A new national guide has been launched to help employers recruit and retain people who are blind or partially sighted. The focus is on supporting organisations to adopt inclusive practices that remove barriers to work and open opportunities to a group that remains widely excluded from the labour market.
The initiative comes from the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), the UK charity supporting people with sight loss. It is encouraging employers to work towards what it calls the Visibly Better Employer quality standard and provides practical assistance to help organisations reach it.
Figures show that people with sight loss are still far less likely to be in work than other adults. RNIB says around 11,000 blind or partially sighted people are currently looking for jobs in the UK and many are not getting the chance to show what they can do.
Employers urged to improve recruitment and support
The Visibly Better Employer standard helps organisations attract talent and keep employees who develop sight loss during their working lives, the RNIB says. The charity assesses current recruitment and workplace arrangements and then gives tailored guidance to help employers make improvements. It includes support with reasonable adjustments and policies that maintain staff skills and experience.
Marie Clarkson, Visibly Better Employer Manager at RNIB, said organisations could draw from a valuable source of talent by taking inclusive action. She said companies that have achieved the quality standard, including a number of major employers, had transformed their workplaces through inclusive practices.
“Obtaining the Visibly Better Employer (VBE) status will help organisations attract and retain talented people with sight loss and support staff affected by sight loss,” she said. “We’re seeing fantastic progress with companies that have achieved the standard and have transformed their workplaces through inclusive practices. Employers including Amazon, the House of Commons, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Cadent Gas and The Office for National Statistics have all achieved the quality standard.”
She said that currently, “thousands of talented people are being overlooked. There are many misconceptions preventing employers from seeing blind and partially sighted people as potential employees. Employers can address these through training for staff and educating themselves around adjustments that can be made at work.”
It was time, Clarkson said, that “we fix this, widen the talent pool available to employers, increase diversity and innovation and draw on the value blind and partially sighted employees bring to organisations and the workplace. Blind and partially sighted people thrive in almost all employment sectors. Just like everyone else, it comes down to the right support, training, skills and experience for the job.”
RNIB supports employers throughout the process of achieving the standard. It includes pairing organisations with trained employment specialists who can advise on the accessibility of recruitment and onboarding, providing practical resources such as sight loss awareness training and helping employers track progress toward full Visibly Better Employer status.
Attitude ‘the biggest barrier’
Progress, however, is slow and longstanding challenges remain. RNIB has found that employer attitudes are a major obstacle. The charity says that a significant proportion of people with sight loss who are not in work believe they are held back by how employers view their capabilities. Many report that recruitment practices are not accessible or that hiring decisions are influenced by assumptions rather than evidence of ability.
Recent polling has also shown that some employers are unwilling to adapt roles or workplaces even though the Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments for disabled employees. Accessibility shortfalls are common in job applications, interview formats and workplace systems. This results in barriers that are largely avoidable given advances in assistive technology and greater awareness of inclusion.
Research from recent years has shown that the employment rate of blind and partially sighted people has remained broadly unchanged for decades. That’s despite higher numbers completing university degrees or equivalent training. Within those who are employed, many are in permanent jobs and contribute strongly to their organisations, which demonstrates the gap between ability and opportunity when recruitment is not accessible.
RNIB says the Visibly Better Employer standard is designed to break that cycle. By helping employers understand simple adjustments and by strengthening internal policies, the charity believes more people with sight loss can both enter and remain in work.
Untapped talent and practical solutions
More than two million people in the UK live with sight loss, including more than one million with long-term visual impairment. Many are of working age and have skills that employers need, including qualifications in fields such as technology, education, finance and customer service. RNIB argues that widening access is not only about fairness but also about gaining new perspectives that strengthen teams.
Job retention is also a central part of the campaign. Sight loss can happen at any point in life and RNIB supports people who want to stay in work rather than leave due to lack of support or understanding. In the last year, the charity has helped more than 1,000 people stay in work and supported hundreds more into employment through its specialist services.
Reasonable adjustments are often low-cost and straightforward. Examples used by employers include screen-reading software, accessible documentation, workplace navigation tools, adaptable lighting and flexible job design. RNIB says that employers who take early action can prevent avoidable job losses and protect the experience that staff bring to their roles.
