Working Group on accessibility to e commerce by older people and people with disabilities
Summary notes of meeting Tuesday 10 October 2000 at HREOC Sydney
Attendance
Susan Halliday, Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner (Chair)
Graeme Innes, Deputy Disability Discrimination Commissioner
Jeff Oughton, Acting CEO, Australian Bankers' Association
Nick Hossak, Australian Bankers' Association
Tim Noonan, Blind Citizens Australia
John Moxon representing Physical Disability Council of Australia
Helen Scott, Information Manager, Council on the Ageing
Amanda Davies, Senior Government Counsell, Attorney-General's Department
Bill Healey, Australian Retailers' Association (NSW)
John McKenna, Internet Industry Association Taskforce
Sandra Davey, Internet Industry Association Taskforce
Karen Smith, Public Affairs Adviser, Credit Union Services Corporation
Shirley Douglas, Disability Section, Federal Department of Family & Community
Services
Bernadette Levett, Manager Disability Services, Telstra
Paul Waterhouse, Property Council of Australia
Michael Small, HREOC
Apologies: Mark Bagshaw, International Marketing Manager, IBM Australasia; Jim Larkey, Executive Director, Australian Association of Permanent Building Societies; Toby Ralph, Researcher and Focus Group Consultant; Kevin Byrne, representing the Physical Disability Council of Australia
Welcome:
Commissioner Halliday welcomed participants who were invited to introduce themselves and the organisations they represented. Commissioner Halliday referred to her recent re-appointment as Acting Disability Discrimination Commissioner until mid November and assured participants of the Commission's continued commitment to the groups work after that date.
Notes of previous meeting:
The notes from the first meeting on 25 August were accepted without change.
Report on activities
Internet Industry Association
Mr McKenna reported on initiatives being undertaken by the Taskforce established by the IIA to assist the industry in relation to access issues. One of the Taskforce's jobs is, in partnership with the Australian Interactive Multimedia Industry Association (AIMIA), to develop an industry Disability Action Plan. The Taskforce will be consulting with people with disabilities in the development of the plan and has already met with the Commission to discuss broad approaches. Mr McKenna noted that IIA had established a specific dedicated page on their Homepage on access issues which can be found at http://www.iia.net.au/wadap.html
Credit Union Services Corporation
Ms Smith referred to correspondence sent to the Commission from CUSCAL welcoming the establishment of the Working Group and committing the organisation to working with other bodies to ensure services were accessible to all Australians. Ms Smith explained that CUSCAL provided a range of services to credit unions including funds management, transaction services, wholesale and retail banking products, insurance, technology, compliance and staff training. CUSCAL welcomed the proposal to establish some industry standards on ATM's and hoped to be able to work with and sub-committee established to develop such a standard. CUSCAL was looking closely at the e commerce report recommendations and would be establishing an internal working group to develop proposals for action.
Attorney-General's Department
Ms Davies expressed support for the work of the group and was looking at ways the Department could contribute. While the Department had little to offer in terms of expertise in the technical issues to be addressed, there was an important role to play in ensuring the Attorney-General and other Ministers were briefed on developments and supportive of initiatives.
Australian Bankers' Association
Mr Oughton provided a draft framework of action to be taken by the ABA in relation to the e commerce report. The proposals included action to establish industry standards in a number of areas in consultation with other interested parties. Mr Oughton stated that work would continue on the draft and that feedback would be welcome from other participants. Mr Oughton suggested that the Working Group would be an appropriate group to drive the development of an industry standard on ATM's, EFTPOS and telephone banking and Mr Innes offered to assist in developing proposals for membership and Terms of Reference for a committee to develop a draft. Mr Oughton also stressed the importance of setting timeframes and achieving some concrete outcomes for the Working Group if it is to have a useful role.
Physical Disability Council
Mr Moxon confirmed the support of PDCA to working in partnership with industry representative bodies to identify practical solutions to the barriers experienced by people with disabilities in the area of e commerce. PDCA would do all it can to ensure representatives are available to assist in the development of solutions, but industry must recognise that the organisation is dependent on volunteers to provide its input.
Department of Family and Community Services
Ms Douglas stated that FACS was interested in the work of the group as it related directly to their client group. The Department would be able to provide information, facilitate links to organisations in the disability and aged sectors and would ensure the Minister was briefed on initiatives taking place. As a Federal Government Department FACS was also addressing access issues through their own Action Plan and were working towards the Government December 2000 deadline on WWW access. FACS were also interested in following up on the development of programs to provide access to superseded computers. Mr Healy questioned whether the proposed Government single window business entry point might offer an opportunity to promote best practice to business.
Telstra
Ms Levett provided information on Telstra's revision of its Action Plan which will include a focus on e commerce issues. A guide for Telstra customers on building accessible websites is due to be completed by 2001. Ms Levett stressed the importance of linkages between the IIA, Telstra and retailers as e commerce opportunities developed.
Blind Citizens Australia
Mr Noonan provided information concerning ongoing e commerce accessibility research in the areas of ATM's and on-line banking. He also provided information on the current revision of W3C guidelines that will ensure easier comprehension and usability at an administrative level.
Council on the Ageing
Ms Scott reported on a number of projects COTA and other advocacy groups were undertaking in relation to IT and e commerce access for older Australians. Ms Scott particularly referred to an IT training programs in WA called 'Computers for the mortally terrified' and the e commerce project being undertaken with the Commonwealth bank. She noted that research was needed to identify the best teaching methods to address these issues and that the effective strategies identified needed to be replicated throughout Australia. Ms Scott stated that COTA would be reporting on the initiatives developed through the Working Group in relevant publications.
Property Council of Australia
Mr Waterhouse confirmed the interest of the Property Council of Australia in the work of the group and suggested the PCA had a particular role to play when more specific proposals were being discussed that involved their members. He recognised the role the Council might have in alerting members to the importance of appropriate positioning of ATM's. Mr Moxom encouraged the PCA to take action in that area as access problems arising from location issues often resulted in a circular debate about responsibility between owners and service providers.
Australian Retailers' Association (NSW)
Mr Healey noted that a number of issues identified in the e commerce report had direct relevance to the Associations' membership. In particular issues such as the use of EFTPOS services and the use of the Internet for retail purposes were a growing part of the retail world. Mr Healey stated that he would identify what action is being taken by some of the Associations' larger members and then consider what strategic options were available to the Association.
HREOC
Commissioner Halliday commented on how encouraged the Commission was by the willingness expressed by participants to finding solutions to the barriers identified in the report. The Commission would continue to commit to providing information and advice to the group and individual member organisations. She reported that the Commission had met with a number of organisations since the last Working Group to provide assistance in clarifying what action might be taken, and would continue to respond to any requests for advice. The Commissioner stated that the major focus for the Commission was to assist organisations to address the discriminatory barriers identified in the report. The Commission would also maintain an active and interactive dedicated page on the Homepage and was happy to act as a 'clearing' house for distributing information to group members by e mail.
Role of Working Group
Deputy Commissioner Innes asked for comments on the draft Role of the Working Group document circulated by HREOC. He noted that the draft proposed that this Working Group act more like a Forum for information exchange, discussion and promotion of partnerships between organisations which would stimulate the establishment of separate working groups to produce solutions. He stressed that it was not intended that the Forum be 'owned' by the Commission and that work undertaken to find solutions must be done in partnership with interested groups, especially with the community of people with disabilities.
Deputy Commissioner Innes noted that while there was no proposal for a timetable at this stage the Commission was eager to achieve compliance with anti-discrimination law as quickly as possible. He observed that while there was no suggestion that there would be a moratorium on complaints from the disability sector it was encouraging that the sector had expressed support for finding solutions to barriers around the table.
The question of membership was raised as a number of organisations had requested a seat at the table since the first meeting. Members agreed that there was no desire to exclude anyone from contributing to the discussions but that there were realistic limits to how many people should be actually sitting around the table. The important issue was ensuring that mechanisms existed to allow any interested party to have their say and propose solutions. It was agreed that the Forum needed to be transparent and open to the community as a whole. To this end, notes from the Forum meetings would be placed on the HREOC Homepage and press releases addressing the Forum initiatives would be circulated to members for comment prior to release. It was noted that any Working Group established to address specific issues would be encouraged to extend their membership to ensure a broader coverage. It was also noted that members of the group had agreed that they would keep their sectors informed of what discussions were taking place and that, while they would not act on behalf of other interest groups in their sector, they would act as a conduit for ideas. Members agreed that where a case existed for increasing membership, because of particular gaps in representation, the group would attempt to achieve a consensus before extending an invitation to other organisations. Following discussion there was general agreement that some re-drafting of the document was required to clarify membership issues.
At the request of Forum members the Commission agreed to continue to chair the meetings.
Vision Australia Proposal
Mr Oughton provided information on a proposed project developed by Vision Australia. Members commented on the need to ensure the proposal addressed access issues for people with a range of disabilities and that the focus was on DDA compliance rather than simply improving access. Members were asked to provide feedback directly to Mr Oughton.
Next meeting
The next meeting of the Forum is proposed for February 2001.