RealSam UK

08/06/2026

This week is Carers Week, and this year's theme is Building Carer-Friendly Communities. 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶

There are 5.8 million unpaid carers in the UK; people who show up every day for a family member, a friend, or a neighbour. Caring for someone experiencing sight loss has its own unique set of difficulties.

This week, we've put together a practical guide for anyone supporting a blind or partially sighted person: useful technology, RNIB resources, and the practical things that actually help.

Read the full article via the link in our bio.

And if you're a carer: thank you. It matters more than it gets said.

05/06/2026

Seniors are the second largest group of people who take up learning a new language.

Not only because they have more time. Because keeping the brain active (active, not just busy) matters more as we get older. And language learning is one of the best ways to do it.

Reading works the same way. Following a plot, holding characters in mind, fleshing out unfamiliar ideas, it's great mental exercise, not just leisure.

For those navigating sight loss as a part of ageing, audiobooks are doing the same job—keeping the mind active, engaged, and connected to stories.

That’s why we started RealSAM BookClub, to engage a community of readers who want to engage their brains together, regardless of format.

Learn more about BookClub here: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1CByvmZRBA/

02/06/2026

Reading is for everyone, and there are now more ways than ever for blind and partially sighted people to enjoy books, newspapers and magazines.

We're delighted to see Henshaws highlighting the different accessible reading options available, including RealSAM BookClub, in their latest article. The guide explores a range of audiobook services and technologies that help make reading more accessible through listening.

RealSAM BookClub offers unlimited access to audiobooks, news, podcasts and more, all through simple voice control on RealSAM Pocket, Alexa-enabled devices and the Alexa app.

Take a look at the article and discover the reading option that works best for you.

Henshaws RNIB Library

Find out how you can listen to audiobooks. Discover different formats, and both mainstream and specialist audiobook providers.

29/05/2026

📲 📵 Most social media posts are invisible to blind and partially sighted people.

Not because the content doesn't exist, but because it hasn't been made accessible: no alt text on images; captions missing from videos; text embedded in graphics that a screen reader can't find.

RNIB has a helpful guide on how to address this, and we’ve written it all up: alt text, captions, colour contrast, how to write for screen readers, and what each platform actually supports.

Read the full list via this link: https://realsam.co.uk/how-to-make-your-social-media-accessible-a-practical-uk-guide/

28/05/2026

30 degrees tomorrow. In May.

We are not complaining. We are simply noting that this is unusual and we're going to make the most of it.

Whether you're heading out to somewhere green, sitting in the garden, or wisely staying exactly where you are with a cold drink and a good audiobook — this weekend has the right idea.

What are you doing with it? 🌞

21/05/2026

Today is Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2026

It is also, for us, a moment to look back. Because 2026 marks eight years since RealSAM Pocket launched in the UK.

We launched with one button and your voice. Because we believed the problem wasn't that blind people needed to learn to use technology differently. It was that technology needed to be designed for them adequately in the first place.

Eight years later, still one simple button and your voice. Now on the Samsung Galaxy A17. Steadier, lighter, and still as reliable as the day we launched.

Because some things shouldn't change.

To everyone in our community who has been with us for any part of those eight years: thank you. And to everyone discovering RealSAM for the first time today: welcome.

Read the full story on the blog via this link https://realsam.co.uk/eight-years-of-independence-realsam-pocket-and-gaad-2026/

30/04/2026

This month’s discussion question: In This, My Second Life, how did you interpret the idea of a “second life”?

Do you think that Jago is trying to return to who he was before his injury, or is he becoming someone new?

More broadly, what do you think recovery looks like in the novel? Is it about going back, or moving forward into something different?

Keen to hear your thoughts! Jump into our BookClub forum here: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1HHRqzDiPE/