In Touch

The government has recently announced a reform of the provisions for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) pupils. It promises more resources for children in need of support. However, there are worries about how these reforms will work for blind and visually impaired children.
Joining us for this episode is Dr Rachel Hewett from the Visual Impairment Centre for Teaching and Research (VICTAR). Dr Hewett is the author of a report that examines the benefits offered by specialist schools for blind and visually impaired children - and the fear these schools may be overlooked in the new reforms. We’re also joined by Victoria Ward, head of visual impairment education at New College Worcester, a specialist school for children with visual impairments.
The RNIB's "Newsagent" service provides newspapers and magazines in an accessible format. Although now resolved, the service has recently been affected by IT problems. Iain Lackie is a regular user of the service and he joins us to share his concerns about how the problems were handled.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.’

The UK's leading sight loss charity, RNIB, has a new CEO. Simon Antrobus took over the role at the beginning of the year, having spent the majority of his career within the charity sector, including the past ten years leading BBC Children in Need. In Touch speaks with him about the position of the charity's finances, their current recruitment situation, the organisation's priorities of the future and more.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio’ in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.

In Touch hears about developments within the video games industry that pertain to accessibility. Including a white paper from the RNIB which is calling for regulation on standardizing accessibility within video games and a more collaborative approach to make more games accessible to visually impaired players. We also hear about a free platform called Able to Play, which allows visually impaired and other disabled gamers identify what games might be accessible to them, based on their specific needs.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to
the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.’

Despite some encouraging developments, many blind and visually impaired people complain that they are still unable to secretly and independently cast their vote at elections. With UK elections fast approaching, this episode examines the current situation. Ian Hamilton reports on an initiative in Scotland, and also joining us are:-
Rachael Andrews, whose action to bring a case to Court resulted in the Judge finding that the existing arrangements were "a parody of the Electoral system".
Duncan Johnson from Pakflatt, a company that makes the McGonagle Reader, a device designed to enable secret and independent voting for blind people, and,
Jackie Killeen, Director of administration and regulation at The Electoral Commission.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Fern Lulham
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image, wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three individual white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch"; and the Radio 4 logo (the word Radio in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to
the right. Both are behind Peter, one of a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.’

'Seeing With My Dog' is the latest work from visually impaired playwright Roderick Dungate. The play explores Rod's turmoil with losing his vision and the complexities of training with a guide dog. In Touch's reporter Bethan Langford attended one of the production's rehearsals and she provides her impressions of the experience. Rod also joins the programme, and describes the play's themes and about how access for visually impaired audience members has been prioritised in various ways.
Presenter: Peter White
Producer: Beth Hemmings
Production Coordinator: Helen Surtees
Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image and he is wearing a dark green jumper. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo (three separate white squares house each of the three letters). Bottom centre and overlaying the image are the words "In Touch" and the Radio 4 logo (the word ‘radio’ in a bold white font, with the number 4 inside of a white circle). The background is a bright mid-blue with two rectangles angled diagonally to the right. Both are behind Peter, one is a darker blue and the other is a lighter blue.