The Access Foundation is proud to support the Middlesex Association for the Blind, breaking down the digital barriers faced by people with sight loss

When someone loses their sight, the practical challenges can be overwhelming. Technology is one of them.

The Middlesex Association for the Blind (MAB) is working to change that. Their IT trainers visit people one-to-one. They teach people with sight loss how to use the technology that helps them stay independent. This includes screen readers, voice assistants, apps that read letters aloud and smart glasses that describe what is in front of them.

With support from The Access Foundation, MAB has expanded its training and reached more people across the region. Josephine and Esperanza are two of them.

Josephine had recently lost her sight when she was also evicted from her home. Living in a hotel with no phone and no laptop, she was saving up to replace them, unaware of how much technology could help her. An MAB trainer visited her and introduced her to the tools available, from apps like Seeing AI to smart glasses, and advised her on exactly the right phone to buy. By the time she could afford one, she already knew how to use it.

For Esperanza, the goal was simpler: she wanted to phone her family. After losing her sight, she could no longer manage it and assumed she would need to buy a new phone. Her trainer showed her she didn’t. In a single session, he taught her to use Siri to make calls and read her messages aloud. “I am so happy,” she said. “I couldn’t ask for anyone better to be helping me with this.”

MAB has now trained 239 people since the project began. Our grant will help them continue this work through 2026, reaching another 122 people with one-to-one training and drop-in support.