Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú

I'm in a quandary at the moment. I want a bit more independence. I live in London, one of the world's greatest cities, and I feel I'm wasting my time here because I don't take advantage of everything that's around me. Why not? Because, being blind, I don't blinking well know what's around me, do I.

There are some solutions to this now. In the same way my Dad has a Satnav system in his car, visually impaired people can get similar GPS systems aimed at the pedestrian. They've been around a while but it's only now that they're becoming more mainstream, more of a realistic everyday solution to getting around.

Pictured left is a small GPS receiver that I bought earlier this week for around £70. See how tiny it is, cupped in my hand. Once you get a lock on the satellites by pointing it skyward, you can put it in your pocket and forget about it. It communicates wirelessly with your mobile phone using Bluetooth.

There are then various bits of software you can get for your phone that have maps which will seamlessly work with your GPS receiver to help you plot routes from A to B, add Points of Interest (your favourite pub, workplace or front door?) to give you a helping hand en route. You'll need to stump up a further £100 to get this extra mapping/location software. It's called Wayfinder but it's not perfect and wasn't designed with blind people in mind, it's more for those who can glance at their screen whilst walking along.

"Park Road. 20 yards til intersection with East Avenue."

The truly accessible solution, Trekker, designed for visually impaired people, costs about £1,200 and is a separate PDA device that you'll need to carry with your phone and your satellite receiver. But I'll be a muggers paradise, a walking Curry's store, a cyborg who wears computers, won't I?

Money spent on access this month

This week I decided to splash out a bit and raid my savings. I've been holding back for too long on the accessibility front:

• screenreader upgrade: £290 - necessary because certain websites didn't work with my old software.

• Satellite receiver: £70 - dipping toe in water with this blindie Satnav stuff.

"You never know what's going to happen tomorrow. Live life to the full"

I used to say: "never scrimp on access." Buy what you want now. As disabled people, if technological enhancements exist, we should grit our teeth and find ways of affording it. If purchasing a gizmo can increase your quality of life, bringing it closer to what those normal people enjoy, then what the hell. We've only got one life and, as the cliché goes, could get knocked over by a bus tomorrow.

"But £1000? Sheesh."

Ironically I used to spend more on accessibility when I was impoverished and unemployed. I guess that's because I had more life that needed filling, more time on my hands. Nowadays I tend to stop myself buying anything.

So, do I get the expensive full-on blindie kit? The less expensive but less useful software for my phone? Or nothing? And all just so I can have a little voice tell me that I'm at the theatre I'm supposed to meet my mate at? Hell I should just get a taxi there - it'll plonk me right outside the front door and this is what my Disability Living Allowance (DLA) is for after all.

Gizmos I'm looking at

• Bookport Pocket electronic book and text reader - £245

• Trekker GPS kit - £1,200

• Wayfinder GPS software for phone - £100

What interests me is how disabled people prioritise their spending. Lots of us don't have much money but, contrary to the received wisdom about the Digital Underclass, many disableds have internet enabled computers because of the quality of life it brings: shopping, communication, knowledge, information, social life, independence.

To spend or not to spend - is that the question? And do you feel kicked in the gut at the idea of having to hand over so much cash to achieve a level of access that others take for granted? I just put the decisions off and off and off ... something better and cheaper is bound to come along some day.

• On next week's In Touch programme you can hear Geoff Adams-Spink reporting from Turin on a new blind-friendly GPS locator device with a backup call centre service being implemented in northern Italy. 8:40pm, Tuesday 20 March, Radio 4, 92-94FM and online. Look out for an article on the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú News website too.