From a very young age, I knew that I couldn't read and write print, meaning that I couldn't get hold of important information in the same way as sighted people.
My condition means that although my eyes work, the messages can't reach my brain as my optic nerves aren't long enough.
I learned Braille, and now I'm a prolific user of it. I couldn't live without it. But even now, there is still information that I can't access. Still menus I can't read. I still can't read notice boards, official letters, even certain older books that haven't been transcribed into Braille.
During lockdown, I decided that the world needs to change for visually impaired people. So I started trying to do just that. In April 2023, The Prince's Trust (https://www.princes-trust.org.uk/), helped me launch All Things Dotty. Our motto: ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING ACCESSIBLE!
All Things Dotty is a multi-fassetted gem; we provide accessible (braille and large print) greetings cards, tactile Artwork and colouring books to visually impaired people and their families. Not being able to read your own Birthday or Christmas cards can be quite upsetting for anybody. Imagine if that happened to you?
We've already made such an impact with this service, with customers across England always coming back for more. And our colouring books allow sighted people to learn about Braille, but it also allows visually impaired people to explore the Artwork, and understand what each item looks like. We grow up not knowing what anything looks like, asking questions but not understanding the answers, because we can't visualise it despite the descriptions. Now, if your child asks, "what does a lion look like", you can purchase some of our Tactile Artwork, or one of our colouring books.
We also try to make the world a better, more accessible place for VI people by providing Braille and large print menus for restaurants; leaflets to care companies; quiz and activity books to care homes, and much, much more. This involves a lot of education — so many people don't think about providing Braille menus because they're not in the same situation as us. They don't think to ask whether it's available. They don't think what it can be like for people like us, having parts of the menu shouted across the table to us. I have so many experiences of this and it's not fun.
So, our message: #AccessibilityMatters!
Join our fight for ACCESSIBILITY FOR EVERYONE today — raise awareness within your businesses, teach your loved ones about Braille, or make a loved one's day with a card that they can actually read. Because that is what we're good at.
