How can I change or adapt my home now that I have sight loss?

If you are losing your sight or have sight loss, you may need improvements, repairs or adaptations to your home. For example:

  • Increasing the amount of natural light entering your home
  • Improving the control and level of artificial lighting
  • Fixing any hazards such as loose carpeting or broken handrails on a staircase
  • Putting up continuous handrails on either side of the staircase to hold on to
  • Changing the colour scheme in your home so that you can see things more easily
  • Putting raised markings on appliance controls
  • Having non-slip flooring in the bathroom
  • Finding out about aids and gadgets which might help you to live more safely and independently

For the exterior of your home, you may consider:

  • Repairing hazards such as a broken path
  • Maintaining the garden to ensure that plants are not overgrown and causing an obstruction, such as removing weeds from between paving stones or cutting back hedges
  • Improving the lighting around your front door
  • Installing an entry phone system
  • Fitting door handles which are easy to see and grasp

If you do not have substantial savings but you feel that you would benefit from improvements to your home, you should contact your local council social services department and ask them to arrange for a social worker to assess your needs.

Please also see How can I make my heating controls more accessible?, How can I make my domestic appliances easier to use?, How can I find appliances or equipment that have been adapted for sight loss? and What is NaviLens?

Further information and tips can be found on RNIB's practical adaptations webpages.

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