1.1. In spite of the existence of specialist library services and the availability of a range of alternative formats for material, blind people have access to approximately three in every thousand printed publications. Blind Citizens Australia recognises this as falling significantly short of equity with sighted people in the community.

1.2. Blind Citizens Australia, as Australia's national organisation representing blind people, has developed this Policy in recognition of the importance of library services to blind people. Blind Citizens Australia recognises that such a Policy is an important part of the advocacy needed to address a lack of equity to information in the community.

1.3. Equitable accessible library services, as a part of the landscape of access to information in the community, are an important factor in the achievement of equal access to work, education, recreation and community participation for blind people.

1.4. In this Policy the term "blind people" includes both people who are totally blind and people whose degree of vision impairment limits their ability to read standard print for a reasonable length of time and at a reasonable speed with reasonable comfort. This Policy does not apply to people who wear reading glasses or use other mainstream aids to read standard print.

1.5. Blind Citizens Australia does not speak for people with other disabilities. However, in this Policy, Blind Citizens Australia seeks solutions to the problems faced by all people who encounter inequities with library services, where those inequities relate to a print disability. In addressing the issues related to library services for blind people, this Policy also broadly addresses the needs of people with a print disability, of which blind people are a subset.

1.6. This Policy rests on the fundamental principle that equitable access to library services is a basic entitlement of all people in the Australian community, including people with print disabilities such as blind people. Therefore, this Policy requires that all library services in Australia provide equitable access to their systems and their collections.

1.7. For the purposes of this Policy, the term "specialist library services" refers to current library services that have the core aim of serving the needs of people with print disabilities, such as blind users, regardless of how the library services are funded or positioned within organisations. This is distinct from other kinds of specialist library services such as academic libraries or special hobby libraries. Those other libraries will be considered by this Policy as being examples of mainstream libraries

1.8. The above distinction between specialist and mainstream library services is only employed in this Policy because of recognition that, in practice, such specialist libraries exist today to partially fill the gap in equity for users with print disabilities. For this reason, some clauses and ideas in this Policy may refer specifically to specialist libraries. However, Blind Citizens Australia considers specialist libraries as a transient phenomenon that should be unnecessary in the future if the principles in this Policy are adequately met, that is, if mainstream libraries provide access to their full collections in accessible formats.

1.9. This Policy sets out the requirements that Blind Citizens Australia deems necessary for library services to be considered equitable and accessible to blind people as a subset of people with print disabilities. Unless specifically stated, all clauses and ideas in this Policy apply to both mainstream and specialist libraries.

1.10. In this Policy, Blind Citizens Australia draws particular attention to the opportunities created by the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act (1992), for the development of Disability Standards, Disability Action Plans and other programs to make community services accessible to people with disabilities. Many of the recommendations in this Policy are amenable to being implemented through such Standards and Action Plans. Accordingly, governments, educational institutions and other organisations providing library services should implement these recommendations in their Standards, Action Plans and other programs for people with disabilities.

2.1. Accessibility of library services rests on the fundamental idea that all aspects and interfaces of library services to users are perceivable, operable, and understandable and of high quality and compatibility with current and future technology.

2.2. Users should be able to sense and perceive all aspects of library services and all desired material in library collections. Availability of library service information, reading materials and information about the reading materials should be available in the user's preferred format, such as large print, hard copy Braille, audio or digital formats. Blind Citizens Australia expects that as digital technology allows, new material in library collections will be available in any chosen format.

2.3. Users should be able to operate with all aspects of library services and all desired material in library collections. Users should be able to move around reading material with ease and comfort at their preferred pace, and be able to find their place within a book, series of books, chapters or pages. Users should also be able to navigate the various library services systems and Internet material to browse catalogues, place orders, and receive accessible confirmations and notifications.

2.4. Users should be able to understand all aspects of library services and the desired material in library collections. All library service information should be available in a variety of community languages, as well as being written in simple language to facilitate ease of understanding for a variety of users.

2.5. Library services should always maintain high quality products, both in library collections, as well as library service systems and information. All material related to library services should satisfy the accessibility requirements for users with current technology as well as being able to work with future technologies. Library services should endeavour to take advantage of the opportunities offered by new digital technology, but not at the expense of users of current technology.

3.1. The premises of library services should be accessible to all members of the community and should adhere to the relevant standards for building access.

3.2. Library service systems should be accessible so that users can place requests for items in a collection, as well as advise on the order in which they wish to receive material, (for example, books in the order they occur within a series).

3.3. For the foreseeable future, library services should maintain a variety of accessible points of contact with users, such as phone access (both automated and operator facilitated), Internet access, and E-Mail and standard mail access to order material, browse catalogues, inform on preferred formats, deliver and return material, and to provide two-way communication between the users and the library services.

3.4. Users of library services should have access to their membership details through an accessible mechanism

4.1. Users of library services should have access to a free and equitable process for the delivery of material between themselves and the library service. As examples, current specialist libraries provide a postal delivery mechanism for items, while mainstream libraries provide on-site borrowing facilities.

4.2. Library services should ensure that people with print disabilities have equitable access to the library catalogues and information about items in the collection. People with print disabilities should have equitable access to any items in the collection that are of interest to them, for example, any items in a current specialist library, or the large print and audio collections in current mainstream libraries

5.1. All users of library services should, at any time, have the opportunity to provide feedback about any aspect of the library service or any item in the library collection.

5.2. Library services should provide a process of regular consultation where all users have the opportunity to contribute to the direction of the library service. This includes opportunities for users to contribute to the choice of items in the collection, as well as ideas around the formats made available and the kinds of technologies that are utilised for library service systems and items in the library collections.

5.3. Library services should provide a process of accountability to consultation processes, compliance to policies such as the current Policy, and the maintenance of high quality library services. This process of accountability should include a means of communication to all users demonstrating the outcomes against activities in action plans.

5.4. All processes of consultation and accountability undertaken by library services must be prepared in the user's preferred format, such as large print, hard copy Braille, audio or digital formats.

6.1. Library service systems and library catalogues should be accessible so that users can peruse the catalogues with ease, and be able to read all useful information about items in a collection such as author, title, description, the item's place in a series, genre, and any other supporting information that is available.

6.2. Users of library services should have access to accessible catalogues in the users preferred format and language.

6.3. All items in library collections should be referenced fully and appropriately. For example, current specialist library catalogues should contain at least the same reference information as the catalogues found in current mainstream libraries. However, reference material for items in library collections should also include information such as an indication of the alternative formats available for each item.

7.1. As digital technology makes it possible, multiple formats for all new material should become available in all libraries. Blind Citizens Australia recognises that this will begin within the context of current specialist libraries, but this Policy aims for such equity to exist across all libraries. As a result, new material in current specialist library collections, extending to all future library collections should be available in any format preferred by the user.

7.2. For technical texts, where non-textual content is reasonably amenable to textual or spoken description, all aspects of this content should be provided through translation, transcription or narration. Where required, library services should employ the resources of people with relevant technical knowledge in order to provide these descriptions.

7.3. In the transition to new digital forms of delivery, the core of material of enduring value should be preserved as part of current specialist library collections, or as part of any future library services delivering on equity. Legacy material located in library collections should not be removed from the collection while there are a reasonable number of users who would still make use of this material as being in their preferred format.

7.4. All material in library collections should be maintained in order to ensure high standards of quality.

8.1. If current specialist library services provide reading material in a specialist format, they should provide, free of charge to the user, the specialist equipment that is necessary for users to gain access to this material, (for example DAISY players). In the future, all library services should make this provision.

8.2. Library services providing specialist equipment should provide for the maintenance, repair and replacement of this specialist equipment provided by the library service at no cost to users.

8.3. Where users identify faulty items in a library collection or items of faulty specialist equipment provided by the library service, the library service should endeavour to repair or replace these items in a timely manner.

8.4. Users should be able to read and enjoy an item from library collections at their chosen pace, in their chosen location, or on the move. Specialist playback devices need to be highly portable, and should provide features that allow the user to customise the pace of reading.

9.1. The selection process for library collections should include a provision for diversity in tastes and interests of the users, and should be directly advised by user feedback and consultation processes available to users.

9.2. At the current time, where an item is known to be readily available in a mainstream library, but is not available in an alternative format for a person with a print disability, the user should have the opportunity to request the production and availability of this specific item at any current specialist library. Library services should make a reasonable effort to provide for such requests, and, in the event of not being able to accommodate such requests, should communicate to the user on the related rationales.

10.1. Items in the library collection should not, in any way, be censored by any individual or organisation. Censorship should not occur in the translation, transcription or narration in the production of alternative formats or languages.

10.2. New items in alternative formats included in library collections should not be abridgments of the original publication.

10.3. Where abridged items exist in library collections, library services should seek to obtain non-abridged versions of these titles for the collections, and should ensure that all reference material and information about items in collections clearly indicate which specific items are abridged and which are not.

(This policy is to be reviewed not later than 31 December 2008.)