Our board of trustees has a new member! Our newest trustee, Simon, brings a wealth of knowledge regarding disability inclusion as well as lived experience of visual impairment.
Simon moved to Oxford for university and has lived in the city all his adult life. He currently works for Elsevier, a science publisher, and he leads the company’s content accessibility efforts, ensuring all their books, journals, audio, and video content are accessible to people with disabilities. He is an active campaigner for disability inclusion. At Elsevier, Simon started the Disability Employee Network, and he is currently helping to develop a toolkit focused on disability equity in scholarly publishing. Simon is also very active in the community having volunteered for various charities in Oxford.
Simon has been visually impaired since birth with Atrophy of the optic nerve, with associated Nystagmus and Coloboma. In 2021, he had complex cataracts surgery and his vision changed from ‘sight impaired’ to ‘severely sight impaired.’ “I know what it’s like to have a lifelong eye condition, but I also know what it’s like for that condition to change in adulthood – both of which are relevant to the people that MyVision work with,” said Simon.
Simon first heard about MyVision after his surgery. “I realised my eye condition had changed and I was struggling a bit, but I wasn’t really sure what support services might be available. Moreover, I wasn’t really sure what kind of tech equipment might be able to help me,” he said.
He then called our helpline to find out what we could do to help. “Nathan (our Community Engagement Lead) has been a great support to me in terms of practical solutions and in terms of empowerment and confidence. I then got a new screen reader at work about a year ago and received fantastic training from Jamie (our Technology and Equipment Officer); he has been outstanding.”
“What I like about MyVision is that a lot of people who work there have either direct or indirect experience with sight impairment. I have found MyVision a really empowering place to be; it really resonates with my views about disability inclusion and empowerment.”
“I felt that my experience as a client was very positive because it not only helped me with practical solutions, but it made me feel through the ethos of the organisation that I could live a full and independent life.”
Simon said he was inspired to apply for the trustee position because the “environment in the organisation is a place where [he] thought [he] could make a difference.”
“[By joining the MyVision board] I would be part of a collaborative team and have an area where I would be able to add value and contribute.”
In terms of how Simon’s experience as a MyVision client will help him in his new role as a trustee, Simon said, “If you don’t know what people are looking for then how can you provide a good service? My lived experience will allow me as a trustee to make sure that our priorities are aligned with our vision and that we continue helping people every day.”
Simon is passionate about disability inclusion both in his professional work and in daily life; he hopes to bring that passionate to the trustee role. He described that too often disability inclusion is seen as a “bonus” or an “add-on”. “When I think about accessibility, I see it as something that can make things more valuable for everyone. Accessibility is not something that just helps people with disabilities, it helps everyone.”
“I would like the narrative around disability to be more integrated with the everyday world. This isn’t just about a certain segment of the population,” said Simon.
In addition to making a concerted effort to increase disability inclusion and continuing the charity’s support services, as one of the organisation’s trustees, Simon hopes to help increase MyVision’s reach.
“I want everyone in Oxfordshire to know about MyVision Oxfordshire. Disability is either a club that you are in or will join in the future, so I hope that when the time comes and a person in the county becomes effected by visual impairment either directly or indirectly, they will already have MyVision in mind.”
