Dyfrig's story

Dyfrig grew up partially sighted and, at the age of 45, he lost his sight entirely. His tactile radio has helped him overcome his frustrations with technology to embrace his passion for radio.

The importance of radio

“I think I had a relatively delayed emotional reaction to losing my sight,” reflects Dyfrig, “One of the things that manifested was that I was just very annoyed with the lack of tactile devices. Everything seemed to depend on seeing a little touch screen.”  

A lifelong radio lover, Dyfrig came across BWBF when searching for a device that would work for him. 

“I grew up listening to the radio,” he explains. “I’m a speech radio type of person - primarily Radio 4 and Radio 3. So having access to radio is very important to me.”  

Rediscovering a love of music 

One call to BWBF was all it took. Not expecting to find something free, Dyfrig was pleasantly surprised to receive a Concerto 3 under BWBF’s free lifetime loan scheme. 

“Being able to play my CDs again was fantastic,” Dyfrig reflects. “I wanted the quality of a proper piece of kit. We’re in this transitional period of technologies. I was a person who was still buying CDs up until about 10 years ago. So, it’s still got to be able to play that stuff in a way I want to play it.”  

The importance of tactile control 

Using the radio was easy enough to pick up for Dyfrig. “Once I got the hang of it, I was able to navigate it,” he says. “Having the sound signals to help with tuning was very good.”  

For Dyfrig, the benefits of something tactile were significant. 

“There’s an element of technology at the moment which is potentially leaving out people with some disabilities,” he explains. “You don’t need to make everything flat! It’s a sort of thoughtlessness. Whereas this radio is great, because you have some level of control over it.”