Talking Vision by Vision Australia Radio

Talking Vision by Vision Australia Radio

Let 'Talking Vision' be your national radio reference on blindness and low vision. On this weekly radio program presented by Sam Colley, you’ll hear discussions of issues relating to blindness and low vision, stories of inspiration and achievement from people living with vision loss, find out how you can access services from Vision Australia and how you can get involved in assisting Vision Australia to assist people who are blind or have low vision to life the life they choose. We welcome your comments and suggestions: talkingvision@visionaustralia.org

Episodes

October 15, 2025 27 mins

This week we celebrate the 2025 Blind Australian of the Year Awards with a range of interviews and speeches featuring Vision Australia Radio's own Jason Gipps, and Blind Australian of the Year MC Karan Nagrani.

Jason and Karan take you through the night featuring conversations with Reggie Bird, Tash from Braille and Tactile Signs Australia, award winner announcements and more.

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Talking Vision turns 800! To celebrate Sam takes us on a trip back over the years to feature some of his favourite conversations with people from the blind and low vision community who have made an impact on the world in their own way.

We also hear from Wayne Speers from Yarra Trams to tell us about the upcoming Try Before you Ride event at Southern Cross on 16 October.

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Lots of action on the show this week as we kick off with a Vision Australia library update from community engagement officer Maureen O'Reilly, who fills us in on some events coming up in the library over the next two months.

Then you'll hear from Kayla Everingham from our Vision Store in Queensland, she's heading along to the Community Inclusion Expo on Saturday October 11 in Brisbane with her team plus Vision Australia Radio's own...

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Sam speaks to Myra Woodley from Vision Australia and Mikaela Day from Kay and Burton about the upcoming Santa Fun Run, taking place on 22 November at the Botanical Gardens in Melbourne. You can find out more about the Santa Fun Run and grab you early bird tickets by heading to the Santa Fun Run website.

You'll also hear from blind and low vision indoor skydiver Tom Kennedy, he catches up with Sam to chat about his first indoor skyd...

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This week we hear from Vision Australia Radio Geelong volunteer Jo Smith, who catches up with Vision Australia access technology specialist Kent Walsdorf. Kent shares a series of tips and tricks for screen reader users to avoid email scams, and stay cyber secure.

You'll also hear from Vision Australia radio and audio manager Conrad Browne, Sam catches up with him to chat about the record nine nominations Vision Australia Radio has ...

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Sam speaks with Joanne Cabot, who recently returned from competing in the blind and low vision category of iFly, an indoor skydiving competition for participants of all abilities.

She talks to us about this as well as her Dinner in the Dark events, trying her hand at surfing, but most importantly raising awareness and encouraging more people from the blind or low vision community to come and try indoor skydiving.

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Comedian with low vision Jeremy Moses is back on the show this week to share the latest news about his new show, Hard to Work With.

You'll also hear from another Talking Vision favourite as Kelly Schulz from Knowable Me chats with Sam about some research they're conducting about accessibility in the job seeking process, and Frances joins us with a Father's Day-themed Reader Recommended.

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We feature the final segment with Ian Bailey this week, as Sam hears from him about his work at UC Berkeley from immediately before and after the turn of the millennium.

You'll also hear from Vision Australia lead policy advisor Bruce Maguire, who tells us about a new survey Vision Australia is running to hear input from home appliance users who are blind or have low vision

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You'll hear from Ian Bailey again as Sam speaks with him about his work at Berkeley in the 1980s.

Then later in the program Leslie Heagney from Braille House joins the show to tell us about the Dickinson Memorial Literary Competition, now available for submissions until 18 September, and Frances Keyland wraps up the show with a Reader Recommended.

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Dr Erica Tandori and Dr Stu Favilla join Sam on the show this week to speak about their upcoming exhibition on X-ray crystallography during National Science Week, featuring tactile and braille interfaces as well as a soundscape.

You'll also hear from Liz who's back to tell us about the latest issue of For Your Information hitting inboxes this week.

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Monash PhD student William Chen is back on the program with Sam this week discussing his new research, including a study into how people in the blind and low vision community plan their journey and navigate their surroundings with technology, and the role that AI does or doesn't play in the process.

We also hear from Melanie Lane, choreographer of PHANTASM, a new dance work taking place at Chunky Move Studios in Melbourne from 7-16...

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Sam is joined by Adam Demirtel from Holstep Health alongside Debbie Loke and Megan Kohlhagen from Vision Australia to discuss Carer Gateway, an Australian Government program providing free services and support for carers.

We also feature another piece in conversation with optometrist and low vision specialist Ian Bailey, this time covering his early years of research and lecturing in low vision at UC Berkeley.

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Sam speaks to CEO and co-founder of Split Atom Labs, Aaron Vernon, whose game studio is the developer of accessible mobile game Land of Livia, currently available on all Apple devices for gamers who are blind or have low vision.

We also feature part three of Sam's interview with Ian Bailey, covering his time between teaching and research positions at University of Melbourne and UC Berkeley.

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This week features part two of Sam's conversation with optometrist, researcher and low vision pioneer Ian Bailey, featuring stories around his postgraduate studies in Indiana, returning to the school of optometry in Melbourne and starting up the low vision clinic at the Association for the Blind in Kooyong.

After we hear from Ian, Vision Australia volunteer partnerships coordinator Jordan Ashby is on the show to tell us about a fou...

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This week Sam speaks with Ian Bailey, optometrist lecturer and low vision pioneer still currently working in the school of optometry at University of California in Berkeley.

You'll hear part one of their conversation this week from Ian's early life up until leaving London for postgraduate studies in Indiana.

Then later on in the show, Liz joins us for the latest updates from Vision Australia's fortnightly newsletter For Your Inform...

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Sam speaks to Intopia digital accessibility consultant Andrew Arch about a new series of guidelines Intopia have been working on together with the Australian Human Rights Commission.

Then after we hear from Andrew, Sam speaks to optometrist Greeshma Patel from Specsavers about some new findings around presbyopia, an eye condition affecting many Australians over 40.

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Sam is joined by David Davenport, accessible formats production manager at Blind Vision NZ, who visited Australia recently to take part in a round table conference with a special interest in print disability and accessible printing for clients in New Zealand.

You'll also hear from Dr Jenny Crosbie, interim director of the Centre for Inclusive Employment, run through Swinburne University to drive better outcomes for employees and jo...

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Sam speaks with Vision Australia national employment manager Vildana Praljak as part of season 2 of the Career Path podcast, where she speaks about ways we can bust some common employment myths faced by people who are blind or low vision.

You'll also hear from Umberine Williams, business development manager from the allied health department of Personnel Group, who are running a pair of information sessions in Perth and Wollongong a...

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Sam speaks to Kris Rallah-Baker, Australia's first Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander ophthalmologist based on the Sunshine Coast, who has also done work with the Deadly Vision Clinic in Darwin as well as clinical community outreach in remote communities of the Northern Territory.

He is part of a new series on SBS and NITV called Our Medicine, which follows the stories of First Nations medical professionals and patients as they n...

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Sam is joined by Jeanna Manifold and Kate Gooden from Amazon's Alexa department to give us some updates on what Amazon is up to in the accessibility space with regards to their Alexa speakers, and what they got up to at the recent Round Table Conference covering topics related to blindness, low vision and print disability.

You'll also hear from small business owner and university student Sammy McCombe, who took part in season 2 of ...

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