RNIB and Motability Foundation team up to improve journeys for those with sight loss

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) and Motability Foundation have formed a new partnership to explore innovative ways to improve journeys for people with sight loss.

The three-year ‘innovation partnership’ will involve sharing of knowledge and expertise, and will see new accessible transport projects developed and trialled.

Solutions and projects will be co-designed with blind and partially sighted people, and wider disability groups will also be involved, the charities said.

The Motability Foundation is a registered charity, set up in 1977, which fundraises, awards grants, and carries out research with the aim of improving journeys for those with disabilities.

Nicola Gampell, innovation manager at the Motability Foundation, said: “We’re really proud to be launching our new innovation partnership with the RNIB.

“We have a shared goal in wanting to improve journeys for people with sight loss, and we have identified complementary expertise and experience across our organisations.”

She added: “We hope that by working together can find some exciting ways of utilising new technology and making journeys more accessible for all.”

The collaboration will build on the work of RNIB’s Inclusive Journeys report, which was published in April 2023 and highlighted the difficulties faced by blind and partially sighted people in making journeys.

The report also noted ways that challenges could be addressed and independence for blind and partially sighted people improved.

The partnership will use a ‘pan-disability’ approach to ensure that projects also work for those with disabilities that are not sight loss related.

It will work with the transport and technology sectors “to address some of the biggest issues that prevent disabled people from making the journeys they choose,” RNIB said.

It is hoped that new technologies can be utilised to assist those with disabilities in making more journeys independently.

Jim Sanders, RNIB’s director of innovation, said: “We know that not being able to get out and about independently can have a huge impact on the lives of blind and partially sighted people, from limiting their employment prospects to isolating them from friends. That’s why this partnership with the Motability Foundation is so important.

“Collaborative working is vital to developing solutions and encouraging society to change behaviour and processes, so that people with sight loss can safely make the journeys they want, when they want.”