2024 promises to be hugely significant for political change around the world, with more than eighty countries planning to head to the polls. The UK being one of them. This year will see not only a general election, but local elections and others. Niki Nixon is from The Electoral Commission, and she provides details of what visually impaired people need to consider before voting, especially regarding photographic ID.

We examine your experiences with energy companies and AIHDs and we answer a listeners question: what is Visual Snow Syndrome? Dr Sui Wong, consultant neurologist and neuro-ophthalmologist at Moorfields Eye Hospital, helps us answer the question.

Presenter: Peter White

Tonight's edition challenges any idea that there are limits to the ways in which visually impaired people can have fun!

Shiraz Cohan is the founder of the UK Blind Baseball Association. He joins us with Lancashire Lions team mate Shoaib Nazir and Ray Clements from the Liverpool blind Trojans. They tell us how the sport has been adapted to make it accessible to blind and visually impaired people and what is being done to grow the number of UK teams.

The UK Blind Baseball Association can be contacted by email at [email protected]

So X sighted is the catchy name of what's thought to be the UK's only group of blind morris dancers. We speak to their Squire, Shirley Sheridan along with dancer Arnold Penney and band member Jean Fray. They share the story of how they got started, how they learned their craft and what it means to them.

So X sighted can be contacted by email at [email protected]

Presenter: Peter White

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.

Mixmups is a new children's TV show that aims to integrate disability into everyday adventures and children's play. The show was created by Rebecca Atkinson, who has duel sensory loss, when she realised the lack of representation in children's toys. She took her Mixmups characters to Mackinnon & Saunders, who are the studio behind some iconic kids TV shows, such as: Postman Pat, Bob the Builder and Fantastic Mr. Fox. The show follows four characters, one is visually impaired and one is a wheel chair user, as they go on adventures fuelled by their imaginations.

Presenter: Peter White

A recent YouGov poll, commissioned by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment, has found that many employers do not have inclusive employment practices. This may not come as a surprise to many blind and partially sighted people who have experienced employment or are seeking employment and so we assess what needs to happen in order to dispel the persistent misconceptions and to ensure more employment opportunities for visually impaired people.

To help us tackle this decade-long problem, we turned to Marsha De Cordova who is MP for Battersea and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment that commissioned the poll. Simon Hill is visually impaired and he describes the technological and attitudinal barriers he has faced. Martin O'Kane is the technology and employment lead for the RNIB and Eleanor Southwood is the Vision Foundation's Director of Social Impact.

To submit your evidence to the All Party Parliamentary Group on Eye Health and Visual Impairment's inquiry, email: [email protected] or call Marsha De Cordova's office to request assistance in submitting oral evidence: 0207 219 0209

Presenter: Peter White

Can blind people play baseball or be morris dancers? Of course they can!

Local sight loss charities exist throughout the UK to provide practical and emotional support to blind and visually impaired people. We wanted to learn more about the services they offer and the challenges they face. Fiona Sandford is the CEO of Visionary, the membership organisation for these charities and she joins us to answer our questions.

The immensely popular BBC programme Doctor Who recently celebrated it's 60th anniversary. We look at how the show has been made more accessible to its many blind fans and speak to some of the people who have made it happen.

Presenter: Peter White

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

Accessible In Home Displays (AIHDs) work with Smart Meters so that blind and visually impaired people can more easily monitor their use of energy. Their features include large buttons, high contrast displays and text to speech functions.

Around a year ago, we looked at complaints from listeners about problems in obtaining AIHDs from their supplier and were hopeful that the issue had been resolved. However, it's clear that some problems remain. We speak to a listener who contacted us about their recent experience and we also hear from their energy supplier.

Our other guest on this edition is no stranger to In Touch, having started as a reporter and gone on to produce the show for many years. They join us today to tell us about being a visually impaired photographer and how that passion took them to Chile to get pictures of rescued miners who had been trapped underground in 2010. Guessed who it is? Tune in and find out!

Presenter: Peter White

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

With a general election a certainty at some point this year, two recent developments have alarmed organisations representing disabled people. Before 2020, there was a fund that provided financial aid to disabled people running for elective office, but that fund has not yet been reinstated. And also: its being argued that in the Prime Minister's latest cabinet reshuffle, the role of Minister for Disabled People has been downgraded.

We discuss what these developments mean for visually impaired people. Helping us do that is Lord Blunkett, Steve Darling, who will be running to be the MP of Torbay this year, Lia Nici, who will be running for MP of Great Grimsby & Cleethorpes and Anna Tylor, Chair of the RNIB.

Presenter: Peter White

The Transport (Scotland) Act has been in place since 2019, which includes a nation-wide ban of parking cars on pavements. But only in December 2023 were local councils across Scotland given the powers to enforce fines of up to £100 to people doing so. Some local councils are saying that they need more funding and resources to be able to conduct assessments of their streets and to implement enforcement. We put this to Scotland's Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop and we hear from visually impaired resident of Glasgow about how pavement parking impacts her everyday journeys.

Meanwhile, The Thomas Pocklington Trust are reigniting a decade-old campaign that calls for a similar ban across England. The Trust's head of public affairs and campaigns, Mike Bell tells us what they're calling for.

Presenter: Peter White

Andrew Lennox took over as the CEO of The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association in September 2023. We thought we'd give him a little time to get his feet under the table but now he joins us to describe his vision for the future of the charity and what they plan to do about the long waiting lists for new and replacement dogs.

Roger Sharp has always had a passion for cars; building them, repairing them and racing them and when he lost his sight at the age of 48, that passion didn't fade. Roger has finished rebuilding a classic Ford Escort, while without vision. Our reporter Fern Lulham went to check it out.

Presenter: Peter White