London’s new £18.9bn Elizabeth line has recently opened, with travellers now able to go from Abbey Wood to Heathrow and Reading, and from Shenfield to Heathrow. We went to find out about the line's access features, with Clive Wood of the charity Guide Dogs. Clive was offering advice and guidance on the accessible design of the new line and he believes there is more that can be done to ensure full accessibility. We put his concerns to TfL's chief customer officer, Mark Evers.

We also travelled down to South London, to an exhibition at the Outlined Gallery called Do You See What I See? It is an exhibition that showcases the interpretations of how partially sighted people, with various conditions, see and experience art.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: pictured from the left is Sam Leftwich (one of the visually impaired participants in the Do You See What I See exhibition), then stands Elizabeth Manuel (the person leading the exhibition), then Peter White and finally Lindsay Whitelaw (the professional artist) on the right. The group stand in front of some of the art that is showcased in the exhibition.

Unlike most of the natural world, birds are quite easy to enjoy with a visual impairment because, well, they can be rather noisy. Martin and Jackie Brown invited us into their garden and share some of their enthusiasms for gardening and, you guessed it, birds. Natalie Doig also joins us. Natalie is partially sighted and enjoys taking photographs of birds and other wildlife, because it allows her to zoom in and discover details she wasn't aware of before. She tells us about her techniques and shares her top tips.

We also review some bird identification apps that can be downloaded onto your smartphone.

Presenter: Peter White

Visually impaired Liverpool FC fans Dave Williams and Aj Ahmed were at the Stade de France last weekend, as Liverpool prepared to meet Real Madrid in the Champions League final. News headlines have been dominated by the mayhem that unfolded there, including the use of tear gas and dangerous overcrowding. The two tell us what happened to them, whilst caught up in it.

A lot of the great outdoors can be quite inaccessible, especially if you are completely blind. Nature is often synonymous with visual beauty and, with the exception of birds, a lot of wildlife can be rather quiet. We speak to two avid visually impaired naturists about how they create access opportunities for themselves. Andrew Hesser has recently appeared on BBC Two's Gardeners' World and he shares his top tips for introducing a little more gardening and nature into your life. Andy Shipley has dedicated himself to the idea of involving other visually impaired people in all aspects of enjoying the natural world. Under his organisation called Natural Inclusion, Andy provides disability inclusion training to heritage sites and parks and facilitates workshops to encourage people to experience nature with more senses than just sight. Andy tells us about some of the projects he's worked on.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: two women on a hike in Munnar, India. One woman is visually impaired and is using a cane. Behind them, stretches green fields and trees.

Link to Andrew Hesser's Facebook group, for tips and advice on gardening: https://www.facebook.com/groups/385503852747202

For some people with visual impairments, when wanting to travel abroad there are many considerations to take into account. Namely, booking assistance at airports and travel requirements for your guide dog, if you have one. Since Brexit, there have been changes to regulations of taking Guide Dogs abroad. Before, owners had to acquire a pet passport but now, a Animal Health Certificate is required. We heard from In Touch listeners that the cost of said certificates can be quite steep and can vary, depending on veterinary practices. We investigate why this is and what the new requirements are with Chris Theobald, Guide Dogs' Senior Campaigns Manager, with David Adams, the President of the European Guide Dogs Federation and with Justine Shotton, who is the President of the British Veterinary Association.

Mel Griffiths contacted In Touch when she had a problem with Birmingham Airport's assistance service. She tells us what happened.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: pictured is a couple on a beach with their guide dogs: a German Shepherd and a Golden Labrador. The man is on the left of the image and wears a white and blue check shirt, a white cap and sunglasses. The lady is in the foreground and is wearing a long green and white patterned dress. Behind them is a volleyball net, with tall poles dug into the sand.

It could be about time to start planning that long overdue holiday and whether you prefer to stay in the UK or go abroad, we have three experienced visually impaired travellers on hand to share their advice of making the most of a holiday.

The North Wales Accessible Holidays for Blind and Visually Impaired is a charity run by Nigel Garry and his wife, Karen. They can offer free fully adapted accessible caravan holidays. Nigel tells us about his charity and his own preferences to holiday within the UK.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: a close-up shot of two mature women disembarking an airplane. The woman on the left is visually impaired and is holding her folded up cane in her right hand. Both women are wearing casual clothing.

Self-confidence can be impacted by many factors when you have a visual impairment or when gradually losing your sight. We look into confidence through the lens of beauty and self-care products and psychology.

Procter & Gamble own many household name brands, within beauty, haircare and personal grooming. Their Accessibility Leader, Sam Latif is blind and she has introduced features to some of their big-name products to make them more accessible to people who are blind or have low vision. We talk to her about these and how the wider beauty industry needs to become more accessible. But of course, self-confidence expands far wider than just self-care and beauty products and so we talk to humanistic counsellor, David Best about the kinds issues surrounding confidence that he hears about from his visually impaired clients.

Presenter: Fern Lulham

Website image description: On a desk is a variety of beauty products. From the left is a make-up brush with a green handle, two bottles of skincare products stand behind it and a white bottle of soap with a pump behind those. In the background and blurred is a pink lipstick with a black and gold handle. In the centre of the image is an iPad or tablet with a person's hand reaching town to touch the screen. The image represents how technology can sometimes be helpful to people's beauty and self-care routines.

In recent years, charity Guide Dogs have published research that found 75% of guide dog owners had experienced some form of refusal of entry. Unfortunately, guide dog refusals are still very common and so we look into what steps you can take if it happens at an indoor establishment, for example: restaurants, shops, garden centres etc. We speak to a guide dog owner about his recent experience when being refused entry into a restaurant and to Clive Wood, the Lead Regional Policy and Campaigns Manager at Guide Dogs.

If you're a savvy smartphone user, you may have heard of NaviLens. It is an app that enables visually impaired people to detect and scan special QR codes from a distance. On detecting the code, the app then makes the information contained within it accessible. It can dictate what you are facing toward, read signage at busy train stations and its also attached to many beauty and food products, enabling you to hear the ingredients. The RNIB's Marc Powell explains how it could be a potentially useful tool for blind or low vision smartphone users.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: pictured is a golden Labrador guide dog helping a man descend some stairs. The image is blurred in places, representing how the legalities surrounding guide dog refusals are sometimes confused and misunderstood.

The Elections Bill passed the final reading stages in the House of Lords and will soon receive Royal Assent to be passed into law. We discuss the amendments which were approved in the House of Lords and were proposed by visually impaired Life Peer, Lord Holmes of Richmond. The amendments aim to provide blind and partially sighted people the right to vote at polling stations independently and in secret. We speak to Lord Holmes about what these amendments mean for you in future elections.

The Graeae Theatre Company are currently touring the UK with an opera about an 18th Century blind woman composer called Maria Theresia von Paradis. The opera is called The Paradis files and it has disability access at its core; with integrated audio description, signing and an all disabled cast and artistic team. We speak to Selina Mills, who co-wrote the libretto and to the star of the show, Bethan Langford who sings the role of Maria Theresia.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: pictured are five cast members of The Paradis Files on stage. Bethan Langford stands in the middle, inside of a large gilded frame with red curtains on either side. All of the cast members have their right hand raised and are smiling. In the foreground in front of Bethan, are two 18th century style chairs with dark brown wood and embellished with tactile markings. Photographer Patrick Baldwin captured the image.

We revisit the topic of how the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is impacting its visually impaired citizens. We speak to married couple Denys and Olga Petrov who evacuated to Poland soon after the war began. They tell us about how they got across the border with a small child, a pregnancy and... seven animals.

A few weeks ago, we spoke to Olga Mahler about how she travelled nearly 10,000 miles across the world from Australia to help visually impaired refugees with food and accommodation once they have crossed the border into Poland. Olga attended a boarding school for the blind in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. We caught up with her to see how her blind parents, who refused to leave their home in Ukraine, are getting along and how her aid efforts have developed.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: pictured is two young women; one is guiding a visually impaired woman with a white cane across the border from Ukraine into Poland. Photograph taken at the Medyka border crossing in eastern Poland, on March 9, 2022. They are both wearing winter coats, hats and scarves and small snowflakes are falling around them.

Breathe in...and out. Namaste. With the global mental wellness market reaching around $120 billion in recent years, here lies the truth that in the West, many are finding the daily incorporation of mindfulness techniques highly beneficial to reduce stress and to become more present in daily life. With its ever growing popularity, we wanted to hear from visually impaired people who are making a living within this industry. We speak to yoga instructor, Claire Miller, we put Peter into the healing hands of Nick Mulryan who performs a reiki session on him and we speak to Marc Norton who demonstrates his work in the area of sound healing. We also explore how viable the wellness industry is as a career for people with visual impairments.

Presenter: Peter White

Website image description: pictured is Peter (on the left) and Nick Mulryan (on the right) in Nick's office at The No.1 Pain Relief Clinic in Buxton. Nick is holding an A4 piece of paper that details the 7 major chakras of the body. On the wall behind Peter to the left, hangs two images of the human skeleton with various labels branching off. Behind the pair are two shelves with towels and various boxes on. To the right of Nick there is a desk and a small shelf with two medical models of the human foot, which show the bones and muscles inside.