Consumer information from telecommunications companies, banks and the Department of Social Security currently available to people who are blind or vision impaired in Australia is limited by the lack of provision of that information in accessible formats.
The Disability Discrimination Act's Standard on Communication and Information
should, when completed, act as an important guide and incentive to the provision
of increasingly accessible consumer information. Telstra's Disability Action
Plan, once approved, should also be an important instrument in the provision
of information in alternative formats.
Telstra has developed a set of principles for meeting customer information needs. These were formulated in consultation with the Customer Information Working Group of the Telstra Consumer Consultative Council (TCCC). The principles are designed to assist Telstra when developing and implementing customer information. Unfortunately, at this stage, there is no representative from a disability organisation on the Working Group.
The TCCC Customer Information Working Group has commented on the second edition of "A guide to using Telstra's telephone service" which was released in mid-1996. It provides an extensive coverage of Telstra's products and services (including disability services) and is available from Telstra shops, consumer organisations and on the Internet. The first edition of the Guide, published in 1994, was produced in Braille by Telstra in 1995. However, it appears that no arrangement has yet been made to produce the 1996 edition in alternative formats. This illustrates that mechanisms are needed to ensure that good initiatives are developed into regular practice.
The Telstra Disability Enquiry Hotline is a free call service (Ph. 1800 068424) where people can enquire about Telstra's products and services designed specifically for people with a disability. If the call is of a more general nature, the caller is referred to the appropriate section.
Telstra's Aged and Disability Centres are located in each State capital city and provide an advisory service to people with a disability. Staff at these centres understand peoples' special communication needs and can advise customers about the ways they can improve their use of the phone. Telephones which have features useful for people with disabilities are on display. The most relevant aid for people who are blind or vision impaired is a finger guide for the standard Telstra Touchfone 200. This is a keypad overlay which is designed to assist people with low vision or limited motor dexterity to dial with greater accuracy. There are also large number rings available for rotary dial phones. There is a Telstra Disability Tariff Concession Policy for the supply of these types of aids to people with disabilities. As far as is known, information about these services is not available in alternative formats but it can be obtained from the Disability Enquiry Hotline.
An example of a generic service which is of particular value to people who are blind or vision impaired is the bill enquiries number. People can ring this number to request information about any detail of their phone bill.
As far as is known, there is no consumer information provided by banks in alternative formats apart from the issuing of Braille bank statements on request by the Commonwealth Bank.
The Department of Social Security produces a regular audio magazine "Social
Security Update" which is sent to all blind people who receive the Disability
Support Pension or the Aged-Blind Pension.
British Telecom (BT) publishes an annual guide called "The BT guide for people who are disabled or elderly: The latest products and services to help you use the phone." It is a comprehensive listing of not only products and services supplied by BT but also by a range of other organisations in the U.K. It is a useful general guide to BT network services, telephones and payphones. The catalogue is then divided into sections for hearing, speech, sight and mobility and dexterity with product and services listed under each section. Finally, information is provided on alarm systems, telephone conferencing, publications, directory enquiries and some disability organisations. The catalogue is available in print, Braille, audiotape and on the Internet.
BT also produces a quarterly newsletter called "Dovetail". It is principally staff to keep them up to date with developments for disabled customers. However, it is freely available on request to disability organisations and the general public.
Some UK banks provide some brochures in Braille. The conversion to Braille is undertaken by the Royal National Institute for the Blind as a commercial enterprise. It is an established operation and many financial institutions and BT consider it good public relations to provide such a service.
Government agencies in Sweden provide information in alternative formats if requested to do so. The National Swedish Board for Consumer Policies and the National Board of Health and Welfare produce their newsletters on audiotape. The state-run pharmacies have tapes of their information sheets about various illnesses and medicines.
A great deal of information material from Telia (formerly Swedish Telecom) is available in large print and some is available in Braille. The type of material in alternative formats is listed in Appendix G.
Telia produces a small newsletter which is sent out with the phone bill. People with a vision impairment can choose instead to ring a certain number for a phone version of the newsletter. The newsletter is then read out. It is possible for those with a touch tone phone to use the interactive voice response system to control the reading by relistening to a certain section or by jumping over a certain section.
Information about Telia's PLUS services (roughly equivalent to Telstra's Easycall services) can be obtained by ringing a certain number for pre-recorded details.
Information on prices and other services is also available from Telia through recorded messages or it can be faxed to the caller.
There are at least nine disability BBSs in Sweden which are connected together under the name Fruit Tree. One particular BBS was established by the Association of the Swedish Deafblind and is called Träffpunkt 44. This BBS is primarily aimed at the association's activities but is open to everyone. In January 1992, there were 90 active users while in April, 1994 there were 450 active users (who login at least once per fortnight). As the BBS is open to anyone and is connected to the other BBSs under the Fruit Tree, there is a broad range of discussion topics and messages sent between members. Of the nine BBSs, Träffpunkt 44 has the most active number of users. The news from Text-TV is made available on the system. This form of information exchange has proved most useful to people who are Deafblind.
There is a free Braille service for Deafblind people through the Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille. About 80 users send in texts from their post and newspapers and receive them back in Braille. Pictures can also be interpreted through this service.
Pacific Bell has a database of 600 disability organisations in California
and regularly sends these organisations updates on its disability program.
A video has also been produced which has been distributed to these organisations
and Pacific Bell's business offices.
There is a large amount still to be done in the provision of accessible consumer information in Australia.
As the needs of people with disabilities are quite specific with regard to accessible information, it would be advantageous for a representative from a disability organisation to be included on TCCC's Customer Information Working Group. This provides further input on the most appropriate presentation of information for those with low vision as well as giving advice on alternative formats.
RECOMMENDATION
That NFBCA discuss with the TCCC Customer Information Working Group the mechanism
for including a representative from a disability organisation on the Working
Group by March, 1997.
There is a wide range of consumer information from telecommunications companies
which needs to be made available to people who are blind or vision impaired.
This will enable these consumers to gain more from products and services
and may increase their usage of services. Information on those products and
services which are specifically designed for people with disabilities could
be provided in the form of an annual directory. This directory could be available
in alternative formats.
RECOMMENDATIONS
That Telstra consider publicising their products and services more
by producing an annual directory of products and services for people with
disabilities in print and in alternative formats.
That Telstra and/or Optus consider distributing
leaflets in accessible formats on specific relevant services to disability
and aged organisations.
"A guide to using Telstra's telephone service" contains some of the information which is available in the front section of the White Pages relating to customers' rights, Telstra's responsibilities, and an overview of services including disability services. It also contains a useful list of general service numbers. It was emphasised by focus group participants that such information would be particularly valuable in alternative formats for use as reference material.
RECOMMENDATION
That Telstra consider making available the general information found in the
White Pages and the booklet, "A guide to using Telstra's telephone service"
in alternative formats.
Other ways of publicising products and services for people who are blind
or vision impaired is to make use of the Radio for the Print Handicapped
(RPH). This radio network with stations in the capital cities of Australia,
while directed at people with a print disability, has a much broader following
and could be an excellent marketing application. The Hello Yellow service
was well-known through the exposure received on RPH. While only a certain
percentage of their programming is allocated to commercial segments, a short
spot on the latest specials together with relevant products and services
would reach a wide target audience.
RECOMMENDATION
That Telstra and/or Optus consider the sponsorship of a short program
on Radio for the Print Handicapped to provide information on new products
and services.
Some focus group participants expressed a wish to have a Telstra audio magazine while others felt they needed to limit the number of tapes which they could listen to. There might, however, be a considerable number of aged people with low vision who would value such a method of obtaining information about new products and services. A feasibility study might therefore be necessary to evaluate the need for such a service.
RECOMMENDATION
That Telstra consider undertaking a feasibility study for the production
of an audio magazine outlining new products and services.
The Disability Enquiry Hotline is a valuable service and continued promotion of this service is important so that people can benefit from it. However, often people may not be aware of what services to ask for. An Interactive Voice Response service as part of the general sales enquiry line could offer a menu choice for disability services which would provide an overview of products and services. This could be a supplementary choice besides talking to the operator.
RECOMMENDATION
That Telstra consider the installation of an Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
service as part of its general sales enquiry line with one menu choice being
for disability services.
The above recommendations cover general information which the company believes the consumer may be interested in. However, there might be specific information which a person who is blind or vision impaired has heard about and wants further information. There needs to be a mechanism in place where this information can be provided, within reason, in the alternative format which is most appropriate for that person.
RECOMMENDATION
That NFBCA work with telecommunications companies and banks to establish
mechanisms by June, 1997 for information to be provided in alternative formats
upon request.
There may be consumers who are specifically interested in a certain product such as mobile phones and may want updated information on new services relating to this product. This is an opportunity for telecommunications companies and banks to set up a system of targeted information to consumers on request. The consumers state on an initial application form that they wish to be sent regular updated information and in what format. Privacy considerations are very important and these types of mailing lists should not be shared with or sold to other companies.
RECOMMENDATION
That NFBCA initiate a discussion by June, 1997 with telecommunications companies
and banks for the introduction of a system of targeted information that is
provided to consumers on request. When relevant new information becomes
available, it is sent to the customer in a pre-arranged accessible
format.
5.2.1 Australian activities
Directory assistance is provided free of charge using a semi-automated system. A person speaks to an operator to request a number for a person or organisation and then the number is provided by synthetic speech. The number is repeated twice and if the person requires further assistance, the line is switched through to an operator again. This is a much used and appreciated service by all sectors of the Australian community.
A new Telstra service called Call Connect enables mobile phone users to request a number for a person or organisation and be automatically connected to the number. This service could be extremely useful for people who are blind or vision impaired as the number given does not have to be memorised and then dialled. In fact, the mobile phone user is not given the number as the service is designed as connection assistance rather than directory assistance. There is an additional charge for this service. It is not available for fixed phone services at this stage.
Hello Yellow is a service provided by Yellow Pages in south-east Queensland only. A person can ring Hello Yellow and ask about a selection of companies in a certain area. For example, what home delivery pizza shops are available in a particular suburb. The operator provides the person with several different numbers and additional information if requested. This service is extremely useful for blind or vision impaired people as it offers an element of choice which is otherwise seldom available. Hello Yellow is a general service but it has realised the potential for people who are blind or vision impaired and promoted its services on Radio for the Print Handicapped.
Telstra's White Pages are available on CD-ROM in both DOS and Windows versions.
Both the White Pages and the Yellow Pages can be searched on the Internet
from the Telstra Web site.
Talking Pages is a service in the U.K. similar to Hello Yellow where details from the Yellow Pages are provided over the phone by specially trained operators. The caller states what type of shop or business he or she wants (both locally or nationally) to contact. The operator can then provide details on products or services of relevant businesses and even opening hours, phone and fax numbers, credit card acceptance and whether any facilities are provided to people with disabilities. This service is available 24 hours per day to the general public.
A service offered by Bell Atlantic is called Connect ReQuest (similar to
Telstra's Call Connect). This enables the customer to be automatically connected
to the number requested after contacting Directory Assistance.
Directory Assistance is an extremely important and well-used service by the whole community. It is vital for people who are blind or vision impaired and unable to use the print version of the White and Yellow Pages.
The Hello Yellow service in Brisbane has been enthusiastically received by focus group participants as providing them with a choice of phone numbers for a particular service. It is important to stress that this a generic service and not one directed principally at people with disabilities.
Focus group participants outside Brisbane were very interested in the service. However, country people were concerned that STD rates might be charged for such a service.
Hello Yellow should be expanded to cover the rest of Australia as has been successfully done in the U.K. Obviously, there would be a cost involved in the delivery of the service and so the feasibility of an expansion should be undertaken.
RECOMMENDATION
That NFBCA discuss the feasibility of the expansion of Hello Yellow into
a nation-wide service with the Yellow Pages company by April, 1997.
The recent introduction of Call Connect for mobile phones makes it much easier to quickly phone a person when their number is not easily available. Obviously, this type of service would be invaluable for a person who is blind or vision impaired and has to rely on their memory or have a recording mechanism close by. Therefore, this service should include fixed phones as well as mobile phones.
RECOMMENDATION
That Telstra consider introducing a service for the automatic dialling
of a phone number from a fixed phone after an enquiry has been made to Directory
Assistance similar to Call Connect which is used with mobile phones.
The majority of blind or vision impaired people receive bank statements and
telephone bills on a regular basis and have to rely on family and friends
and in some cases, other people to read these rather personal accounts to
them. This is a typical example of the lack of privacy in their personal
affairs which many people with disability have to endure.
As far as is known, telephone bills are not provided in alternative formats at this stage.
With regard to bank statements, the Commonwealth Bank can provide these in
Braille but there are a number of privacy issues regarding outside organisations
doing Braille embossing.
5.3.3 Overseas activities
In the U.K., four major banks and British Telecom (BT) provide statements in large print and Braille. It is also possible to have the details of the BT bill read over the phone to the blind person before the bill is posted.
In France, there are a variety of services in different parts of the country. For example, in Toulouse, there is an independent production centre where bank statements are received electronically and then produced in Braille for clients. The Centre de Transcription et d'Edition en Braille has produced Braille versions of municipal information and bank statements from 34 banks since 1989. It also produces gas and electricity bills in Braille.
The Swedish bank, Nordbanken provides a service for blind people which includes
Braille bank statements. Customers do not need to use bank forms but can
contact the bank with their payment requirements. There are about 600-700
customers who use this service.
There is a very pronounced need for telephone bills and bank statements to be provided in alternative formats as indicated by focus group participants.
Both Telstra and Optus should investigate, with urgency, the most appropriate mechanism for providing bills in Braille and large print. Usually, Braille production is contracted out to blindness organisations which have the necessary equipment and expertise.
RECOMMENDATION
That Telstra and Optus issue phone bills in alternative
formats.
The Commonwealth Bank currently provides bank statements in Braille but there have been some problems with the processing of these statements. Privacy issues have been of concern to some people due to the production of Braille being done by a blindness agency. There needs to be discussions with the Commonwealth Bank to streamline procedures. As well, talks should be held with other banks for the provision of statements in alternative formats.
RECOMMENDATION
That NFBCA hold discussions with banks by March, 1997 to work towards
streamlining services for people who are blind or vision impaired e.g. regular
provision of Braille bank statements or large print statements; plain format
statements for scanning or statements on disk.
People with low vision may be able to read clearly presented forms, invoices and cheques. However, they are often handicapped by forms which use small and/or light print and serif fonts such as Times New Roman. Some people scan forms into their computer and thus use speech reading software to read the form's contents. However, horizontal tables can be a bugbear as screen reading programs can not read these properly. As companies design new forms, some of these considerations could be taken into account so that a larger number of people would have access to forms.
RECOMMENDATION
That NFBCA develop guidelines for accessible form design by May,
1997 and distribute these widely to companies, organisations and government
departments.
5.4.1 Introduction
The RNIB survey found that, of all daily living tasks, dealing with paperwork such as mail and bills causes the most difficulty. "A higher proportion of respondents than for other tasks across all age groups and both sight levels stated that they found these tasks either 'very difficult' or 'impossible'."(Bruce, p. 204)
Most people ask family or friends to read their mail and bills for them. According to the RNIB survey, postcards and letters (88%), bills (77%) and official forms (76%) were the items most frequently read to them. It is interesting to note that the items that people who are blind or vision impaired most disliked having read to them were private letters and bills due to privacy reasons. (Bruce, p. 112-113)
Another approach to having material read is through the use of a remote reading
service using the telephone. Mail and other print-based documents can be
faxed to a sighted reader or reading service which reads the material back
to the blind person over the telephone. To ensure privacy, it is vital that
the reader signs a confidentiality contract and does not know people in the
particular community he or she is serving.
5.4.2 Australian activities
There are no such services, as far as is known, in Australia.
The survey conducted by the Royal Blind Society in New South Wales on interactive
voice response (see Section 7.3.2) asked respondents if they would use a
free service where volunteers read their mail over the phone. Only 23.1%
would definitely use this service while 41% would definitely not use this
service. Because of the large numbers of questions being asked in the survey,
only brief explanations were given. It is possible that people did not fully
understand how the service would operate and that they believed that people
they knew might read their personal mail. Some focus group participants indicated
an interest in such a service but there were concerns about the cost of a
fax machine.
The fax-based reading service was initially a Swedish Telecom pilot project which made use of Swedish Telecom's TTY relay centres for reading back faxed messages from blind people. It is now a service operated by the Swedish Association of the Visually Impaired (SRF) with a fax reading centre in one city. Funding was obtained by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs for SRF to run the centre and purchase fax machines for those who need them. There are over 100 users.
Smith-Kettlewell Rehabilitation Engineering Center have provided a similar
service but used people with mobility impairments in their own homes as the
readers of the faxed messages from blind people. The initial funding provided
for a project manager, two readers, the phone service and two computers with
fax software. Twenty-six blind people throughout USA participated in the
project and of these, twenty-two received fax machines. This service is being
streamlined through the scanning of text and reading back being done by a
voice synthesiser so that not all text has to be read back by a human reader.
However, an override facility would refer pictures and diagrams and other
difficult machine-readable material to a human reader.
As dealing with mail is such an important issue in the daily lives of people who are blind or vision impaired, further work needs to be done to find alternative methods for the provision of reading services.
The possibility of using a fax-based reading service should be considered
and a feasibility study undertaken to ascertain its acceptability by people
who are blind or vision impaired. This study could be done in conjunction
with the Australian Communication Exchange's (ACE) TTY Relay Service. This
is a consumer-run organisation providing a national relay service for people
with hearing or speech impairments who use a TTY. There are strict guidelines
on confidentiality throughout the service. During off-peak times, operators
could read back faxed mail and other printed material to people who are blind
or vision impaired.
RECOMMENDATION
That NFBCA initiate a feasibility study by July, 1997 with the Australian
Communication Exchange's TTY Relay Service for the establishment of a fax-based
reading service. Relay service staff could use off-peak times to read back
faxed mail and other print material.
Consumers are often given conflicting information by different staff of telecommunications companies, banks and the Department of Social Security.
The CTN study on residential consumers identified the fact that "misunderstandings between older consumers and customer service staff are more likely to occur because staff are not trained to work with sensitivity with those customers." (1995, p. 176) This also applies to older people with a disability.
Ongoing customer service training in companies and government departments is vital to ensure that staff are trained in dealing with clients who come from all parts of the community and have a range of different requests. It is especially important that service staff have an awareness of dealing with people with disabilities. Induction training could include experiential exercises, talks given by, for example, people who are blind or vision impaired and videos illustrating positive interactions with people with disabilities. Information on current relevant products and services should be provided at this training and on an ongoing basis.
RECOMMENDATION
That NFBCA, in association with other national organisations of people with
disabilities, negotiate by April, 1997 with telecommunications companies,
banks and government departments to provide customer service training in
assisting people with disabilities.
The Internet is rapidly becoming more and more widely used by many sectors in the community. Blind or vision impaired people are also making use of the Internet as it provides an opportunity of accessing, on an equal basis, material previously only available in print such as newspapers, consumer information and scholarly journals. (See heading "The Internet" under section 6.5.3)
Quite a few of the younger people in the focus groups use computers and the Internet. Older people may show resistance to the technology for a considerable while longer. For example, Williamson's study (p. 261) found that only 14% of respondents had a computer at home or work and there was resistance to computer usage. Reasons stated were "cost and the fear of something which was seen as complicated and difficult to master." It is important to realise that the data collection period was between mid-1992 and early 1994 before the widespread media coverage of the Internet.
There are clear examples of Internet usage by older people such as SeniorNet based in Ipswich, Queensland and the popularity of the computer training skills program developed by Flinders University called Seniors Online. Experiences from the latter program indicate that older people prefer to be taught by older people.
Williamson, in a recent study on Internet usage in public libraries by people over 50 years of age, found that people were reluctant at first but then had positive experiences when relevant information was retrieved. Of the 90% of people who had never used the Internet before, 85% said they would use it again. (Williamson, 1996, p. 166)
There is still the risk though that, in the short term, older people (and
certainly people who are blind or vision impaired) may be disadvantaged as
more consumer information is delivered by computer-based systems. This is
one reason why the Victorian Department of Human Services will be holding
a one-day consumer seminar in March, 1997 on information technology and older
people as part of Seniors Week. This seminar is directed at consumers
themselves.
Telecommunications services
Telstra has an excellent and informative Web site on the Internet. The electronic
version of "The guide to using Telstra's telephone services" is available
for browsing. It provides a listing of all general service contact numbers
and outlines benefits, allowances and disability services.
The White and Yellow Pages can be searched on the Internet and there are links to electronic phone directories in other countries.
Telstra also provides much useful general Australian information on the Internet.
It provides listings of links to news such as daily newspapers including
the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, the Australian Financial Review and the
Australian. There are also listings of links to travel, arts, finance, sport
and children's pages. Thus, Telstra's Web site can be considered an important
entry point for this type of information.
Banking services
The major banks in Australia all have a presence on the Internet. For example,
Westpac has a good overview of its services including personal bank accounts
and its Web pages are reasonably accessible.
The Advance Bank offers the facility of transferring funds between accounts
over the Internet. However, the design of the Web pages make them quite
inaccessible to people who are blind or vision impaired and using a screen
reader.
Government services
The Department of Social Security's Community Information Network (CIN) has
been designed to provide information on government and community services
through the Internet. For example, there are details about DSS pensions and
benefits as well as local community information. Accessibility features for
CIN's Web pages on the Internet were not initially taken into account but
after some further development work, there is improved access to the present
Web pages.
The pilot project established a series of 300 Local Access Points to ensure that people who did not have facilities at home to use the Internet still had access to the information. These Local Access Points were set up in libraries, health centres and community centres at a number of pilot test sites in different parts of Australia. The sites had standard PCs and some test sites were to evaluate the access requirements of blind or vision impaired people. However, after the completion of the pilot phase, the facilities at the Local Access Points have been withdrawn and much of CIN's work will be discontinued due to budgetary cutbacks.
There are several other Internet-based services on Australian government information such as EdNA which provides a comprehensive listing of educational facilities, services and policies in Australia. It is a good example of a thoughtful approach to accessible information access.
The National Library of Australia is the main Internet entry point to all government information including federal government departments. It provides a very useful and easily accessible service on the Internet.
The Victorian government is aiming to expand its Internet communications
network, VICNET to the entire state by the end of 1997. Thus, people in Victoria
will have local access to the Internet either through their public library
or from a home computer. In addition, a network of Community Communications
Centres will be set up throughout the state with online information and services
available on multimedia computers. It is unknown whether the interests of
people who are blind or vision impaired have been taken into account.
5.6.3 Overseas activities
Telecommunications services
In USA, the telecommunications companies provide a great deal of information
on their Web pages. Some companies offer much broader information than merely
about telecommunications. For example, AT&T is one of the sites which
provided a coverage of the Atlanta Olympics.
Nynex has set up a Yellow Pages directory on the Internet called Big Yellow. It provides business listings throughout the country and it claims to contain 16 million listings. It provides a text only version and has placed the Web Access Symbol on its home page.
Companies such as Pacific Bell and Nynex provide details of their services to people with disabilities while Bell Atlantic provide in-depth information about their products and services generally.
Banking services
There are many banks with services on the Internet. One of these is the Bank
of America which offers comprehensive information services on its Web pages.
It is also possible to conduct homebanking through the Internet such as making
payments and transferring funds. It uses encryption so that transactions
completed this way can be considered to be reasonably secure. The bank also
offers what they term "Build your own bank". This is a service where a personal
profile is kept of customers' information requirements and as soon as new
relevant information is available, it is posted to the customer's special
electronic mailbox.
Government services
There are many government services which provide consumer information on
the Internet. In USA, those relevant to this Project include:
The majority of this consumer information is accessible to people with a print disability. However, in some cases, documents can be downloaded in PDF (Portable Document Format) only. This format is not accessible although a beta version of an accessible plug-in program is currently being tested.
A number of the agencies listed above are operated by the General Services Administration (GSA). The Consumer Information Center is part of the Office of Public Affairs of GSA and this is where Americans can order booklets published by more than 40 federal government departments and agencies. Much of this information is available on the Internet. The Web pages are highly graphical but there is a text-only version as well. The Consumer Information Catalog is published four times per year and is distributed to millions of consumers. The publications listed in the catalogue cover health, housing, car purchasing, career information and federal benefits. The Catalog can be downloaded from the Web pages.
GSA also operates the Federal Information Center which provides information and referral to questions on the US Federal Government. Toll-free numbers including TTY numbers are available in many cities throughout the country for this service. A Web page has been set up which provides access to frequently requested information.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance is produced by GSA and is a directory of a variety of federal government programmes, projects, services and activities which provide assistance or benefits to American consumers. Financial and non-financial assistance can take the form of grants, loans, insurance, mortgage loans and scholarships as well as statistical and other expert information. This directory is available for purchase on floppy disk with ASCII text.
Social Security Online has been operating since May, 1994 and was recently designated as one of the top 5% of Web sites on the Internet. Their Web page claims to provide links to over 600 documents on Social Security Administration programmes and policies. This includes the latest benefit information, statistics, legislation, the Social Security Handbook as well as certain information available in Spanish. It is even possible to request a personal earnings and benefit estimate statement online. To use this service, the consumer needs to use secure browser software which supports a certain type of encryption as the person's name and social security number will be sent over the Internet. This service is still being tested and is only available during business hours as at June, 1996.
The National Technical Information Service (NTIS) established FedWorld in 1992 to assist in the task of providing access to US government information online. It is possible to use the FedWorld Web page to gain access to over 130 government BBSs, many of which are not available on the Internet. The government BBS servers are arranged under broad subject headings. These headings include behaviour and society, communication and health care. NTIS receives over 700 new information products each week and these are available for downloading. Recent government reports, commerce information and a world news connection is also available from this Web page.
The US Postal Service's WINGS project aims to provide local, state and federal
government information through information kiosks as well as the Internet.
The concept is to provide one stop shopping based on events in the life of
the consumer rather than the consumer having to contact offices of different
government departments. For example, if a person is moving, WINGS can be
used to organise a change of car registration and the readdressing of mail
which is forwarded to specified government departments, the telephone company
and commercial enterprises. While WINGS is highly graphical in nature, there
is a text version available as well.
With the increasing amount of consumer information on the Internet and the growing number of people using the Internet, the needs of people who are blind or vision impaired should be taken into account with regard to this technology.
This Project supports Williamson's statement (1995, p. 269) that there is a need for further research into "the best ways to assist older people to overcome the potential disadvantages resulting from technological change." With regard to older people with a vision impairment, research should be directed to an investigation of attitudes and various training methods in the use of the Internet and other technologies.
RECOMMENDATION
That NFBCA seek funding by July, 1997 for a research project to
investigate the acceptance and use of new technology by people who become
vision impaired late in life.
There is a considerable problem with the design of Web sites becoming more multimedia oriented. This is an enormous obstacle for people who are blind or vision impaired using screen readers to access the text on the Web site. Often, it is only lack of awareness by the Web designers as some reasonably easy accommodation is all that is necessary to make a Web site accessible.
Thus, it would be very valuable to undertake a survey of the most relevant consumer information sites set up by telecommunications companies, banks and government departments to ascertain their accessibility. For those which are not accessible, messages could be sent to the Webmasters informing them of the issue of access for people who are blind or vision impaired and the emerging DDA guidelines on accessible Web design (see 6.5.2). Additionally, bulletins could be sent to major Australian Internet news groups and discussion lists to raise awareness and discussion on the issues of access to information.
NFBCA can raise awareness of these issues by addressing them on their own
Web site. The NFBCA Web site could also have the facility of an assessment
service of other Web sites' accessibility. A Web site owner could send its
URL to NFBCA where it is checked against accessibility criteria. A response
would be sent to the sites' Webmaster advising of any changes required. Once
these are met, the Web site can use the Web accessibility symbol.
RECOMMENDATIONS
That NFBCA conduct a survey by May, 1997 on Australian Web sites set up by
telecommunications companies, banks and government departments to analyse
their accessibility. For those sites which are not accessible, NFBCA should
advise regarding accessible Web design.
That NFBCA set up and maintain a Web site by January, 1997 to disseminate information on its advocacy activities.
That NFBCA provide an assessment service of other Web sites' accessibility. This should be set up by April, 1997.
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Forward to Chapter 6 - Underlying Policies for
Information Provision