Blindness / Low Vision

There are over 2 million people in the UK who are living with sight loss. Of these, approximately 340,000 are registered as blind or partially sighted.

Visual impairments affect a huge variety of people. Some of them have been blind since birth, and others develop blindness later in life. Blind or partially sighted people should not be excluded from employment opportunities, nor should loss of sight result in dismissal.

While being blind or partially sighted is classified as a disability, there are lots of ways in which you can get support so that the condition does not limit your career. At Careers with Disabilities, we believe in helping disabled job seekers find inclusive job opportunities and helping employers provide them. With that in mind, we have created this page to talk more about blindness and low vision. We will discuss how visually impaired people can be supported in the workplace. 

Career Support for People with Blindness or Low Vision

People with vision impairment can do many of the jobs that sighted people do. To name a few, this includes work as politicians, teachers, authors, actors, bankers, and managers.

There are roles that people with visual impairments might not be permitted to work in. These are roles in which adequate levels of eyesight are required by law or for health and safety reasons. Examples of these jobs include lorry drivers and pilots. 

Advancements in technology have allowed people with visual impairments to overcome many barriers to employment previously faced. More and more people who are blind or have low vision can perform the roles that sighted people do with the use of assistive technology and specialist equipment. Access to this technology can often be covered by the Access to Work scheme as a necessary reasonable adjustment needed for your work. You can read more about this financial scheme and whether you might be entitled to help through our dedicated blog.

Finding the perfect job as a blind or visually impaired person is often about finding the right working environment. Working somewhere you will be granted the reasonable adjustments you need and treated with the respect you deserve can make a world of difference. 

For this reason, looking for a Disability-Confident employer can be the best way to conduct your job search. At Careers with Disabilities, we have two key resources to help you with this. Firstly, our directory of accessible companies, and secondly, our live disability-friendly job board. Through these resources, you can find your next job opportunity in an environment that offers the support you need. 

Advice for Employers

Whether you are an employer looking to retain an employee who is losing their sight, or need help with hiring someone who is blind or partially sighted, at Careers with Disabilities we can provide the advice and resources you need.

Recruitment

First and foremost, it is essential to ensure your recruitment process is accessible to people with a vision impairment. This could include offering your application forms in an alternative format, such as in Braille or applying over the phone. Overlooking accessibility in recruitment is a big mistake which happens all too often. It can lead to losing out on valuable potential employees simply because the process isn’t accessible to them and their disability. Disability should never be a marker of whether someone can or can’t do a job, it should be about their skills, experience, and personal qualities. 

Staff Retention

If one of your employees is losing their sight, we would encourage you to make the necessary accommodations required to maintain their employment. This usually comes in the form of offering reasonable adjustments and flexibility. Retaining an employee who is losing their sight means your business will continue to benefit from the skills, knowledge and expertise they have built up over their time in employment. Losing an employee in this situation can affect staff loyalty, increase expenses, and damage your reputation. It is also critically beneficial to your business to have a diverse team.

Support

As well as offering assistance to help employers take on disabled employees, the Access to Work scheme can support employers in retaining employees who develop a disability or long-term condition, such as loss of sight. This could include additional funding required to make the provisions they need. Find out more about how your business could benefit from the Access to Work scheme through the government website. 

It is always important to seek out all of the support you need to, in turn, support your disabled employees. It is something beneficial and significant for both you and them.

Where We Come In

At Careers with Disabilities, we can assist both employers and employees with the complex issues surrounding disability and employment.

We provide disabled employees with plenty of resources and guidance. Working with a disability can be challenging, but these tools can help. We also have a directory outlining accessible companies to work with in the UK and a live disability-friendly job board that lists new opportunities that are accessible, inclusive, and diverse.

On the other side, for employers, we have a range of resources to support you in the journey of becoming a disability-friendly and disability-confident employer. We have a range of packages available to assist you in being more inclusive, and, ultimately, to support you in becoming one of our listed companies and posting jobs on our disability-friendly job board. 

Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need any more information from us.

Let’s work together!