My name is Christina McCarthy, I’m in my 20s, and I’m totally blind. I have a degree in French and Spanish, and I’m currently working towards a professional diploma in Public Relations and Communications.  I’m absolutely sure that none of this would be possible without assistive technology.
 

Though I’d always used technology in one form or another since I started primary school, during my degree was the first time I had all my books electronically – no Braille at all – and I didn’t like it.  That’s because I’m a much faster reader than I am a listener; then, in second year, the Assistive Technology Officer in Trinity College gave me the single most useful piece of technology I’ve ever had - a Braille Display.  This is a little machine which translates information on a computer screen into braille. 

This, in combination with a screenreader and lots of  textbooks, (scanned by dedicated assistants), enabled me to get the information I needed to get my degree – proof, if ever there was, that people and  the right technology are a powerful combination.

On the other hand, I’m studying for my diploma in a very small, private college, who have no disability services, and had never had a blind student before; this was a new experience for me and for them.  Here, technology was, if anything, more important even than it was in Trinity.  I had to get books from each publisher electronically, which was more successful than I expected; I also brought all my own equipment, whereas throughout my degree, everything was purchased through EU funding.  So, basically the polar opposite of my degree.

The element which the two courses did have in common, however, was the importance of technology – I would never have managed without it, and I know it will always be my route to a level playingfield in education.  Now there’s just the small matter of preparing for exams!