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Technology is on hand to make working life easier for employees with visual impairments. Robin Christopherson looks at how employers can provide support. We are spending more of our time in the workplace, at home and on the go using computers or mobile devices of some kind. For many of us, the daily routine starts with a compulsory check of our emails, the local weather report and a browse through our social media feeds on a smartphone or tablet, before we have even left the bedroom. According to Ofcom, more than 80% of adults regularly go online on any device in any location and 62% of adults in the UK now own a smartphone. Being constantly connected to the internet means that we are spending more and more time using or interacting with a screen. While there are many benefits to this connectivity, the pervasive use of screen-based technology could also be having a direct and negative impact on our visual health and wellbeing. Vision can be impaired in many ways, and by many different conditions, including the effects of ageing. The overuse of computer screens and long periods straining the eyes can cause a deterioration in vision, which is why many employers offer funding for eye sight tests and/or money towards glasses to their employees. The Royal National Institute of Blind People estimates that there are currently nearly two million people in the UK living with sight loss. This figure also includes around 360,000 people registered as blind or partially sighted in the UK, who have severe and irreversible sight loss. Only onethird of people with a visual impairment are in employment – or, more shockingly, 67% are unemployed, seven times more than the general population. Historically, people affected by sight loss were either not employed or were restricted to certain types of roles, either due to people’s assumptions about what they could and could not do, or down to specialist equipment not being readily available or affordable. The good news is that technology is now on hand to make working life easier for people with visual impairments. Not only are more and more employers open to employees bringing their own devices to work, but some have bring your own device (BYOD) policies and procedures in place. BYOD has many benefits for employees, especially those with a disability. Previously, you might have been assigned a standard-issue work phone (usually a