Funding by the Telstra Consumer Consultative Council (TCCC) to the
National Federation of Blind Citizens of Australia (NFBCA) for this
Project is gratefully acknowledged.
The focus groups could not have taken place without the assistance of NFBCA executive members in Brisbane, Sydney and Kempsey who selected and contacted focus group participants. They also arranged premises and facilities for the meetings. I would like to thank Karen Knight in Brisbane, Pat Downie and Naomi Clarke in Sydney and Richard Mackay and Louise Patmore in Kempsey for their work. Also to be thanked are the notetakers: Lynne Davis and Des Millican. Lynne Davis provided much appreciated advice in the conducting of focus groups.
Bill Jolley (NFBCA), the Project Manager is sincerely thanked for his inspiration, energy and support during the Project. All the staff at NFBCA have been extremely helpful and are thanked for their hard work. I wish to especially thank Cheryl Gration and Sandra Knight for their administrative assistance.
All the members of the Project Steering Committee provided guidance and feedback during the course of the Project: Liz Atkinson (Telstra), Lynne Davis (NFBCA), Gerard Goggin (Consumers' Telecommunications Network), Karen Knight (NFBCA), Christopher Newell (TCCC Research Committee) and John Simpson (NFBCA).
Many people, who are too numerous to mention, assisted with information during the course of this Project. Christopher Newell and Tim Noonan were especially helpful in the provision of information and advice. Jan-Ingvar Lindström of Telia in Sweden and John Gill of the Royal National Institute for the Blind in the U.K. provided many leads to follow. The libraries at the Swedish Handicap Institute and the Royal Blind Society were important sources of material.
Finally, I wish to thank Prof. Rodney Topor, School of Computing and Information Technology, Griffith University for his friendship and support throughout the Project.
Gunela Astbrink
GSA Information Consultants
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