Free technology for children with vision impairment

Guide Dogs is giving free technology to children aged 3-18 with vision impairment.

Find out more and apply. Assistive technology for visually impaired children | Guide Dogs.

For children with a vision impairment, technology is vital. It develops learning, creativity, life skills, and ultimately, confidence and independence.

At Guide Dogs we believe children with a vision impairment should have access to technology. That’s why we’re launching ‘Tech for All’, offering a free Apple iPad or iPhone to children and young people (aged 3-18) with visual impairments, to use outside of school*.

We know how important these devices are to a child’s development — both to support learning at home or just to have fun and explore the activities and interests they enjoy.

“Having an iPad has really helped increase Will’s independence. He doesn’t have to ask others to help him anymore. He can also keep in touch with all his friends from school, he uses FaceTime to speak to his family and enjoys playing games.”

-Will’s mum

What assistive technology can my child get with Tech for All?

We’ll offer iPads to visually impaired children aged 3-18, while secondary school-age children (aged 11-18) may choose an iPhone instead. These tech devices have excellent accessibility features built-in as standard, such as screen magnification, voiceover and audio descriptions, to make many activities easier, like reading in larger fonts, magnifying photos and keeping in touch with friends.

We’ll be there to help you and your child make the most of their new device by providing online guides and tutorials. So your child can use it to independently play their favourite games, listen to music or audiobooks, watch shows and connect with family and friends in the format that works best for them.

Are there any other types of assistive technology or equipment available?

If these devices aren’t right for your child’s needs, we also offer grants for specialist assistive technology devices or software (such as laptops or desktop computers with screen reading software, refreshable braille displays, video magnifiers or enlarged keyboards) that can provide a fully customised experience to meet your child’s preferred style of learning and way they get information. We also provide grants for sensory equipment and toys, to help your child meet important development milestones with a choice of sensory packages with toys carefully selected by our experts for different age ranges.

This article was originally published on Guide Dogs UK Charity For The Blind And Partially Sighted