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“I just want the chance to prove myself”: a sight loss journey through job hunting

12 August 2026
A photo of Maria Smith in her graduation clothing smiling

Before sight loss, Maria was an accountant, exams passed, accounts completed, no issues. Then a move to Devon, a type 1 diabetes diagnosis, and the start of a sight loss journey that changed everything, and nothing.

“I’m not going to give up,” she told herself. She started again, studying environmental sustainability with the Open University, and is now finishing a master’s degree. Ask her what sight loss has taught her and she doesn’t hesitate: resilience.

“It’s given me more focus. I’m not going to focus on my sight loss. I’m going to get out there and live, and do a job that I’m passionate about.”

That outlook makes what comes next more frustrating to hear.

“I can’t see where my barriers lie” but that’s not the point”

Registered blind, and equipped by the Open University with everything she needs to study independently, Maria is clear her sight loss isn’t what holds her back.

“I was given all the tools to do everything, which I have done. So if I transfer that to the workplace, there is no issue. I can’t see where my barriers lie.”

That’s a useful reframe: if someone doesn’t experience their impairment as a barrier, the barrier that shows up is usually something the organisation built. Maria’s example is a change to her exam timetable made without direct notification.

“When I zoom out on my computer, I can just see the week ahead. They slipped in a change to one of the exams. Instead of notifying me, they didn’t and I got caught out. It’s probably communication. They just assume everyone can see everything.”

A small operational slip, with a real cost in stress and lost time.

To declare, or not to declare?

Job hunting has brought a harder barrier, starting before a single interview.

“I used to just declare my disability and didn’t generally get anything back. The language around whether to declare is strange. So now I’ve taken it off my CV, and I’m trying to get noticed without the sight loss.

I get mixed messaging on whether it’s a positive or a negative. I don’t know whether I’m harming my chances or enhancing them.”

Age adds another layer. “I’m an older candidate anyway” I can’t stop that, I wish I could.” For Maria, disability and age bias don’t arrive separately; they compound.

What good access actually looks like:

Maria was asked what would help at interview stage, her list is short and low-cost for an employer to deliver:

  1. A map of the building, sent in advance.
  2. Someone to meet her at the door, rather than being left to find signage she can’t read.
  3. Online interviews wherever possible, “an online interview would be amazing.”
  4. No ability or aptitude tests, that assume a visual setup she doesn’t have.

The difference between someone walking into an interview already on the back foot, and someone able to focus purely on the job in front of them.

Maria was asked about being fast tracked to interview stage following the Disability Confidence Scheme.

“I just feel it’s a tick box exercise. Would I be looked at as more of a guaranteed interview rather than an actual candidate? I don’t want to be just a tick box exercise, I want to be considered for my skills.”

Her concern isn’t the principle, it’s the uncertainty: whether the right person interviews her, and whether a “yes” to the scheme means anything once she’s in the room. Confidence depletes every time you get that note: “we don’t want you.” Her ask: when someone fast-tracked is turned down, they need a clear explanation that the decision reflects fit for the role, not their disability, get that wrong, and people stop declaring at all.

What she wants employers to hear

“Employers are missing a trick. So many of us disabled workers are so desperate to get back into the workplace. If we’re being excluded because it’s too much money to put things in place, they’re missing out, there’s a lot of skilled workers out there who are disabled. We’ve got so much to give. It’s just not fair to exclude us.”

Small changes matter: advert language with real commitment behind it. “We welcome disabled applicants and are fully prepared to make adjustments” placed prominently, not buried in the small print. Clear routes to declare without fear it counts against you. Interviews that don’t assume everyone’s starting point looks the same.

Maria is finishing a master’s degree with years of professional experience behind her. The barriers she describes aren’t about capability, they’re about whether workplaces are actually built to let people show what they can do.

When access tools get it right:

During our call, Maria hadn’t yet tried ISEP’s accessibility toolbar. She followed up afterwards with feedback worth sharing in full:

“I have explored the accessibility toolbar and it has some amazing functions, way beyond the tech provided to me. Its brilliance comes from its simplicity. One function has blown me away: the page summary tool reduces all the information into a concise paragraph. This is something I’ve been complaining about with assistive technology for years, when you’re skimming with voiceover or residual sight, it can be a very long, arduous task. This function would be extremely useful to me and other students, and would help in the workplace too.”

Good access isn’t about ticking a box, it’s about reducing the friction that eats into someone’s time every day, whether that’s a page summary tool, a map sent ahead of an interview, or a heads-up about a changed exam slot. Build for the actual task, and everyone moves faster.

Contact: Maria Smith | LinkedIn