Low - Vision Aids

"Each local Social Services department has a statutory responsibility to provide services for the partially - sighted and the blind"

Low vision aids help maintain or restore independence and self - esteem and include:

• Magnifiers, hand held, or on a stand, with or without illumination
• Spectacles and head - borne magnifiers
• Closed circuit TV systems (CCTV) magnify print up to 60 times (If needed for work, the Employment Services provides the equipment)
• Large print books
• Braille and Moon - embossed script
• Reading machines
• Large print typewriters but more modern PC systems are superseding these, with special software, graphics and speech systems
• Radios (free permanent loan)
• Sound - only TV's
• Cassettes ("talking book service")
• Extra lighting
• Mobility training
• White stick (available through RNIB – the Royal National Institute for the Blind)
• Sonic aids - to warn of obstacles
• Guide dogs (available for registered blind person over the age of
• Concessions
  • Free bus and underground passes
  • Taxi service
  • Disabled person’s railcard
  • Free escorts (through the British Red Cross)
  • Train companies will arrange for blind to be accompanied to trains.