can’t do things,” says his mother Andrea Cedeño Suárez.
For this essay, I’ve employed certain photography techniques to depict Camila and Luis’s perspectives. Extreme close-ups give the viewer an intimate sense of the subject while long exposures convey how they see their surroundings.
Through these photos, I want the viewer to enter a world that might be perceived as a limitation but is also a source of strength. Each image is a snapshot of resilience, adaptation and personal growth, inviting the viewer to reflect on what visual disability means beyond impairment.
Camila has found solutions, not least through technology such as using voice assistant and zoom functions on an iPhone, which allow her to function independently despite her visual impairment [Francisco Lázaro/Al Jazeera]
My name is Camila Valverde from Costa Rica, and I describe the love I have for my mum in what is written here. Every word on this piece of paper reflects the moments we have shared and the unbreakable bond between us [Francisco Lázaro/Al Jazeera]
The strong bond between Camila and her mother Gabriela has created a safe space for Camila to flourish and be independent, to not be afraid of people or feel intimidated because she has a disability and uses a cane, and to have the courage to ask questions. In the future, she aspires to be a fashion designer [Francisco Lázaro/Al Jazeera]
Look at me and try to focus, the world is not a simple place. Luis has ocular albinism, meaning it is difficult for him to distinguish colours. He also has nystagmus, which causes an involuntary eye movement, making it hard for him to focus [Francisco Lázaro/Al Jazeera]
In secondary school, Luis has found ways to “get things done”, says Andrea, his mother. For instance, he cannot focus properly on the whiteboard in class, so he takes photos of what is written to be able to read it or sometimes asks classmates for help to understand what is there [Francisco Lázaro/Al Jazeera]
For Luis, a moment of peace - but also of freedom [Francisco Lázaro/Al Jazeera]
“Day by day we learn that disabilities are not a limitation,” says Luis’s mother Andrea [Francisco Lázaro/Al Jazeera]
Francisco Lázaro was born in Costa Rica and spent most of his childhood in the neighbourhood of Terraza de San Rafael de Heredia. He currently lives in Los Ángeles de San Rafael de Heredia.
He studied photography and video at the National Technical University of Costa Rica, Alajuela, and documents the stories and everyday lives of Costa Ricans.
Francisco is inspired by the work of Muhammed Muheisen who creates connections with his subjects such as refugees to create expressive photos, the photos of Lee Jeffries who has documented homelessness and focuses on people’s features like eyes, and the work of Ali Jadallah in Gaza whose colour photographs capture events as they happen and show what is happening to people, particularly children, in the midst of war.
Francisco was inspired to take part in the Safe Photography Project as he believes in the importance of nurturing current and future generations, and in society's responsibility to provide better educational, social, and health opportunities to promote stability for children so that they can enjoy childhood and adolescence - unique and important periods in their lives.
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10. BBC News UK - Fortnum & Mason party snub was 'hurtful'9 Nov 2024
Paralympians have criticised the decision by Fortnum & Mason to hold an event for Olympians but neglect to invite any Paralympic athletes.
Team GB and Paralympics GB medallists attended a reception at Buckingham Palace on Thursday, but Paralympians were not invited to an after-party hosted by the luxury department store.
Zac Shaw, a Paralympic visually impaired sprinter, called it "hurtful" and said it was part of a "wider issue" in how disabled athletes are treated.
Fortnum & Mason has apologised for the "mistake" and said a separate Paralympics event is being organised.
"It's a sad reality that we always have to fight for equality," Shaw, 29, said. "The thing that hurt the most was that we were both at the palace at the same time so it wasn’t a case of us being at different locations. It was one event and we didn’t get invited."
Shaw, who won silver in the mixed 4x100m and bronze in the 100m T12 in Paris, said he only realised after one of his friends in Team GB asked if he needed a lift to the after-party, but after a trawl of his emails, Shaw and his partner Ali Smith - also a Paralympic sprinter - did not find an invite.
After contacting Fortnum & Mason twice in a 24 hour period and not receiving a response, he decided to post publicly on X.
Once his post gained traction, he said he was messaged by representatives of the London upmarket department store.
Fortnum & Mason then sent Smith a private message, saying that there was a "separate reception for Paralympians in the works" which would be announced soon.
The store apologised for the "failure of communication".
The message read: "We are really sorry that we could not do both of the planned parties together, which would have been our preference, but we are restricted on space and simply could not have fitted everyone in at the same time."
But Shaw said the response appeared "reactionary" and "very much reads as an excuse".
"It doesn't seem like it was even thought of until there was a backlash."
He added: "If they had wanted to do an event for us, we would have known about it before. And if they really wanted us there, the venue could have been bigger."
Shaw also said that hosting a separate event at a later date did not take into account the difficulty for many disabled athletes in travelling to London.
"Accessibility is difficult for people with disabilities and it’s just ignorant and upsetting that they even had the thought to do it after.
"And in this situation, even if you only have room for a certain number of athletes, why would you not prioritise the ones with accessibility needs?"
Shaw said it was a symptom of a "wider issue" in how disabled athletes are treated differently in sport.
"Why is it Team GB and Paralympics GB? Why don't we compete under the same name like Team France did at the Olympics/Paralympics? And why were we at Buckingham Palace in tracksuits, when the Olympians were provided suits?"
He said Paralympians were instructed to wear their tracksuits and trainers to the reception hosted by the King, while Team GB athletes were given "fresh suits".
"And that just made the Buckingham Palace experience feel a bit strange," he added.
When he queried the request and said he would like to wear a suit, he was met with silence, he said.
"You have situations like this so frequently, whether it's brands or funding," he continued.
"The Paralympics are amazing but they happen once every four years and in between brands don't show the same support to disabled athletes, which speaks volumes about the culture."
In a statement, Fortnum & Mason said: "We entered into this with good intentions but recognise that we have made a mistake here for which we fully apologise.
"We have been planning for, and of course will be honoured to host, a ParalympicsGB celebratory event at Fortnum’s and an invitation to do that has been made, but we do understand the hurt we have caused by not making our plans clear to the athletes earlier."
But Shaw said it was unlikely he would attend such an event.
"The day's been and gone," he said.
"It doesn't feel right that this has come on by pity and like I said it's not easy for people with disabilities to travel and I think it's unfair they'd even ask us to do that."
The British Olympic Association and The British Paralympic Association have been approached for comment.
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This Google Group news service has been made possible by courtesy of the Society of the Blind in Malaysia