London, England, July 08, 2015 -- I’m Shaun, 30 years old and founder of Milk & Jam, a small but multi-faceted creative advertising agency focusing on disabilities.

But before Milk & Jam I would like to tell you all about me and my journey to this point in my life.

I am a quirky, partially sighted, creative web developer & designer.

Yes you read that right, I am partially sighted

What is it like growing up with a sight disability?

Growing up with my sight disability was very tough. I was not the cool kid. I was that 'different' kind of kid at school. The one they thought they could pick on. But where are they now? Well let’s just say I am the 'winner'. At least that's how I see it. I still had a lot of fun growing up even though I knew I was 'different' It only really began to affect me when I was a little older and even now I still struggle every day. But I don't need sympathy. It has made me strong, has given me the great experience to be able to do my job today, and so much more.

Looking back I do not think I would do anything differently. Well maybe a few things. I struggled, yes, but I had a great support network behind me - my family. I am now at a stage of my life where I am very happy, I am doing a job I love, building creative things and tech to help others.

Never be afraid to be who you are and if others do not like it that is their problem, not yours!

Is there still a lot of stigma around disability?

People still do not like to tell other people they have a disability, and that is sad as it does not make you less a person. It makes you an awesome and different person.

A lot of companies, for example, do not like hiring people with a disability simply for one reason - they look at how much it is going to cost them! That is wrong and needs to change as that person with a disability could well become more of an asset to their organisation than anyone else.

There is always going to be stigma around disability. Just the word 'disability' makes a lot of people think - “Oh I don't want to date him” or “work with him” - but many people have some kind of weakness or disability they do not even know about.

Accessibility Functionality
Please take a look at our newly launched website milkandjam.com where we have built the latest accessibility technology into our own website to showcase how everyone no matter of ability can use it.

Access keys
By implementing access keys into our website this will help everyone, not just blind and partially sighted people, navigate around it quickly.

Colour change functionality
By building in relatively new innovative colour change functionality into our website this will help those with every kind of disability read and view our website in the way that helps them the most.

Text size functionality
To allow everyone viewing the website to switch to a large font.
Most of us have some kind of eye disability or will in years to come.

Every company and brand should now be an accessible one. Your brand or organisation should be embracing new technology, new ways of thinking, innovating and marketing in new ways and to new markets. That is why I setup Milk & Jam. Being partially sighted from birth I and my small team have personal as well as over 10 years work experience of being in the media, communications and advertising sector. We are still to this day really passionate about helping clients better their companies and we would really like to help you too.

Here are just some ways that we can help your business:
Disability & accessibility consultancy
Marketing & advertising campaigns
Web design, apps and software
Disability & accessibility key note speaking
User testing
Business & website audits
Disability & accessibility functionality
Freelance disability director services

Braille & Brand

Braille is not used enough on products, and companies are not implementing it enough or simplifying it enough.

Everyone has a right to be able to go into a shop and unaided buy the products they love, to be able to know about the product they are buying, no matter of ability or disability. But this is not generally possible and needs to change. With a simple braille change and a little educating this could become a reality and would make such a difference to partially sighted and blind people.

I am lucky to have relatively strong sight after so many years of having my partially sighted disability but as a brand you need to look at the bigger picture and keep thinking 'what market could we look at?' and 'how could we sell more product?' One answer is to be more accessible and this can actually be very simple and easy to implement. Milk & Jam can consult on effective marketing and technology to achieve this.

I have focused on brands for enjoyment as these are the brands we see every day, even making the dinner - would you know that is a baked bean can without someone telling you? The answer would surely be no and that is what needs to change.

I have an exciting exercise in my disability talks around this aspect. It's fun and educational for your team

Take this away with you: If your brand isn't getting noticed by everyone why is the brand there? Isn't a brand about letting everyone know about you, allowing everyone the chance to use and enjoy the product? Many brands are not achieving this.

But what is a partially sighted disability?

The best way to describe a partially sighted disability is someone with a visual impairment that affects their day to day life.

It is really important to me to tell you about who I am, because I am as capable as the next person. I may be more determined than the guy or girl sitting next to you right now.

But let's not sugar-coat it, as sight is how you see the world, and if you do not look after your eyesight one day you could lose it. It happened to a normal healthy friend of mine and all because they just did not go to the optician. Do not put the optician's letters in the bin. Just go. It may be the best decision you make!

When I give one of my talks with Milk & Jam, I have a fun exercise that uses visual aid glasses to show you how a visually impaired or blind person sees the world. It helps give an idea of what it is like to be partially sighted.

Born with a rare form of cataracts
A cataract is a clouding of the lens inside the eye which leads to a decrease in vision.

I was born with a rare form of cataract which meant they had to do the cataract operation early on in my life to restore my vision by removing the cloudy part of the eye. Today my vision is very stable and relatively strong but I still have a lot of limitations and my sight is far from perfect. I cannot drive, which is a shame but as the years have gone by I have got over it. I am an awesome go-cart driver though!

Do anything you can to deter getting a cataract, like going to the optician more often, because a cataract operation is not pleasant. Even though you cannot feel them doing it, you do have to be awake and aware.

Cataracts are usually an older person thing but I was just unlucky. Other people have other unlucky moments in their lives. Mine just happened to be from birth.

Successfully funded Kickstarter campaign was quite a Journey.

Yeah, what a rollercoaster journey my Kickstarter was! From realising I had to find my disability equipment money from somewhere, to making the impact I did on twitter & social media, this was a pretty amazing experience for someone like me. Would people back what I am trying to achieve, or even care as there are so many causes looking for support?

The Kickstarter campaign was 35 days of ups and downs. I learned a lot about myself and got so much support which I cannot thank everyone enough for. One of the campaign backers was a very big advertising agency Havas Media. It was great they noticed me and later on I hope to be giving a talk to them about the importance of disability & sight amongst other things.

For More Information: Shaun Cheesman, 01273 78 22 91, [email protected]

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