Fifty-fifty Vision

After half a century presenting Radio 4's programme for blind people, Peter White looks back, and forwards, to examine how a rapidly changing world has altered the experience for blind and partially sighted people – although not always for the better.

Throughout Peter's 50 years, a lot has changed for disabled people. Namely: the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation in the UK in the 1990s, becoming the BBC's first disability affairs correspondent, right through to the invention of the smart phone. Technology lies at the heart of many, though not all, of the dramatic changes for visually impaired people. It has enabled once unimagined job prospects to blind people, it has offered equal opportunities to access to information and social connection, but for others, it's also meant frustration, isolation and trepidation. For some, this has been a result of how technology is woven into most everyday aspects of our lives, which can pose specific challenges to those with sight problems.

In this documentary, Peter looks back over his career and explores some of the significant societal changes that have happened over the past 50 years, with the people they have affected. He will also gaze 50 years into our technological future and ask what Artificial Intelligence could offer visually people and how it can be applied to eye care and treatment and ask whether it has the potential to prevent sight loss.

Presenter: Peter White

Producer: Beth Hemmings

Executive Producer: Pete Wilson

How has our rapidly changing world altered blind and partially sighted people's lives?

After 50 years presenting the BBC's programme for blind people, Peter White looks back, and forwards, examining how a rapidly changing world has altered blind people's lives.