The guide draws on RNIB’s experience of conducting research with blind and partially sighted people alongside lived experience within its team.

It includes practical advice on planning inclusive research, understanding accessibility requirements, accessible recruitment, designing accessible surveys and working with assistive technology.

Charlotte Jones and Jess Huke from RNIB’s research team, said: "Inclusive research isn't about creating a separate process. It’s about recognising that people experience the world differently and making thoughtful adjustments so everyone has an equitable opportunity to take part and be heard."  

RNIB developed the guide in response to researchers, service designers, agencies, policymakers and charities seeking advice. It is designed for anyone planning, commissioning or conducting research with blind and partially sighted people, including researchers, insight professionals, policy professionals, charities, public bodies and research agencies.

Speaking with Research Live, Charlotte Jones, research and insight officer, strategy and public affairs at RNIB, said the guide is a “response to years of demand we’ve had as a team” and a growing interest in inclusive research in general.

Jones explained: “We often get researchers coming to us who are working on projects externally that involve people who are blind or partially sighted. They have come to us seeking advice and support around what to consider, what adaptations they might need to make to ensure research is accessible and inclusive for people with sight loss.”

To develop the guide, the RNIB research team pulled together its collective knowledge and lived experience from disabled researchers employed by the organisation.

Jones and co-author Jess Huke structured the guide around best practice throughout the research journey, so that users of the guide could consider how “inclusion should be thought about from the start and at every stage throughout the research process,” said Jones.

In addition to sense-checking with agency partners, members of MRS Unlimited and contacts at other research bodies, the team also worked with peers at the RNID (Royal National Institute for Deaf People).

Jones said: “We’ve got a mutual crossover there with people wo have dual sensory loss – hearing and sight loss or deaf blindness. So we agreed on what the mutual consideration should be for that particular audience and included a section on it in the guide.”

• The guide is available to download via the RNIB website.