Teaching accessibility and tech, despite losing her sight

Beth Deer is 16 years old, and last year she went completely blind. She received a BrightSpark scholarship through youth-led charity Young Pioneers, and is now studying to be a youth technology trainer to help others.

Beth has delivered at the National Big Bang at the NEC, has visited schools to teach sighted children how to use technology, and over the coming months will be travelling across the UK to teach children how to use mindplay headsets. She is also a presenter on the YPCharity.tv channel, an online channel where kids can teach kids how to use tech and stay safe, which launched in September 2014.

Beth has had to overcome a number of challenges, which would have been too much for most people. When she was registered blind she was adamant it wasn’t going to change her desire to help other children. Working with the charity, she learnt how to use accessibility options on the iPad to interact with Apps, and demonstrates how to use tech to help partially sighted people. She is now progressing through her BrightSpark training and will begin an apprenticeship in September.

Visit Young Pioneers website to find out more about the charity.