Online shopping priority plea for the blind
A Mid Wales blind campaigner is supporting RNIB Cymru’s call for people with sight loss to have priority access to online shopping during the coronavirus crisis.
Rachel Jones, 35, from Knighton, says she has found it impossible to book a delivery slot in April and worries that people living with sight loss will struggle to keep their cupboards full during lockdown.
She said: “I live in Mid Wales so am quite isolated anyway, but now I am suddenly not able to go to the supermarket at all. The nearest Sainsburys is 30 miles away. I can’t use public transport, my husband is working round the clock in food manufacturing, and my elderly parents are having to self-isolate. My support network has disappeared.
“There is a local Co-Op but the shelves are always empty. My husband tries to bring back food when he can but there’s rarely anything to buy. Even if I could get to the supermarket, it would be dangerous as I wouldn’t be able to socially distance myself properly.
"I can’t see the markings on the floor or how far away people are, and if I was to trip over people would have to help me up. It just isn’t worth the risk. Online shopping is my only option.”
Priority online shopping slots are currently given to people classed as ‘vulnerable’. But the list being used to define this group is based on vulnerability to coronavirus and does not yet take other barriers to shopping or accessing services into account.
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Rachel added: “I haven’t been able to get a food delivery for weeks and can’t register myself for priority deliveries. I am having to ration the food in my cupboards just in case I can’t get another shop for weeks.
"I feel like my independence has gone and I worry for other people in my situation who have less support than I do. It is frustrating and supermarkets need to realise that blind and partially sighted people need extra support, too.”
Sight loss charity RNIB Cymru has received a high volume of calls to its helpline from people worried about how they can do their shopping.
In response, the charity has written to Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, urging her to include blind and partially sighted people among the priority group able to access online shopping.
In her letter, director Ansley Workman said: "Blind and partially sighted people often rely on a combination of touch and guiding from another person to navigate. But the current unprecedented demand on supermarkets make this much more challenging.
"For the visually impaired who can shop, the social distancing markers on floors and the introduction of one-way routes around supermarkets cannot easily be navigated by either long cane or guide-dog users. The additional touching of goods in supermarkets increases the possibilities of transmitting Covid-19."
Online shopping is the best available alternative for them, added Ms Workman.
"We are asking the Welsh Government to urgently work with supermarkets to ensure that people with sight loss are considered a priority group able to access online shopping."
RNIB’s website has information on shopping for people with sight loss at rnib.org.uk/connect-community/connect-news-and-stories/essential-links-and-information-supermarket-opening-times
