The Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind (RVIB) has been providing services to people who are blind and vision impaired since 1866. Its mission is to be the leading provider of services, resources and information which enable people who are blind or vision impaired to maximise their independence and quality of life.

Advances in technology are providing opportunities for increased independence for our client group and RVIB is committed to exploiting these opportunities for the benefit of all people with print disabilities.

We advise on and provide high and low technology devices and equipment to assist blind and vision impaired people in their everyday lives.

RVIB is committed to facilitating independent access to information for people with print disabilities. It uses a wide range of access media to achieve this. Information purchased from external agencies or produced in-house, is provided in the following formats:

• audio
• braille
• large print
• electronic text for use with a braille display or an audible screen reader

Who are we talking About?

RVIB serves Victorians who are Blind, vision impaired and those with a print disability.

People with print disabilities are those who cannot independently obtain access to information in a standard print form because:

• they are blind or vision impaired; or
• have perceptual or other disabilities which limit their ability to follow a line of print or which affect their concentration; or
• have physical disabilities which limit their ability to hold or manipulate information in a standard form

We have 7,000 users of our Library and Information Services. These people come from Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania as well as Victoria.

Through our rehabilitation, training, and support services, we deal with 4,000 Victorian people with vision impairments in schools, employment and retirement.

As the Issues Paper recognises, older Australians are particularly affected by new information technologies. The largest and most significant group of RVIB service users is the older age group, from 65 years of age and onwards. This group is experiencing disabilities related to the aging process.

Of the issues affecting equal access to people with print disabilities, the demographics of aging is the most critical. Older Australians have the least experience of any age group in using new technologies. Older Australians with age-related disabilities such as vision loss also comprise the group who have the least confidence and are the least demanding community sector in the use of new technologies.

It is this group which is coping with the onset of disabling conditions, decreasing mobility and increasing isolation often coupled with an inability to access the information required for everyday living in the community.

We reiterate the acknowledgement of the Issues Paper; while there is potential for older Australians to benefit from advances in technology, it is also this group which could be seriously disadvantaged by lack of access to new technologies.

At the same time, RVIB contends that children and adults of workforce age are also seriously disadvantaged by the lack of access to new information technologies. We represent a smaller but significant group of people with disabilities in these particular age groups and deal with their needs on a daily basis.

What Are We Talking About?

RVIB has experienced significant accessibility gaps in all of the areas mentioned in this section of the Issues Paper (ie banking and financial services, retailing and travel, government information and education). We feel

this is mainly due to the programming style of many web designers. Critical decision making information is not revealed to the vision-impaired consumer.

For further contributions on this matter, please also see our comments on the Issues Paper's reference to World Wide Web Page Accessibility Audits.

Major Relevant Initiatives

RVIB commends the federal government on their recent initiatives in funding significant projects to make the benefits of information technology accessible to all Australians.

AccessAbility programs.

The AccessAbility program 2000 funding round has given RVIB an opportunity to develop a virtual accessible library. Pending project negotiation with we aim to provide an accessible web site enabling anybody with a print disability to access library catalogues via the Internet.

In this, and in other funded projects, we strongly urge that all outcomes be critically evaluated to ensure that project goals are achieved. In cases where desired outcomes have not been achieved, we urge that funding be dependent on delivery of outcomes.

Copyright Law Reform

Through our Library and Information Services, RVIB was actively involved in the recent amendments to Commonwealth legislation in this area.

Digital Agenda Bill

RVIB welcomes the reform granting agencies that assist readers with disabilities the same rights as educational institutions in regard to the reproduction and communication of material in electronic form.

This is a major step forward for agencies involved in the production and distributions of materials to people with print disabilities.

However, direct, current and independent access to information is presently hindered by the time required for production in alternate formats. Transcription into audio or Braille of an average 200-page book takes six to eight weeks.

RVIB suggests publishers be persuaded to lodge electronic files of their publications with a central agency or agencies, and if agencies supporting people with print disabilities ensured that only eligible people with disabilities could access the material, we would be closer to achieving "equal access to information" for our client group.

Electronic Transactions Bill

RVIB experience is that more recent technology (ie touch screen applications and several financial services products) make access to services by people with print disabilities even more difficult.

Government Information Centre Program

RVIB commend the federal government for creating and extending the Government Information Centre Program. Our client group is significant users of government funded and delivered services.

We strongly recommend that present and future services be made fully accessible to people with print disabilities. Very few of the web sites established by Australian governments are accessible to people with print disabilities. We therefore strongly support HREOC moving to correct this anomaly and show leadership to the community by using its resources to make all government information web sites fully accessible. For further contributions on this matter, please see our comments on the Issues Paper's reference to World Wide Web Page Accessibility Audits.

Economic and Equipment Availability Barriers

RVIB recognises that older Australians and people with disabilities are among the least likely to be able to afford computer equipment.

• Possibilities for further use of surplus equipment:

• Possibilities for increased access through libraries, schools and other community organisations:

Through our library services RVIB is encouraging the use of online access through public libraries. We also provide training in public libraries through the Partners Project. We are also a Community Sector Internet provider giving subsidised access to our clients.

RVIB acknowledges the assistance given by VICNET in establishing our connections to the Internet and the development of both our Internet service and our Voice Print service. Voice Print uses Internet telephony to provide access for the cost of a local telephone call to those outside the Melbourne metropolitan area.

RVIB is working towards the provision of independent access to information for people with disabilities. In Victoria, the infrastructure for access to online services is being implemented across the State by Network Services of the State Library of Victoria. RVIB, in co-operation with the public library network is utilising this technological framework to provide people with print disabilities with access to information regardless of where they live.

RVIB has been appointed as the Mainstreaming Consultant to the Statewide Disability Project Advisory Group of VICLINK and the State Library of Victoria. RVIB has advised on adaptive technology and other materials and resources required for Victorian public libraries to provide an acceptable level of service to people with disabilities. For the first time, there is a co-ordinated approach to service provision through public libraries throughout the state.

The importance of linking marketing and training with the provision of equipment and other resources has also been acknowledged, and the Mainstreaming Project is being implemented in conjunction with the following RVIB projects:

1. The Office of Local Government has provided funds for RVIB to develop an information tape and other materials to promote our services in public libraries.
2. With funding provided by Network Services of the State Library of Victoria, RVIB has developed a training kit for public library staff on services to people with disabilities. RVIB has delivered training on services to people with print disabilities and has co-ordinated training on services to people with other disabilities.
3. Partners Project. Building on the projects described above, RVIB has developed the Partners Project whereby volunteers, some of them RVIB library users with print disabilities, are trained in the use of the adaptive technology provided to Victorian public library services. These trained volunteers then make themselves available in their local library to train others.

These donations have allowed RVIB to:

• set up skilled transcription staff to work from home, and
• provide online access to RVIB systems from all our sites

RVIB's visiting teacher service provides support to vision impaired children who attend schools throughout Victoria. We provide Braille, audio and disc versions of text, exam papers and the like. We are presently investigating the possibility of providing these services on line through Braille embossers connecting to computer terminals at our alternative format production centre. Similar services are provided to universities and other tertiary institutions.

Education and Training needs and Possibilities

RVIB is an experienced training organisation for people who are blind or have vision impairment. We train in the use of computers and other technologies in employment and general use. These training programs are restricted to those who can access them in Melbourne.

RVIB is aware that people living in rural areas are seriously disadvantaged and strongly recommend that funds be directed to training facilities for people with print disabilities in those areas. This could be provided through TAFE Colleges or similar institutions willing to invest in fully accessible training equipment and qualified staff.

Alternatively, an on line training program could be developed using the existing facilities of RVIB's central services. This would be supported by visits by technicians to install and monitor adaptive software.
 
 

World Wide Web Page Accessibility Audits

As HREOC has clearly recognised in this important section of the Issues Paper, since 1997 official guidelines have existed to encourage Australian produced web sites to be accessible. It is the opinion of RVIB that Australian Government agencies and other providers have flagrantly disregarded these guidelines.

Many organisations make the assumption that they have provided access for people with disabilities if they have put information on a web site.

We have many recent examples of web sites that are not accessible, and in many cases we have contacted organisations to alert them to problems.

RVIB urges the Attorney General to obtain a Cabinet decision directing all Commonwealth Government Agencies to ensure their web sites comply with the World Wide Web's Consortium Content Accessibility Guildeines.

RVIB maintains its own site as a model of accessibility.

www.rvib.org.au.

Telecommunications Based Services

For blind and vision impaired Victorians, non-visual telecommunication based services are the easiest to access.

Information needs to be available in a range of formats because a single format or medium does not suit everyone.

RVIB has developed Voice Print, an interactive voice response telephone information system that provides access to our library catalogue with an online book ordering facility. Voice Print also provides access to major daily newspapers via a synthetic voice reading a text file provided each day by the publisher. Funding from Network Services of the State Library of Victoria is currently supporting the extension of this service to include local council information. We intend to expand this service to include all Victorian regional areas.

RVIB also provides access to local information throughout Victoria through our Talking Newspaper Service, which currently produces and distributes 59 local newspapers on cassette each week.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Accessibility of ATMS, information kiosks and other specific purpose devices.

In reference to ATMs or any other numeric keypad: RVIB suggest a universal standard to provide a raised dot on the number 5 key.

In reference to touch screen technology: RVIB experience shows that blind and vision impaired people can use ATMS and information kiosks that offer button-type keypads. However, some adaptive technology is required. RVIB rehabilitation officers develop templates to sit over touch pads in the home or workplace. This is not practical in the public domain.

Conclusion

RVIB appreciate the opportunity to participate in this important discussion.

We would be pleased to provide further information on this submission and look forward to positive outcomes for older Australians and people with a disability.
 
 

contact:

Mr David Blyth

Government Relations Manager

Davidb@rvib2.rvib.org.au
 
 

Sandra Mortimer

Government Relations Officer

Mortisa@rvib2.rvib.org.au
 
 

RVIB

557 St Kilda Road

Melbourne VIC 3003

Tel: 03 9522 5285

Fax: 03 9510 9310