Here’s a look back at the highlights of May 25, a day dedicated to the great regional cause, including visual impairment.
The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region wants to create new links and change the way people look at disability, including visual impairment, by improving the daily lives of visually impaired people in the region and encouraging innovation in accessibility solutions. It has made this a major regional cause, with the following challenges set out at the May 25, 2024 meeting:
Improve accessibility :
Inspire the tourism of tomorrow, promote tourism offers adapted to people with disabilities, particularly visual impairments.
Locating objects or points of interest, reading (audiodescription) for accessibility to all.
Promoting the autonomy of the visually impaired in the region.
Events are organized and supported throughout the year to encourage encounters, raise public awareness, generate concrete proposals and ensure that this cause is taken into account in all regional policies.
It’s worth noting that the Blindsee application is part of this approach, and meets most of the points raised.
This year’s World Sight Day will take place on October 12, 2024.
World Sight Day is an annual awareness day held on the second Thursday in October. Its aim is to draw attention to blindness and visual impairment. World Sight Day is coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness (IAPB) as part of the global VISION 2020 initiative.
IAPB vision highlights :
Around 285 million people worldwide suffer from low vision or blindness, including 19 million children. Of these, 39 million are blind and 246 million have moderate or severe visual impairment. In France, this represents 1.7 million people, including 207,000 blind people.
Ninety (90%) of blind people live in low-income countries. Yet 80% of cases of visual impairment are avoidable, i.e. easily treatable or preventable.
Sight restoration and blindness prevention strategies are among the most cost-effective healthcare interventions available.
Around 65% of visually impaired people are aged 50 or over, although this age group represents only 20% of the world’s population. The growing elderly population in many countries means that more people are at risk of age-related visual impairment.
Blindsee will be taking part in this worldwide day in October.
For the blind and partially sighted, the Blindsee application highlights objects and points of interest in public spaces.
Many thanks to the associations currently involved in testing the application: Point de Vue sur la ville and AVH (Association Valentin Haüy).
Initially designed based on suggestions from mediators at the Musée Gallo Romain de St Romain en Gal and members of the AVH association, the application has been fully operational on Android and IOS since the beginning of May, and is currently being tested by end-users (blind and partially-sighted).
All praise its ease of use, performance and suitability for the needs of the visually impaired.
Are you an ERP? The application is suitable for public institutions (schools, hospitals, town halls, tourist offices, museums, etc.) as well as private sites (exhibition venues, restaurants, campsites, businesses, etc.).
Thanks to geolocation (GPS, Bluetooth), Blindsee offers precise information tailored to the user’s context.
Contact us to be one of the pilot sites and enhance your establishment with an innovative, lightweight solution”.
