1. Start Here: Your First Five Minutes with AI
Open an AI assistant and get your first useful result.
Confident with AI
A self-study course for blind and partially sighted people, created by Charli-Jo Tyrer in association with the Technology Association of Visually Impaired People (TAVIP).
This practical guide is about using generative AI confidently, critically and safely. No previous knowledge is required, and free tools are sufficient.
Last reviewed: 11 August 2026.
How to use this course
- New to AI? Begin with Start Here: Your First Five Minutes with AI, then follow the modules in order.
- Looking for a particular task? Use the I want to… menu.
Every module is a self-contained page with a learning outcome, activity and checkpoint. Each ends with previous, contents and next links.
What the course assumes
You need an internet connection and access to a general AI assistant for the practical activities. The course is device-neutral: it does not assume Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, JAWS, NVDA or VoiceOver. It describes goals and interactions rather than platform-specific keystrokes.
If a service does not work with your device or access method, choose another service. The durable lessons do not depend on one product.
Start here
Part One: Begin Using AI
2. Choose an AI Assistant
Choose an accessible, affordable place to begin.
3. Have Your First Useful Conversation
Improve an answer by adding purpose, context and the form you need.
4. Everyday Things AI Can Help You Do
Use AI to explain, summarise, draft, compare, plan and brainstorm.
Part Two: Judge What AI Gives You
5. Know What You Are Holding
Recognise a useful AI response without mistaking polish or confidence for proof.
6. What Happens If It Is Wrong?
Use green, amber and red risk bands to decide how much checking is proportionate.
7. Check an Answer Without Becoming an Expert
Check the source, date, exact wording, numbers and claim that carry the most weight.
Part Three: Understand Images and Visual Information
8. Choose the Right Kind of Image Tool
Match description, recognition, comparison, private processing or human help to the job.
9. Ask for the Description You Need
Request an overview, literal facts, text, layout, uncertainty or atmosphere according to purpose.
10. Judge and Verify an Image Description
Classify claims as visible, contextual, inferred or unsupported, then verify important details proportionately.
11. Read Documents, Forms and Screenshots
Recover exact text, reading order and structure without hiding uncertainty.
12. Understand Tables, Charts and Slides
Recover structure, labels, order and values before asking for interpretation.
Part Four: Create Visual Media
13. Create Your First Image
Write a brief, generate an image, describe it back and make one deliberate revision.
14. Keep Creative Control Without Sight
Use intention, hierarchy and proportionate review to remain the author.
15. Create a Comic or Visual Story
Plan story beats, panels, dialogue and continuity, then check reading order.
16. Create Animation and Video
Plan movement, dialogue, music and sound as one accessible time-based sequence.
17. Check and Publish Visual Work Accessibly
Define finished, check proportionately and publish an equivalent accessible experience.
Optional Further Study
Models, Open Weights and the Changing Frontier
Optional reading that distinguishes assistants from models and explores closed, open-weight and specialist systems.
Philosophy: Knowledge, Testimony and Answer-Shaped Objects
Optional reading about uncertainty, epistemic opacity and warranted reliance.
I want to…
- Choose an AI assistant
- Get a better answer
- Find something useful AI can do
- Understand what kind of answer AI gives me
- Decide whether an answer is safe to use
- Check a factual answer
- Choose the right kind of image tool
- Describe a photograph
- Judge and verify an image description
- Read text in an image
- Understand a table, chart or presentation
- Create an image
- Check visual work without sight
- Create a comic
- Make a video
- Publish visual work accessibly
- Understand AI models
- Explore the philosophy of AI answers
Tool Cards
Tool Cards contain dated product information. They can be updated or retired without rewriting the durable lessons.
General AI Assistants
Conversation, explanation, writing, research and general assistance.
Conversational Image Describers
Quick, natural descriptions of photographs, objects and scenes.
Text and Document Recognition
Reading text, forms, documents, tables and structured information.
Multiple-Model Comparison
Methods for comparing independent descriptions or answers.
Private and On-Device Tools
Local processing, offline access and greater control over information.
Human Visual-Assistance Services
Human verification when accuracy or judgement matters.
Image Generators
Creating and revising still images.
Video and Animation Generators
Creating movement, animation, dialogue, music and video.
About this course
Confident with AI was created by Charli-Jo Tyrer in association with TAVIP. It responds to questions and priorities identified through TAVIP’s 2026 Technology Survey.
The course is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.