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Access to Adelaide library increased for people who are blind and vision impaired

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Onkaparinga City Council has been successful in their bid for 15 DAISY (Digital Accessible Information System) digital playback devices under the Australian Government’s $1 million Increasing Accessibility Library Initiative, giving people with print disability in South Australia greater access to library materials.

The South Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Carers, Senator Jan McLucas, and the Federal Member for Kingston, Amanda Rishworth, yesterday visited Noarlunga Library to test drive the new technology.

Using a DAISY player device today, Ms Rishworth said “Fifteen new playback devices is a great addition to our local library network and I’m sure local residents with a vision impairment or disability will take full advantage of the improved access to the library’s content.

Taxonomy: 
General
Blind or vision impaired
Digital technology
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Blind/vision impaired Digital Technology & Online Media news
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Report from America on a world leading education initiative

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The Described and Captioned Media Program (DCMP) is a US initiative run by the Department of Education and the National Association of the Deaf. Its aim is to provide equal access to communication and education to students who are Deaf, hearing impaired, blind, vision impaired or deaf-blind. Media Access Australia CEO, Alex Varley, recently visited the DCMP headquarters in South Carolina and was impressed with the developments and new focus that it is taking.

Following the announcement of continued government funding, the DCMP offers a range of services promoting inclusion for children with disabilities. Importantly, these services are adapted to meet changing needs.

“A newer area of captioning in the USA is Spanish captions to service the large Hispanic population.  The DCMP is going to devote around 25% of its resources towards Spanish language services,” said Varley.

Taxonomy: 
Captions
International policy and legislation
Audiovisual materials
Blind or vision impaired
Education
Deaf or hearing impaired
Audio description
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News alert taxonomy: 
Deaf/hearing impaired Education news
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Pressure placed on Prime Minister to consider the needs of students with disabilities

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At a cabinet meeting in Tasmania this week, Prime Minister Julia Gillard was approached by the mother of a child with a disability, and urged to direct more money towards this area of need. Gillard acknowledged the necessity for greater focus on this area and that the promised $200 million extra funding for students with disabilities is a move toward this.

The $200 million funding, part of the More Support for Students with Disability initiative, was announced earlier this year. The funding will be available from early 2012 and will be directed to a range of services, depending upon the needs of specific students. The funding could, for example, be directed toward the provision of assistive technology for students who have a hearing impairment.

Taxonomy: 
Australian policy and legislation
Education
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News alert taxonomy: 
Deaf/hearing impaired Education news
Research & Policy news

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UK TV services continue to exceed access requirements

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Ofcom, the UK media and communications regulator, has published data on access services provided on television in the first half of 2011, revealing the vast majority of services have exceeded their legal obligations, particularly for captioning and audio description.

The Television Access Services: Report of the first six months of 2011 revealed that 11 channels provided captions on more than 99% of programming and 35 channels at least doubled the minimum requirement of providing audio description on 10% of programming. All channels with sign language obligations met the minimum requirements.

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General
International policy and legislation
Research & policy
News
Ofcom, Office of Communications
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Research & Policy news

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Government’s media convergence review continues to ignore disability

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The Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy has released five discussion papers on a range of issues as part of the Convergence Review.  None of the discussion papers is concerned with access to convergent media for people with disabilities.

The five discussion papers are on:

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Australian policy and legislation
DBCDE, Department of Broadband Communications and the Digital Economy
Research & policy
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