The Department for Work and Pensions will soon appear in the high court in a case brought against them by Dr Yusuf Ali Osman. Dr Osman has repeatedly requested that communications over his benefit payments be sent to him in his preferred accessible format but has not received them. We invited him onto the program to provide further details on which his case is being brought. Mike Lambert has had a similar problem with the DWP and he shares those with us.

For those who have certain eye conditions with enough sight to continue to drive, you may have heard of the Esterman Visual Field test. It is designed to test your peripheral vision but concerns have been raised over the test's validity and appropriateness to be used by the DVLA. We have these laid out by Lou, who has glaucoma and has had a negative experience when taking the test. We also invited Roger Anderson, who is a Professor of Optometry at Ulster University and sits on the DVLA's Advisory Committee of Vision and Visual Disorders, to share his thoughts on the matter.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

Access services in supermarkets are, for some blind and visually impaired people, an essential service to gather the exact groceries you need. Services like assisted shopping, where a member of staff takes you around the store gathering items for you, are offered by a lot of supermarkets but some were suspended during the pandemic. Auriol Britton decided to take Sainsbury's Supermarkets to court when she had a problem with her local store in Bristol, primarily based on the suspension of their assisted shopping service. We invited Auriol onto the program to outline the problem she had and what happened in court.

Demand for eye services is rising rapidly and the NHS is struggling to keep up. Well, The Eyes Have It is a partnership between the Macular Society, Fight for Sight, The Royal College of Ophthalmologists and other sight loss organisations and they held a parliamentary a drop-in event at Westminster last week. They are calling for a national eye care plan to tackle the problems patients are facing. Our reporter Fern Lulham provides the details. (NB - Dr Peter Hampson is from the Association of Optometrists.)

And swimming can be a great form of exercise for blind and visually impaired people but keen swimmer Aletea Sellers contacted us when she had a problem in getting access provisions put in place at her local swimming pools. She tells us the responses she got, good and bad.

Presenter: Peter White

Dr Paul Jarman contacted us following our coverage of what changes had occurred since the RNIB took over the National Library for the Blind. He noted something that we had not mentioned. He believes there has been a seismic shift toward students and tutors like him, no longer being able to access as many serious books as once before. He lays out his concerns in this area and explains why he believes braille books should be regarded as heritage items.

Our reporter in Washington, Gary O'Donoghue talks us through a new partnership between access tech companies Aira and Envision. Together, they have created 'smart glasses' that enable you to be put in contact with a sighted agent, completely hands-free. Gary demonstrates how they can be used to assist with daily tasks and navigation.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

Three visually impaired people tell us about their experiences of domestic abuse. The cases involve the perpetrator using their visual impairments against them, though gaslighting, coercive control and in one case, extreme violence being the cause of their visual impairment. These stories come in the light of a report called The Unseen, by The Vision Foundation and Safe Lives. Olivia Curno, The Vision Foundation's Chief Executive gives summary of the report's harrowing findings.

Link to The Unseen domestic abuse report: https://www.visionfoundation.org.uk/our-work/research/the-unseen/

If you are at risk of domestic abuse, contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247. If you are in immediate danger, call 999 and ask for the police.

Presenter: Peter White

Our new Prime Minister, Liz Truss hasn't yet offered assurances to people receiving disability related benefits during the current rises in inflation and wider cost of living increases. This has concerned visually impaired grandmother and benefit receiver Kim Jaye. We invited her onto the program to explain her current situation and her added costs due to her visual impairment. The RNIB only last week handed in a petition to the Department for Work and Pensions about how the cost of living crisis is impacting visually impaired and blind people. Their Director of Insight and Customer Voice, David Aldwinckle explains the contents of the petition and their future plans to help blind and partially sighted people through the cost of living crisis.

The British Wireless for the Blind Fund have announced that they are to be discontinuing their Sonata Internet Audio service by the end of October. Kim O'Neil uses the service and explains to us why the device offers such an important and unmatched service and the Fund's Jenny Cameron tells us the reason behind the discontinuation.

Presenter: Peter White

Dr Peter Hampson is the Clinical Director of the Association of Optometrists and we invited him onto the program after hearing about a rather unusual cornea replacement method to come out of Sweden; scientists there have developed replacement human corneas out of pig skins. We ask Dr Hampson whether this could become a viable solution to tackling the UK's cornea shortage.

A Edinburgh based accessible technology company called Screen Language are soon to release a new streaming platform, strictly for audio described movies. It will launch on September 30th called My Sound Cinema. It aims to be a one stop shop for audio described films of a variety of genre. Elena Zini is Screen Language's founder and she gives us the details about their new platform. Kim Milward is visually impaired and a major film fan, we invited her to tell us and Elena whether My Sound Cinema is something that she would consider using.

And we sent producer Beth Hemmings to Leeds to listen in on a music performance by a group of visually impaired people who had been working with percussionist Mendi Mohinder Singh. The music was performed on some rather unorthodox instruments...

Presenter: Peter White

Sarah Leadbetter and her friends could of had a near miss on the streets of Manchester when they veered into a road. They weren't aware they had done this as there was no kerb, tactile paving or crossing box to indicate the change between pavement and road. This was the straw that broke the camel's back and she will be taking the Department for Transport to a judicial review to mainly assess the legal safety guidance and requirements for the height of kerbs. Sarah joins us to tell us more about it. Andrew Hodgson is the President of the National Federation of the Blind of the UK and he shares his thoughts on this case and also on e-scooters, after Kent County Council have decided to discontinue their trials in and around Canterbury.

Keeping with the theme of safety for this program, we hear from GP Katie Elliott about how blind and visually impaired people can access cancer screening programs. She wants to know from you how you have navigated such programs and from your experience, how you'd improve the service. She explains more about the screenings available to you, when you should be having them and more.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

Tributes to Her Majesty the Queen and how Poppy Levison got her job within architecture.

The Electoral Commission have launched a public consultation that will gather the opinions and experiences of disabled voters, with the aim of making voting more accessible. Ailsa Irvine is their Director of Electoral Administration and Guidance and she explains why this consultation is necessary, given the recent passing of the Elections Act, how information provided will be used and when we will see the effects.

We hear your responses to our item on last week's program about how you are now experiencing The RNIB's Braille Library Service, following on from updates to the system last year. Somewhat of a makeshift response to these changes came from Tim Pennick, who set up a braille book swap mailing list. He explains how his scheme works.

To participate in the braille book swap mailing list, contact: [email protected]

To participate in the Electoral Commission's consultation, use the following link: https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/who-we-are-and-what-we-do/our-views-and-research/our-consultations/consultation-draft-guidance-returning-officers-assistance-voting-persons-disabilities. You can email [email protected] or call 0333 103 1928.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

In April 2021, The Royal National Institute of Blind People, the RNIB, announced changes to their braille library service. Their new system offers access to more digital copies and home delivery of books on request. However, In Touch listeners have expressed their concerns about long wait times and no longer being able to return books, leading to high levels of wastage. We invited Ailsa Fairley and Tim Pennick to share their concerns with Dave Williams, The RNIB's Customer Experience Manager.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.

The success of England's footballing Lionesses at the recent UEFA women's championship has massively increased the popularity of the women's game. Now, the Football Association has included blind women in their disability talent strategy. The 2023 IBSA world games provide an early opportunity for a team of blind women players to follow in the footsteps of their sighted counterparts by lifting a major trophy. We speak to three England hopefuls about their journey in the blind beautiful game.

There is a perception among many people that having a visual impairment automatically means a love of music, but, as with so many other activities, sight loss can mean barriers to becoming a musician. Undeterred by this, and already having learned to play violin and viola, sixteen year old Toben Durrant is now a member of the Welsh National Youth Opera. We talk to him about his experience as a young blind musician. We also speak to acclaimed Soprano, Victoria Oruwari about support for young blind people wanting to become musicians.

Presenter: Peter White

Producer: Fern Lulham

Production coordinator: William Wolstenholme

Website image description: Peter White sits smiling in the centre of the image. He is wearing a dark green jumper with the collar of a check shirt peeking at the top. Above Peter's head is the BBC logo, Across Peter's chest reads "In Touch" and beneath that is the Radio 4 logo. The background is a series of squares that are different shades of blue.