‘I wanted to be a wedding photographer, but when I lost my sight, I had to rethink my whole career in four days’: The Reality of a Blind Content Creator.

Seren Jaye, 19, from Worcestershire is a successful TikTok and Instagram creator, focusing on disability awareness. Accumulating almost 800,000 TikTok followers, she aims to educate people and make a difference. Her beaming smile pops onto the screen with confidence as she introduces herself from her student accommodation.

Studying journalism, Seren admits it wasn’t her passion before going to university. “From a young age, I wanted to be a wedding photographer. When I lost my sight, I had to rethink my whole career in four days. So, I decided to do journalism four days before the UCAS deadline!”, she says with a tone indicating she can’t believe she did it.

According to the NHS, more than 2 million people are living with sight loss and 340,000 are registered as blind or partially sighted. For Seren, they’re still working out when she lost her sight. “I first noticed it in February 2022. I couldn’t see through the viewfinder and couldn’t tell if it was focused or not,” she takes a breath and continues, “I’ve had 20-20 vision my whole life. It got worse over a few months, I was emitted into hospital in June 2021 and started on steroids.”

“Keep plodding along. It does get better, just make sure you’re asking for the help you deserve.”

“It was scary. There was always a thought in the back of my mind, ‘yeah it might come back, it might be temporary’, but yesterday, I had my sight impairment upped. I’m now registered as severely sight impaired.” Seren’s bravery became distinct as she spoke with ease about new aspects of her journey. “So it hit yesterday, it’s not as temporary as I thought it was, but there’s not much we can do, so I just have to accept it.”

Creating content is something Seren has always been passionate about. Starting her TikTok in 2020, during COVID-19, her videos picked up thousands of views, posting about her autism and Tourette syndrome. She shares openly, “I’ve had tics since I was five years old, but I was diagnosed with Tourettes in 2020. I had a misdiagnosis with a motor tic disorder as my vocal tics weren’t happening!” She laughs, brushing her hair behind her ear. “It’s something I’ve had my whole life, I love educating people who wouldn’t know otherwise. Being exposed to different disabilities on social media makes things easier for everybody, so I love that I can teach people.” She hopes for people in similar positions to, “keep plodding along. It does get better, just make sure you’re asking for the help you deserve- it’s easier when you ask for help!” Seren beams.

“I get a lot of DMs and comments of people who can relate and are grateful I’m creating this content, because they didn’t have it when they were growing up.”

Despite her sight loss, Seren says, “It’s not too difficult to create content! It’s more difficult than before, but all technology has accessibility features built in.” She picks up her phone; her screen reader reads out what’s on her screen. “Some apps aren’t accessible. TikTok doesn’t really work. If there’s a video with text on the screen it can’t read it, but it can read captions and comments,” she continues, “sometimes I can piece it together, but I miss out because they haven’t made it accessible, which is frustrating,” folding her lips in disappointment. 

How to make your content more accessible and inclusive: https://youtu.be/n2enrJJZdTs

Serens’ favourite thing about creating educational content is interacting with followers; “I get a lot of DMs and comments from people who can relate and are grateful I’m creating this content because they didn’t have it when they were growing up.”

“Most abuse comes out of ignorance and lack of education,” she says boldly. “I wasn’t confident talking about visual impairment, people can be judgemental online. I do and did get a lot of abuse because my eye condition doesn’t affect how my eyes look,” Seren explains, “people have a boxed idea of what blind people, ‘look like’, whereas mine don’t look different. So, people are sceptical, to say the least!” She pauses, laughing as she says, “a lot of the hate comments come from people under 13 years old, hiding behind their screens, so it doesn’t bother me!”

Some creators receive makeup- Seren received a device that helps recognise faces. “The Orcam clips onto my glasses, it’s been very beneficial to receive because it’s not something I would’ve been able to afford on my own!” the reality of student life kicking in. “I work with a lot of charities, tourettes action and the Charlie Warler Trust. It’s more fulfilling than receiving things, I’ve had help from and relate to them, so I enjoy promoting and making content for them.”

Upon asking, ‘why journalism?’ Seren immediately said, “to show others it’s possible. Knowing other people have the same disabilities is really encouraging to see them doing well. Lewis Capaldi has Tourette’s, and he’s so successful. I’d love to be that for somebody else and know you can be successful and disabled.”