Deaf/hearing impaired Digital Technology & Online Media news

The Australian Parliament’s House Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport is going to be considering the social and economic impacts of hearing impairment and ear or balance disorder, and seeks submissions from the public. You can have your say by 23 December.

The GoDigi National Year of Digital Inclusion Expo, presented by Infoxchange, is being staged on 16 November at the Australian Technology Park in Redfern, Sydney. The event aims to help create a society where everyone can innovate, and Media Access Australia will be there, showcasing free Affordable Access resources.

An estimated one in nine New Zealanders use captions when watching TV. Up until recently, live broadcasts of Parliament weren’t captioned, meaning that a significant number of people were unable to observe their elected representatives at work. But following a campaign begun in 2011, all that is in the past. 

Almost half of all EU citizens living with a disability are unemployed, a new study commissioned by Microsoft has revealed. As people increasingly rely on technology to get their jobs done, the report also showed that many employees who are Deaf, blind, vision, hearing or cognitive impaired, or who have a physical disability, are finding it harder to participate productively in workplaces that are not technologically accessible.