January is Technology Month at Braille Institute and we are celebrating technology for the vision impaired and specifically assistive technology for visually impaired all month.
The Internet has completely changed the entertainment we all enjoy and the way we consume it. Online YouTube channels have quickly become incredibly popular with “YouTuber” personalities gaining millions of followers and subscribers.
Those who are blind and visually impaired have taken to YouTube and created their own channels and videos which have been viewed by millions. The open access aspect of YouTube has broken down barriers and walls that have allowed those who are visually impaired to create their own content and find their own audiences.
So, who are some of the most-popular channels and “YouTubers” who are visually impaired?
Molly Burke is the unquestioned most-popular “YouTuber” who is blind. With more than 2 million subscribers on YouTube, and more than a million followers on her other social media channels, the Canada native’s videos about her life as a young woman who is blind has enthralled millions of viewers and she has become a highly-recognizable online figure.
James Rath is a filmmaker and vlogger living in Los Angeles who is legally blind. James is an activist and speaker who shares his experience living life and making films as someone who is blind, and he has amassed an audience of tens of thousands of followers.
Lucy Edwards is a journalist and digital creator in the U.K. who is blind who aims to change the way the world sees blindness. She’s made strides in doing that by accumulating tens of thousands of followers and subscribers on her social media channels and by creating content that shows what it is truly like to be blind.
SixBlindKids documents the life of a family with six adopted children who are blind in Virginia. Their channel has nearly 100,000 subscribers and one of the most-interesting aspects of it is that the “kids” in the family have grown over the years and many are now young adults.
Steve Saylor (The Blind Gamer) is part of the incredibly popular world of “gamers” online and on YouTube. Steve is an accessibility advocate, consultant, content creator and media editor who has worked with many of the world’s leading video game studios and brings his perspective of being a “gamer” who is blind to all his content.
Braille Challenge students have also gotten into the YouTube channel and online content game with multiple students having their own YouTube channels or blogs.
Click here to read a story about Braille Institute students who have YouTube Channels and online blogs .
Whether you want to be able to just watch online content and YouTube videos or you want to start your own YouTube channel or blog, Braille Institute’s technology services can help. The free one-on-one instruction, classes, and workshops offered by the organization can help those who are visually impaired no matter if they are a tech novice or an expert, and offer instruction on a wide variety of tech-related subjects.
Visit Braille Institute’s website for more information on our technology services, which are offered at each of our centers in Southern California. Contact the Braille Institute Center nearest you and ask about technology services, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. You can call us toll-free at 1-800-BRAILLE (272-4553).
