Australian
policy &
practice in ICT
accessibility
Gunela Astbrink,
Internet Society of Australia
ASEAN-ITU Seminar,
August 2014
Background
 Australia
has signed and ratified the
UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities
 Telecommunications legislation refers
to Disability Discrimination Act 1992
 Well-developed regulatory processes
Policies and practices
 National
Disability Insurance
Scheme
 National Disability Strategy
 Web Accessibility National
Transition Strategy
 Captioning on TV
Policies and practice
 Complexity
of implementing policy
 Sometimes, practice takes longer
than policies indicate
 Very important that policies
become practice
 Guidelines to assist implementation
National Disability Strategy
2010-2020

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
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Vision: An inclusive Australian society that enables
people with disability to fullfill their potential as equal
citizens
Strategy 1: Inclusive and accessible communities
Relevant areas for future action:
 1.7 Promote universal design principles in
procurement
 1.8 All governments adopted the mandated
conformance levels for web accessibility as a
baseline requirement to ensure more people with
disability have access to online information and
services
Brings together many planned priorities or activities in
the early implementation stage
No specific resources allocated
Web Accessibility National
Transition Strategy


Mandatory for federal government web sites to be
accessible to Level AA of WCAG 2.0 by 2014
Web Policy team in Australian Government
Information Office (Department of Finance) –
web accessibility part of whole of government
procurement & strategy approach




2010 baseline survey of accessibility on
government websites
Training and liaison with government agencies
Web auditing
However, under-resourced in meeting people’s
expectations
Web Accessibility National
Transition Strategy

Report on progress 2010-2012 (Report released
December 2013)

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Over 1300 websites
26% of government websites meet Level A – up
from 5%
46% of sites non-conforming moving directly to
Level AA by Dec. 2014
73% of agencies have re-evaluated their web
publishing processes
58% have changed their content management
systems
97% of agencies are doing an ICT procurement
review
Web Accessibility National
Transition Strategy

Expectation that many agencies will meet
Level AA by December 2014

Will not be 100%

Difficulty of legacy content

Final accessibility survey late 2014
 Inclusion
is priority beyond 2014
Digital Service Standard

Current Government’s ICT election policy
includes: “Convenient service anytime,
anywhere”

Digital Service Standard is planned
Adhering to Standard at design stage rather
than remediation
 Moving away from checkbox mentality and
shifting paradigm to user perspective
 Building tools around user needs
 Self-assessment but new service cannot be
launched without meeting Standard (includes
WCAG 2.0)

Digital Service Standard
 Skills
development is precursor of
Standard

Government employees need to acquire
digital skills including accessibility to
underpin productivity
 Standard
Guide

will lead to a Digital Design
Accessibility will be included – mainstream
inclusion approach
National Disability Insurance
Scheme
 Very
large Government program for
community linking and individualised
support
 3 Tiers
1.
2.
3.
Information & referral
Support to access services
Individualised care plan for people with
significant disability in all facets of person’s
life
National Disability Insurance
Scheme
 Key
principle: Consumer control and
choice
 Support and equipment for education,
transport, employment

Includes support workers and home
modifications
 ARATA
assistive technology policy papers:
http://www.arata.org.au/home/disabilitycare-australia/
Accessibility criteria in ICT
public procurement
 Public
procurement = Government
purchasing
 USA apply accessibility criteria when
procuring ICT to improve access to their
services and employment opportunities
for people with disabilities
 This may have a flow-on effect of greater
availability of affordable and accessible
ICT
Accessibility criteria in ICT
public procurement

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Significant impact seen in USA through Section 508
eg Apple, Microsoft
Completion of European Guidelines to harmonise
with Section 508
Research into policy & practice in OECD countries
(Astbrink & Tibben)



http://telsoc.org/tja/2013-05-v63-n2/a412
Governments sometimes already use suppliers that
provide accessible hardware and software but need
to specify to acquire accessible sub-sets
Australian Government review of Section 508 in terms
of its procurement of mobile phones and desktop
hardware
Accessibility criteria in ICT
public procurement
 Governments
sometimes already use
suppliers that provide accessible
hardware and software but need to
specify to acquire accessible sub-sets
 Australian Government review of Section
508 in terms of its procurement of mobile
phones and desktop hardware
Captioning on TV

Broadcasting Services Amendment (Improved
Access to Television Services) Act 2012
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new captioning targets for commercial and
national television broadcasters
new captioning obligations and targets for
subscription television broadcasters and
narrowcasters
a requirement that the Australian
Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
develop standard(s) on captioning quality
Captioning on TV

Broadcasting Services Amendment
(Improved Access to Television Services)
Act 2012
 broadcasters
transmit emergency warnings in
the form of text and speech, and caption
those warnings where practicable
 new annual compliance reporting and
record keeping requirements to support new
captioning obligations
 making compliance with the captioning
obligations under Part 9D a licence condition
Captioning & audio
description on TV
 At
least 85% of programs from 6.00 am to
midnight have closed captions
 Audio description trialled on ABC (public
broadcaster) for 13 weeks in 2012


Successful trial
No follow-up service launched
Conclusion
 Overview
of some Australian policies and
practices
 Inclusion is key component
 Consumers have important role to play to
ensure that Government programs remain
relevant to their needs
Thank you!
Gunela Astbrink
Internet Society of Australia
g.astbrink@gsa.com.au