Overview

In Scotland, over 180,000 people have some form of vision impairment. Our training equips organisations to effectively support vision-impaired people in a variety of environments, including:

• Workplaces
• Educational settings
• Public spaces

We have a mix of training options to suit your organisation’s needs. Our training is ideal for teams in health and social care, education, customer service, public services, community organisations, and any business seeking to be more inclusive and accessible.

Community Benefits

By purchasing training from Visibility Trading and Training, the social enterprise of Visibility Scotland, you are directly supporting individuals with vision impairment across Scotland. All training income is reinvested into our charitable services, creating real, lasting community benefits.

Training Consultation

Upon request, a member of our professional team will provide a one-on-one digital or telephonic consultation to assess your organisation’s needs and design a customised training solution.

We can tailor our off-the-shelf training to meet your organisation’s needs or, on request, develop a fully bespoke training programme.

Cost

This consultation is provided free of charge.

Customised training 

Online training

Many of our training sessions can be delivered digitally via Microsoft Teams or Zoom. A full list of available training topics can be found in the off-the-shelf training section.

Cost

• £250 per hour (up to 10 attendees)
• £300 per hour (up to 20 attendees) *

*For events with more than 10 attendees, at least two employees from Visibility Trading and Training are required to be present.

In-person training

Face-to-face training allows for highly interactive, immersive experiences, particularly valuable for sessions such as human guiding (sighted guiding) training. A full list of available training topics is listed under the off-the-shelf training section.

Cost

• £300 per hour (up to 10 attendees)
• £400 per hour (up to 20 attendees)

NB: This does not include travel time or expenses

Off-the-shelf training programmes

Online training

How to be an accessible and inclusive employer for employees with vision impairment

Overview

A two-hour interactive session designed to increase awareness of vision impairment and equip employers with the tools and understanding to build an inclusive and accessible workplace.

Key Objectives

• Explore the prevalence of vision impairment in Scotland and understand the lived experiences of employees with vision impairment.
• Identify the barriers to employment faced by individuals with vision impairment.
• Learn how to create an inclusive workplace culture, with a specific focus on:
  • Inclusive communication practices
  • Accessible digital content
  • Physical and technological workplace adjustments

Cost

• £400 (up to 10 attendees)
• £600 (up to 20 attendees)

Inclusive Communications: enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion

Overview

This interactive two–hour virtual workshop focuses on improving communication practices to support equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace and in customer interactions. The session will highlight the importance of accessibility and provide actionable guidance for inclusive digital communication.

Key Objectives

• Raise awareness of the communication needs of people with vision impairment and other accessibility requirements.
• Understand how inclusive communications contribute to a more equitable and respectful environment for all.
• Learn how to design and deliver digital content that is accessible to everyone, including users of assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers, magnifiers, braille displays).

Cost

• £400 (up to 10 attendees)
• £600 (up to 20 attendees)

In-person training

Vision impairment awareness training

Overview

A full-day course. Providing expert knowledge and practical techniques on how to appropriately support someone with a vision impairment and how to navigate the vision impairment support pathway.

This engaging six-hour training is divided into four impactful modules:

• Vision impairment awareness and useful strategies and aids
• Understanding the vision support pathway and the certificate of visual registration process
• How to be a human guide
• Inclusive communication

Key Objectives

• Understand the five most common age related eye conditions, including stroke-related sight loss
• How to navigate and refer to the most appropriate vision support services (both locally and nationally)
• Confidently guide someone with vision impairment
• Communicate effectively
• How to make documents, emails, and social media accessible

Cost

• £1,500 (up to 10 attendees)
• £1,800 (up to 20 attendees)

NB: This does not include travel time or expenses

Advanced human guiding training

Overview

Human guiding (sighted guiding) equips participants with the knowledge, practical skills and experience needed to confidently and safely guide people with vision impairment in a variety of environmental settings. This interactive four-hour session promotes empathy, accessibility awareness, and confidence in supporting vision-impaired people in daily life, public spaces, transport, workplaces, and customer service environments.

Key objectives

By the end of the training, participants will be able to:

• Understand the different types of common vision impairment and their impact on mobility and independence
• Use appropriate language and etiquette when interacting with vision-impaired people
• Demonstrate safe and respectful guiding techniques, including:
  • Approaching and offering assistance
  • Guiding in narrow spaces, stairs, doorways, and seating
  • Navigating different environments (indoor and outdoor)
• Understand best practices for communication and safety while guiding

Cost

• £1,000 (up to 10 attendees)
• £1,400 (up to 20 attendees)

NB: This does not include travel time or expenses

For more information or to book a training session, please get in touch with us at:  enterprise@visibilityscotland.org.uk

Testimonies

• “Thank you to Visibility Scotland and your team for such fantastic training. Everyone learned loads including those of us who have been here a while! It was really well delivered and very comprehensive.” – Sight Scotland, bespoke training.

• “It was a really engaging session. I think being able to experience how a visually impaired person would navigate really helped in my understanding and empathy.” – Human guiding training attendee, charity sector.

• “My biggest takeaway was gaining a deeper understanding of the challenges that people with a visual impairment face on a day to day basis and how make communications more inclusive in my practice.” – Inclusive communications attendee, NHS.

By purchasing training from Visibility Scotland’s social enterprise, you are actively contributing to the social good while supporting your local and national vision impairment charity. Income generated from our training will be used to support our charitable services.