Welcome to the Summer edition of Blind Citizens News! You can download the Word version or listen to the audio within each article.
List of Articles
- Editorial – Amila Dedovic – The editorial weaves together stories on communication, employment, AI in audio description, education, and lived experience, reminding readers that real progress happens when accessibility is built in from the start and shaped by the people who use the systems every day.
- Accessible Communications in Australia: where we are and where we could be – Amila Dedovic – This article reviews the current state of accessible communication in Australia, using case studies from telecommunications, government, health and technology. While acknowledging positive policy and technology developments, it highlights ongoing gaps such as inconsistent access to alternate formats and the continuing digital inclusion divide for people with disability.
- Can You Be Fired For Losing Your Sight? Why we must rethink hiring bias – Rachael Johinke, Eye to the Future Project Coordinator, Blind Citizens Australia and Aroha Nisbett, Advocacy Campaigns Manager, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT – Through Christine Antonopoulos’ experience of losing her job after disclosing vision loss, this article examines how implicit bias affects employment outcomes. It outlines practical steps employers can take to reduce bias, including training, diverse hiring panels and resources such as BCA’s Eye to the Future Employer e-Guide.
- AI is now used for audio description. But it should be accurate and actually useful for people with low vision – Kathryn Locke, Associate Researcher in Digital Disability, Centre for Culture and Technology, Curtin University and Tama Leaver, Professor of Internet Studies, Curtin University – Locke and Leaver explore the growing role of AI in audio description, celebrating its potential to make media more accessible while warning of risks if accuracy and trust are compromised. They stress that people who are blind or vision impaired must be central to decisions about how AI is used, ensuring it truly supports inclusion rather than undermining quality.
- Reclaiming Identity: returning to university with vision impairment – Kathryn O’Toole – The author shares her experience returning to university after losing her sight later in life. Facing lecture halls and digital platforms built for sighted students, she has turned challenges into opportunities for advocacy, collaboration, and systemic change, showing how lived experience can enrich learning while reclaiming identity and purpose.
- Are You Blind? – Christine Exley, Associate Professor of Economics, University of Michigan – Exley reflects on living with retinitis pigmentosa and the social challenges of vision loss. Her story highlights that there is no single “right way” to be blind or vision impaired and encourages empathy, understanding, and respect for individual choices.
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Editor’s Note
Blind Citizens Australia refers to our members as people who are blind or vision impaired. However, we respect the right of individual authors to use whatever language is most comfortable for them.
Publication Information
COPYRIGHT: Reproduction of articles appearing in Blind Citizens News is permitted provided Blind Citizens News and the author(s) are acknowledged.
Large Print ISSN 1441-449X Braille ISSN 1441-5658
Blind Citizens News is distributed in Large Print, Braille, and Audio. Electronic copies in text format are available from our webpage, on CD or by email. The audio edition is available as a podcast by searching for Blind Citizens Australia in your favourite podcast app or can be accessed via the Vision Australia library service. If you would like to receive Blind Citizens News in a different format please contact us.
Funding and Donations for BCA
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BCA would like to acknowledge the generous work of the Jeffrey Blyth Foundation. The Foundation was formed in 1995 with BCA being the beneficiary. And the Shirley Fund, which now sits with the Jeffrey Blyth Foundation following the merger of BCNSW with BCA.
We would also like to acknowledge our funding partners: the Federal Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (DHDA), the National Disability Insurance Agency, the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) NSW; the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) Victoria, DHDA via the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO), Vision Australia, Guide Dogs Australia, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT, EverAbility, and our generous members and BCA Backers.
If you would like to make a donation to Blind Citizens Australia, you can call 1800 033 660 and use your credit card. You can also donate online https://www.givenow.com.au/blindcitizensaustralia. All donations over $2 are tax-deductible.
Feedback for BCA
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Do you have any compliments, suggestions or concerns you wanted to let BCA know about? You can do this anonymously by going to our website and completing a feedback form or you can call the BCA Office toll free on 1800 033 660. Your feedback will be used to improve our services to better meet the needs of our membership.
How to make a complaint about BCA
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Any member, volunteer, or their advocate, can lodge a complaint about the services provided by BCA. Complaints can be made in the following ways:
Phone: 1800 033 660
Email: bca@bca.org.au
Website: www.bca.org.au/feedback
Post: Blind Citizens Australia, Level 3, Ross House
247 – 251 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, Vic 3000
If there are complaints of a serious nature, the Chief Executive Officer will ask that the complaint be put in writing.
Complaints will be recorded in accordance with the requirements for complaints management outlined by The Office of Disability Services Commissioner. Member and client privacy will be respected and protected in relation to the recording, management and resolution of the complaint. For a full copy of BCA’s complaints policy, please go to our website www.bca.org.au/feedback or call BCA.