Top tips to make your volunteering opportunities accessible

RNIB’s Voice of the Customer report shows that many people with sight loss hesitate to volunteer because they worry roles won’t be accessible. But here’s the good news: over two thirds of our volunteers are blind or partially sighted. Their skills and passion make a huge difference to our work every day.

We believe people with sight loss should be able to volunteer in any role that matters to them – not only within sight loss charities.

Here are some practical ways to make your volunteering opportunities more accessible and appealing.

First impressions count. If your role descriptions aren’t accessible or don’t mention adjustments, you might lose out on amazing volunteers. Make your adverts clear, flexible and easy to adapt so that everyone feels welcome.

Check out these guides for accessible communication:

• Top tips for accessible digital information and communication
• Top tips for accessible printed information and communication
• Clear print guidance

Nearly half (46 per cent) of blind and partially sighted people who don’t volunteer say that opportunities don’t meet their accessibility needs. One survey participant told us:

"I [want to be] assured that… the organisation that you'd be volunteering for and giving your time to would be ready to make adjustments."

Reasonable adjustments aren’t just for paid staff – they’re for everyone. These can be as simple as changing font sizes, providing information in someone’s preferred format or offering sighted guiding.

Top tip: Just ask! A quick chat about what support or adjustments someone might need can make all the difference.

You might want to:

• Find out their preferred format for written information.
• Ask if they use assistive technology (like screen readers or magnifiers).
• Check if induction or training materials need to be in a different format.
• Train your team in sighted guiding – use our guide: Guiding a blind or partially sighted person

For more advice, or examples of how we’ve made adjustments to roles, contact our Volunteering team at [email protected] or visit volunteering with a disability for further tips and guidance.

Blind and partially sighted people are three times as likely to experience financial hardship compared to non-disabled people. Expenses shouldn’t be a barrier to volunteering. Be upfront about what can be claimed, encourage volunteers to ask about anything not covered and look for ways to make sure no one is out of pocket – such as by booking volunteer travel directly where possible.

Many people simply don’t know where to start with volunteering. Use all your channels, your website, newsletters, social media and networks, to reach a wider audience. The more visible and welcoming your opportunities, the more likely you are to attract brilliant volunteers.

Remember: Making volunteering accessible isn’t just the right thing to do. It’s a chance to welcome new perspectives, skills and energy into your organisation.

Vivienne

“It makes me feel like me. I think when I volunteer, I am just Vivienne. I'm not my disability. I am just who I am. And I like that. With the RNIB, people don't see my disability first and me behind the disability. They just accept who I am, the person that I am, and that I am here. And I love that. And I'm very, very grateful for that.” Vivienne

Amrit

“I think it’s just been in my nature with being visually impaired that I set myself these goals and I have to prove something to myself and others. Just because I’m visually impaired, it doesn’t mean that I can’t do these things.

I want show others that just because I’m visually impaired, doesn’t mean I can’t do anything I want. So, I do dance classes at a studio and took part in a competition in Westminster, where to my surprise, I received the People’s Choice Award. I’ve also started singing with a charity called Eye Matter. We put on a Christmas concert in December, in which I’ll be doing a solo. It can be scary, but you need to put yourself in these situations to grow in confidence. I often think people, especially those in my culture have this misconception that if you’re blind you can’t do things like dance or create art. So, I love to prove this wrong, and that’s the drive behind everything that I do.” Amrit

Grace

“I volunteer in a range of roles with RNIB which goes from social media moderation to more feedback and discussion based roles. I volunteer because I want to use my lived experience to show that it is always better to try to change the things we can about society than to sit around whining about the things we can't control.” Grace

RNIB Enterprises can also provide sight loss awareness training and bespoke services to make your environment, website and products more accessible.