The Affordable Access Project: low-cost mainstream tech for people with disabilities

Transcript

26 July 2015

Roberta: Media Access Australia has secured an Australian Communications Consumer Action Network, ACCAN, grant for its Affordable Access Project and this looks at low-cost, mainstream accessible technology for people with disabilities with an aim to help people make more informed choices when it comes to devices. The project will be managed by accessibility expert, Dr Scott Hollier, who has worked on similar projects, including a guide to accessible social media, starter guides for service providers and training programs for seniors. I have with me today Dr Scott Hollier on the line. Welcome, Scott.

Scott: Thanks, Roberta, great to be back.

Roberta: Now, what is this project about?

Scott: Well, the ACCAN grant that we received is for the Affordable Access Project and basically the nature of this project is that we're looking to see if there are people in different situations that could benefit from getting products which are both affordable and accessible if you have a disability, so this is looking at people in different situations. For example, a uni student on a budget might really benefit from finding a product that is affordable and accessible, so it's very much about trying to find the best options for people depending on their need.

Roberta: So is access affordable and at what price point is it considered affordable?

Scott: Well, the good news is that access is affordable and while there are accessibility options across a range of different price points what's really exciting about looking at this project is that there are lots of products in an affordable price range, I mean, when we think about things like Android tablets that you can get in that sub $100 category which also have lots of accessibility built in. Really, the good thing about this is that a lot of the mainstream operating systems like Windows or Android or others do have a lot of accessibility built in and as these products are getting cheaper that's more and more of an option. For this project, in terms of what affordability is, we're looking at things around the $50 to $200 price point, in that area where you can usually scramble together enough money to buy a basic device of some sort that could be really helpful to people's needs.

Roberta: Do the access needs of people differ depending on their work or maybe their study?

Scott: They do and I was giving that example of the uni student. For a uni student your needs will be that you need an accessible device that can do things like stream social media, is quite portable, access to social media, being able to do the basics when you're on the go. For a senior, a senior would be more focused on having a device which is perhaps set up in a room of the house where you can get photos from the grandkids and send emails to the grandkids and things like that. So while accessibility is a universal concept in making things accessible for people with disabilities, in terms of specific needs different devices are applicable to different people and the exciting thing with this research is finding out exactly how that happens. So we have a research partner with visibility who are going to be looking a bit at some of those different individual needs and different groups, what accessibility requirements they have.

Roberta: What type of devices and software are being investigated?

Scott: At this preliminary stage, there are a few which really stand out. There is the cheap android tablets which are quite accessible if they're running Android 4.2 or later. They have the talkback screen reader. They have magnification and a number of other features, which is really helpful, but also we've seen Windows tablets becoming really, really cheap. You can now get Windows tablets from Target around the $170 mark and what's really exciting is that Windows 10, which I'm sure we'll be talking about on this program in the coming weeks, gets released very soon. It is 29 July that it's released on, so we're going to see some exciting new accessibility come from that. This combination of cheap tablets and windows is great but there's even computers available for US $35 called the Raspberry Pie, so there are some really interesting cheap options. Just one other device that stands out is the Google Chromecast which lets you stream, say, YouTube from a device and pushes straight through to a big TV. So if you want to make something bigger on the screen from your tablet, you can easily get it up on the TV. That Chromecast costs about $50. So there's already a few things which are starting to stand out but, yeah, we're very excited to see what comes up as the research continues.

Roberta: Just quickly, can listeners provide information to your research?

Scott: Absolutely, and a really big critical part to this research is that we want it to be practical and very hands-on, so if any listeners out there do have some tips on great experiences they've had with different devices or things that they have picked up quite cheaply that have made a big difference to them, I'd strongly encourage any blind or vision impaired person to get in touch with me, scott.hollier@mediaaccess.org.au, or you can even tweet us, @mediaaccessaus.

Roberta: Now, for information on the Affordable Access Project, you can call Media Access Australia on 02 9212 6242 or the old email, info@mediaaccess.org.au. Thank you for all of that today, Scott. I know we will be talking about this in the future.

Scott: Absolutely, thanks again, Roberta.

Roberta: I have been speaking with Dr Scott Hollier from Media Access Australia. Media Access Australia is a supporter of this program.

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