Manx Blind Welfare Society is reminding blind and visually impaired individuals that there are plenty of different ways to enjoy books, newspapers and magazines, and their sight shouldn’t hold them back.

s part of Vision Awareness Week 2019, which is taking place this week, Manx Blind Welfare Society is focusing on how together can make the Isle of Man more accessible, with a different topic each day.

The society has a specialist audio library at its headquarters in Onchan, with more than 5,000 titles covering a wide range of genres, and more being added every month.

Audio books are lent to its members free-of-charge, in addition to large print books.

It also offers a weekly audio news service produced by volunteers. The newsreaders read items from local news, which is sent out to around 100 blind and visually impaired people across the Isle of Man.

The society is also able to assist with creating documents in formats such as braille, audio and large print, both for individuals living with sight loss and local organisations wanting to create accessible documents for its staff or customers.

Manx Blind Welfare Society events organiser Debbie Thomson said: ’Every person with sight loss is different, some prefer listening to audio while others enjoy reading large print - it depends very much on the individual.

’That is something we’re very aware of and why we strive to provide an easily accessible and wide-ranging library with varying titles across different platforms - to meet the needs of as many local people with sight loss as we can.

’Taking time out of your day to read a book, newspaper or magazine is one of life’s little pleasures, so we want to reinforce that we are here to help. I’d encourage any local businesses or organisations to get in touch to discuss how we can work together to create user-friendly documents for employees or staff with sight loss. We would love to hear from you.’

The charity is also encouraging local people to make use of local libraries, many of which have a number of resources and services for blind and visually impaired people.

Debbie added: ’There are some great examples of what some local organisations are doing to improve accessibility for blind and visually impaired people in the island. These small gestures can make a huge difference and help those with sight loss to live an independent and empowering life.’