Julie James AM, Deputy Minister for Skills and Technology, visited RNIB’s head office in Cardiff today to officially launch the Online Today service in Wales. Online Today is a Lottery funded UK-wide project that will support blind and partially sighted people to get online.
A team of digital inclusion officers and volunteers are working with people with sight loss, or who are deaf or hard of hearing, to help them gain confidence in using digital technology in everyday life. The bilingual project will support more than 2,000 people a year through one-to-one sessions, group sessions, surgeries and other events provided by a range of partner organisations. These include Wales Council for the Blind, North Wales Society for the Blind, Vision Support, Cardiff Institute for the Blind and Action on Hearing Loss.
Ceri Jackson, Director of RNIB Cymru, said: “This project is fantastic news for people with sensory loss in Wales. So many services are now delivered online and many people with sight loss or who are deaf or hard of hearing are excluded and marginalised. We are looking forward to delivering the project’s objectives, and continuing to work with our partners across Wales to increase the capacity of sensory loss organisations on a local level, to get people online.”
“We must ensure that the internet is truly for everyone. We need to equip the whole country with the skills, motivation and trust to go online and be capable of making the most of the internet. This is a project with the potential to change lives. It will help people re-learn skills after sight loss later in life, help people stay in work and teach new skills to those who have lived with sight loss for some time. ”
For more information please contact RNIB Cymru’s Communications Officer Andy on 029 2082 8563 or by emailing [email protected]
