Dolphin is proud to partner with Blind in Business to offer interesting and meaningful work experience opportunities for young people with vision impairments. Over the course of three days, students from schools and colleges across the UK join our teams in Support, Marketing, Testing and Sales to gain experience of what it's like to work at a busy assistive tech company. Hosting the programme remotely via Microsoft Teams means we can welcome more students, bringing together bright minds from all corners of the country.
These placements are designed to be relevant, enjoyable, and empowering. They give participants a real taste of working in tech, while allowing us to learn from their fresh perspectives and innovative ideas.
As part of their time with the Marketing team, each student was invited to write a guest blog. We’re thrilled to publish a selection of these. Here, Sumedh, Amrit and Finn share their experiences and talk about the importance of accessibility from their own perspectives.
About Sumedh
Sumedh is a 15 year old student working towards his GCSEs. Now in Year 11, he studies Spanish, Design Technology, Geography and Computer Science, along with core subjects: English, Maths and Sciences. Sumedh is also a self-taught music producer, which he enjoys in his spare time.
Sumedh has been diagnosed with Albinism, a condition which results in little or no melanin. This affects his eyesight and means he can't see well at long distances.
The Importance of Accessibility in Education
Education is an asset required in all our lives. Whether we are transitioning from school to the general workspace of a chosen job, or offering useful advice to help others in our community, we know education is important - but not everyone can access education as easily as others.
People with disabilities often struggle with working in the academic system, whether this is due to a visual impairment or any other disability. Their disability may prevent them from accessing resources as easily as others, this can lead to a wide gap in terms of knowledge.
Accessibility in education is necessary to help those who need it, so they can be as well prepared as others when moving into a work environment.
What does accessibility mean to me?
When I think of accessibility, I think of how a person like me - with a visual impairment - can do things such as ride a bike, or play football. I think of the ways activities can be set up so they are available for people like me to do independently.
Accessibility in terms of education reminds me of times teachers have helped support me when visual learning is important. Examples include writing down notes from the board, or providing enlarged papers for me to use as worksheets or exam papers.
This consideration has opened up paths through my education. Making tasks accessible so i can do them independently, means I feel less nervous. With this support, I am currently on track to get high grades for all my GCSE subjects. Without it, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
Why I think accessibility in education is important
I believe that everyone should have an education, and I believe that we should ensure people with disabilities can access educational resources, so they can get the same education as everyone else.
Education is important, but if people cannot access it, they may not be able to properly learn and prepare for their chosen future career. Whether being a biologist, architect or any other profession is your dream, accessibility means you can do it.
My experiences of not being able to access what I need for education stems from me being visually impaired. Since starting at primary level, then through secondary school till now, I’ve had adjustments for accessibility. Having someone help me read things from long distances and being provided a device with Dolphin SuperNova assistive technology has helped me a lot. I use this assistive technology to magnify and read things that are normally too small on the computer screen. Using SuperNova means I have been able to score high on tests and access learning material with ease. This will help increase my knowledge and prepare me for when I leave school and enter working life.
This kind of help I get is one reason why I think accessibility in education is important. People like me with a vision impairment, or people with other disabilities, should be able to access help like I do. It opens up possibilities to make things easier to do and provides support when things get tough.
Better access leads to better everything.
I believe everyone should have an accessible education, so they can achieve their goals regardless of disability.
My dream of becoming a music producer is already happening, and technology supports my hobby, so I have been able to learn independently. SuperNova has helped me a lot when I have been learning about my interests and my school subject. I believe everyone should have the right support to learn, dream and take on anything they would like to do.
Better access equals better goals - and more ways to achieve them.
Amrit's Experiences with Assistive Technology
I'm Amrit. Age 19, I have very little vision and can only see light and dark. As such I can't read print and I uses braille to read.
When I was 9 years old, I was introduced to screen readers and this unlocked a whole new world for me! It meant I could listen to stories, send messages and play some games.
Since I started using assistive technology, it's improved over the years. I have been able to witness new and easier ways of working, learning and playing. Advancements and developments which are being introduced in tech mean that more and more amazing things are easier for me to access. In many cases technology makes it possible for me to do things for the first time.
Amrit's favourite accessibility advancements
I remember on my first smartphone learning about braille screen input. This meant I could type using braille on my phone, which made typing so much faster.
I discovered apps like Dolphin EasyReader which made it easier to listen to documents and PDFs. PDFs are not always accessible with screen readers, so this feature was incredibly helpful.
In the last year image description has become so much more accurate and better thanks to AI and my hope is that good audio description will be more readily available.
Accessible apps, features and products have enabled me to do things I once thought were only possible for sighted people: I have been able to learn and run html code and even edit video content - something that is very visual - because of well-designed accessibility in screen readers and apps.
There are definitely lots more revolutionary innovations to come, and I can’t wait to hear how they will help us become more independent and make living with vision impairment conditions more manageable.
I look forward to the next era of accessibility advancements - especially the ones AI may bring in the next few years.
Finn: What assistive technology means to me
Finn is a college student, studying Travel and Tourism. Here he talks about how a lack of suitable assistive technology held him back at both primary and during his early secondary school years, and the things he's been able to achieve since starting to use SuperNova, his chosen assistive technology.
My experience at Primary School
I have nystagmus which means I have had accessibility issues throughout the whole length of my education. At primary and high school, teachers didn’t fully understand my condition and it was evident in the procedures put in place to help me access and complete my work to the best of my abilities. For example, I was given large paper sheets in a wide range of different colours on different sheets of paper.
Really, I should have started using EasyReader way back in primary, but it was never suggested to me or my parents at the time. I believe this gave me a huge disadvantage in primary when it came to processing work and understanding tasks. I think this impacted me very much going through primary, because my confidence and self-belief was non-existent then.
My experience at High School
High school in the first few years was not much better, and they used similar methods as in primary. Learning support did give me some tech in year eight, but it wasn't accessible for my type of vision impairment, and it was an out of date technology that didn’t help me at all in the long run.
I started using scribes in year nine. This was really helpful as it enabled me to speak what I wanted to write on the page, without having to apply pen to paper. I used this throughout year nine and through to my GCSEs. It allowed me to articulate myself better and that allowed me to boost my grades in the process. These adjustments allowed me to do very well in my GCSEs and allowed me to get onto my course in college.
Discovering SuperNova Worked for Me
I first got training how to use Dolphin SuperNova in year eight and it was brilliant, because it allowed me to be more independent with my learning, especially at home.
A big problem in high school was their reluctance to connect to the teachers whiteboard drive through Whiteboard Assistant. They thought (incorrectly) that it was safeguarding issues.
My college was more welcome to the idea of using my SuperNova at college and allowing me to use it freely, without any pushback from teaching staff. In my first year at college, using SuperNova went well. It allowed my to adapt to the new subject matter and I found learning easier and more effective. I was able to better understand assignments and manage my workload.
I ended up passing my business level 2 course and now I am doing a travel and tourism course. This subject is something I’m really interested in because in the next few years I really want to work in a customer services job in the travel industry. I think having SuperNova will really help me get to the place I want to be.
Having access to assistive technology will help me all through my life
Find out more about SuperNova Education Kit and how it can benefit your vision impaired students to achieve their goals and access an inclusive education.
Let Us Know What You Thought about this Post.
Write your comment below.