Extraordinary Molly on award shortlist

Maidenhead: Deafblind social media star up for national prize

A deafblind woman from Maidenhead has been shortlisted for a national award due to her savvy social media skills.

Molly Barnes, also known as Molly Watt, is up for Content Creator of the Year at the Royal National Institute of Blind People’s (RNIB) See Differently Awards.

The 29-year-old has more than 40,000 followers who check her regular posts across TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram.

Molly’s posts discuss her life living with deafblindness, aiming to raise awareness of misconceptions and highlight the need for improved assistive technology.

On being nominated for the award, Molly said: “It did feel for quite a long time I wasn’t being recognised, because I was doing so much, but it’s really lovely to be shortlisted for an award like this.

“RNIB are a charity I really rate so it does feel really validating to be recognised by them.”

Molly lives with Type 2

Usher Syndrome, which causes deafness from birth and a progressive loss of vision during adolescence.

She has worn hearing aids from the age of 18 months and was registered blind aged 12.

Molly has five degrees of vision in one eye, which she describes as like ‘looking through a tunnel’, but the nature of her condition means in the future, her vision may worsen.

“It took a long time to adapt,” she said.

“When I was diagnosed, we [my family and I] were worried ‘how’s Molly going to learn and how’s she going to do her schoolwork?’

However, having grown up i n a household with access to an iPad, Molly was able to familiarise herself with assistive technology from a young age.

After starting blogging on her own charity website the Molly Watt Trust as a teenager, Molly took up TikTok during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said Apple devices, which have built in accessibility features such as larger text, as well as social media sites offering AI generated captions, had helped her to develop her online following.

But she added there was still more that could be done.

Molly works full-time as a disability and access consultant for Nexer Digital, a web-design agency, where she helps advise brands on how to make their content userfriendly. She recently married Max Barnes and the two are expecting a baby later this year.

Molly said: “Sometimes it is a struggle, having a full-time job and maintaining an online presence.

“But I like to think that I can show people who are living with Usher Syndrome they can do all these things.

“Having a career, getting married, having a baby – these are all things that I couldn’t imagine happening when I had my diagnosis.”

Molly’s parents Jane and Andy Watt said: “Most people with a following like she does would have a team to do all that – the captions and the access features – but she does it all on her own.

“All Molly has known is challenges in her life, we’re so proud of her.”

The winners of the RNIB awards will be announced on May 21.