Table 1 Adaptations of PPI activities with adults with VI during the COVID-19 pandemic

Planning PPI activities

Link with a specialist organisation which has experience of working with the target population and who can provide training to researchers for planning PPI activities

Choose the appropriate technology/adaptations and level of support: e.g. The decision to use Microsoft Teams and not Zoom, number of facilitators, training facilitators on needs of population and technology

Use the most appropriate visual and audio set up e.g. yellow background and for the speaker to wear dark clothing. This is because yellow is one of the last colours individuals are able to see when losing their sight and the dark clothing provides a contrast to allow the speaker to be seen more clearly

During PPI meetings

Adapting the communication formats:

Doing verbal introductions when all contributors are present or repeating introductions when a contributor joins the meeting in order for everyone to know who is in the meeting

Stating your name every time upon speaking; not using the chat function in Microsoft Teams because this can be confusing when also using screen readers

If you ask a question then address the person/people you are asking it to by name, invite that person to speak. When listening to a person with vision impairments speak, use audio cues rather than non-verbal cues such as nodding your head in agreement

Any images used in the presentation need to be audio described appropriately

After PPI meetings

The format of how information is sent needs to be flexible. We asked adults with VI about their preferred format for how they would like to receive information, for example in large format via email, audio format, in braille. This can be resource and time intensive but is essential to meeting individual needs for inclusivity