A NEW project providing everyday digital skills to people with sight and hearing loss will be in Alloa next week.

Online Today will hold a session on using tablet computers and smartphones in the Speirs Centre, Primrose Place, on Tuesday 7 July from 9.45am until 12.45pm.

The initiative aims to help people of all ages who have sensory loss overcome the barriers they face when it comes to getting online and benefiting from new technology.

It is funded by a £5.8m Big Lottery Fund grant and is being delivered by leading sight loss charity Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) with the support of 37 partners including Action on Hearing Loss, Guide Dogs and Sense.

Neil Heslop of RNIB Solutions, said: “Technology has changed the way we live our lives, from how we communicate and socialise to the way we look for jobs and pay our bills. For people who have hearing or sight loss, being able to get online can make a huge difference to being able to live independently but it can be quite daunting if you don’t know where to start.

“Online Today is for you if you have little or no experience of being online, if your skills need updating, or if you have recently acquired sensory loss and need to learn new ways to get and stay online.” Internet use in the UK has significantly increased over recent years with 76 per cent of adults accessing the internet every day in 2014, compared to just 38 per cent in 2006.

Millions now rely on the web for everyday tasks such as shopping, banking and staying in touch with friends and family.

However, getting online and using technology can present many challenges for someone who is blind, partially sighted or has hearing loss.

In Scotland, an estimated 188,000 people are living with sight loss and 850,000 people with hearing loss.

The Online Today project will deliver training and advice on how to browse the internet and use smartphones, tablets and computers.

It is open to anyone who has sight or hearing loss.

To find out more about how Online Today may be able to help you, or a friend or relative, or if you would like to find out about volunteering to help the project, call the RNIB Helpline on 0303 123 9999, visit www.rnib.org.uk/onlinetoday or email onlinetoday@rnib.org.uk