Remove barriers

Make it possible...

Everyone’s sight and personal circumstances will be different. To encourage blind sailing and ensure a great time on the water your approach to teaching should be person centred.

  • If unsure, ask questions, listen, and don’t assume
  • Assess what’s needed and adjust plans accordingly
  • Offer support while delivering a session
  • Review sessions to find areas of improvement

Make it possible

Blind and partially sighted people are twice as likely to be inactive than people without sight loss. Therefore, when running a blind sailing session, it’s important to minimise and remove barriers where possible to increase participation, with the following

A positive attitude

Have confidence in your ability to offer support and see the potential abilities in each sailor. Take time to discover a person’s hopes and fears and sign-post opportunities for them to actively take part, learn and progress.

Connecting with others

Create opportunities for blind and partially sighted sailors to meet each other and share experiences on the water.

Offer Reassurance

It can take a lot of confidence and energy to turn up to a sailing session. Offer encouragement, reassurance, and time.

The right offer

Some individuals may prefer activities specifically for blind and partially sighted people or people with disabilities so they can access specialised support. Others will want to join in with activities designed for everyone, with the help of few adaptions and support. Always provide the option for both.

Transport

People are likely to rely on public transport or someone else driving them. Provide information about public transport options and local taxi companies. Give a named person and phone number as contact for anyone who can’t find the club. Meeting someone at the nearest public transport drop off point may be helpful, but some people prefer to be independent.

Cost

Only 27% of working aged blind or partially sighted people are in work. They will also face additional costs in day-to-day life, such as technology to access information, a carer or relying on taxis and public transport. To help alleviate this, consider any suitable adjustments you can make to fee structures.

Get to know the person

Take time to get to know each and every person and the support they need. You know about sailing and the person knows about the support they need so together you can come up with plan. It is OK to ask someone about their sight if it is about getting them the right support but avoid doing so just to satisfy your own curiosity.

Communication

Good communication develops trust and confidence and builds a picture of what’s going on around you. It’s important that a blind or partially sighted person has access to the same information as everyone else.

  • A named person of contact is an accessible way to allow people to ask questions and get the reassurance they’re looking for.
  • Always introduce yourself by giving your name and ideally your role. This helps them to place you and sets the context for the conversation.
  • Don’t be offended if people politely decline assistance or don’t want to share personal information.
  • Describe the environment around you, such as who’s around, the layout of a room, the size of the lake/water, views, and wildlife.
  • Announce when you’re leaving and as you say goodbye, check whether further help is needed, especially if you’re the last one with the person.
  • Have everyday conversations, genuine connections with others and finding common interests are an important part of a warm, welcoming atmosphere.

Helpful Tips

  1. San serif fonts such as Arial or Verdanna can be easier to read.
  2. Regular print is generally 10 or 12 point, large print 16 to 18 point, and giant print anything larger than that.
  3. Align text to the left, don’t justify text and avoid underlining, capitalised text and italics.
  4. Check colour contrast between text and background.
  5. Use Alt Text to provide a description of any pictures or images – be brief but descriptive to get across what’s in the image and why it’s in the document.
  6. On social media, capitalise words in Hashtags to indicate where a new word starts. For example, #MoreThanSailing

Guiding

There is no one way to offer assistance. If you think someone needs help, ask and they can tell you what they need. Some techniques always apply:

  • Introduce yourself and find out how they like to be guided
  • Talk to them about the route and any hazards or obstacles along the way, including whether stairs and steps are up or down and where handrails are
  • Place the person’s hand on the back of a seat, and allow them to sit themselves down
  • Don’t leave without saying so

For more information visit the RNIB

Accessible information

Information is a vital part of keeping people safe and involved so it’s important that it’s accessible. Everyone’s different, so always ask people for their preferred information formats and communication needs, reviewing them on a regular basis by consulting helpful resources.

 
Find out more about See Sailing
See Sailing Your Way
 
About Sight Loss
 
Blind sailing sessions