Tech Ability Week 21/22

I have been meaning to write new Weeknotes on our Catalyst project, Tech Ability for some time …but something has always pushed itself to the front of the queue.

Last Wednesday 14th July, our Tech Ability project was one of the finalists in the Community Award category at the Tech4Good Awards Ceremony. We were so delighted to be a finalist and we congratulate all other finalists and N-Compass on winning the title!

So, this seemed to be as good a time as any, to write an update. Whilst we did not win, as there were 4 other fantastic projects, it really made me think about how far this project has come since March 2021.

So how did we get here? Our project involved providing mobile enabled hardware in the form of an Android Tablet (loaned out), accessibility software (Synapptic) and 8 hours of remote training on loan to 13 people with a visual impairment, with no internet access or limited skills. Participants followed a training programme devised by Galloway’s Andrew Coleman, our Assistive Technology Coordinator and Graham Longly of Aspire Assistive CIC. Graham and Andrew are both registered blind and provided all the training and technical support to participants. June, one of the participants, told us how much the support inspired her: ‘It has been so humble to work with Graham and Andrew. They both have sight loss and they are helping people and have been so patient with us. I am not the fastest person but that is ok and if I don’t get it first time, it doesn’t matter. If you pick up new skills every day it is confidence booster.’

We are now well into our Catalyst and the National Lottery Continuation Funding and we have shared our delivery model with our original network of sight loss charities over Zoom. We sent them the Zoom recording and followed up with slides. All the feedback received was really positive and June kindly agreed to talk about how the project has benefitted her too.

As part of our Continuation Funding we identified 6 individuals who had asked for a bit more additional support. Our newly created weekly Synapptic Peer Support sessions over Zoom, will continue into the future offering support, once the funding ends. We are also training 3 volunteer Tech Champions to offer ongoing peer support.

We are planning a family and friends session as we are conscious we did not involve this group enough initially. Family and friends can be a great asset to ensure that participants continue to practice their skills. We are also preparing a Fact Sheet about how to continue learning with details of How to Videos. All participants will receive a 1:1 consultation on their next steps with Andrew. This will help them either apply for a grant or purchase their own equipment and internet connection.