What is Visual Awareness training?

Nearly two million people in the UK are blind or partially sighted. Whether you are a retailer, provide leisure facilities, work in education or are a charity, visually impaired people will want to access your services.

How your staff respond to their needs will determine how likely they are to use your services again and whether they will recommend you. If you employ someone who is blind or partially sighted, then Visual Awareness training can help colleagues understand how to best provide support.

What is Visual Awareness training?

Action for Blind People offers training, advice and support designed to raise your awareness of the needs of blind and partially sighted people, whether in a work or social situation. Training covers:

Communication
How to effectively communicate with blind and partially sighted people, from giving directions to preparing written material

Guiding
Practical techniques for guiding visually impaired people around the business or office and information on mobility aids, such as the different types of white cane and the needs of guide dogs

Environment awareness
How the built environment can affect someone with a visual impairment, and tips on how to make the environment more accessible

Legislation
What the Disability Discrimination Act means to you

Eye conditions
The practical effects that these have on a person’s sight

Who can benefit from Visual Awareness training?

Anyone who provides a service! Whether it is frontline staff understanding that it is more useful to give verbal directions rather than just point, or a Human Resources team auditing their recruitment process, Visual Awareness training can make a real difference to the quality of service offered.

Action for Blind People's Visual Awareness team can advise on how to make reasonable adjustments to a number of areas within the work environment, to help not only visually impaired members of staff but also visitors and customers.

In 2005/06, Action delivered Visual Awareness training sessions to over 2000 people for organisations as diverse as:

• Thistle Hotels
• Metropolitan Police
• Lovells solicitors
• Job Centre Plus
• Transport for London
• Imperial War Museum

It can be awkward not knowing how to react when you have a blind person staying in the hotel. After this session, I now have a better understanding of how they feel and how I can handle such situations without treating them differently.
Clare, Thistle Hotels

If you feel that you or your organisation could benefit from this service, or any other service that we offer, email us at visual.awareness@actionforblindpeople.org.uk .