The Australian Centre for Student Equity and Success acknowledges Indigenous peoples across Australia as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which the nation’s campuses are situated. With a history spanning more than 60,000 years as the original educators, Indigenous peoples hold a unique place in our nation. We recognise the importance of their knowledge and culture, and reflect the principles of participation, equity, and cultural respect in our work. We pay our respects to Elders past, present, and future, and consider it an honour to learn from our Indigenous colleagues, partners, and friends.

You are reading: ADCET webinar — 2018 Vision Australia Report: Online, but off-track

Event information

The Australian Disability Clearinghouse on Education and Training (ADCET) looks forward to bringing you this webinar presented by Bruce Maguire from Vision Australia.

In 2017, Vision Australia conducted survey-based research into the online learning experiences of university students who are blind or have low vision. Thirty-four of the 35 respondents reported that experienced significant barriers when trying to use online learning environments, and in some cases these barriers prevented the students from completing their university studies.

The barriers were of three basic and often overlapping types:

  1. Firstly, some online learning platforms do not comply with accessibility guidelines and standards, and so to that extent cannot be used by people who require assistive technologies such as screen-reading software.
  2. Secondly, respondents reported that disability support staff often have little knowledge of how assistive technology interacts with the university’s online learning systems, and the nature of appropriate reasonable adjustments.
  3. Thirdly, some respondents reported that course lecturers were unwilling to accommodate their needs, for example, by providing them with accessible versions of Powerpoint presentations or course notes.

Since publishing the findings of the research, Vision Australia has vigorously engaged with a range of stakeholders to discuss how these pervasive barriers can be addressed systemically by the university sector working collaboratively, and also by the adoption of best practices by individual universities. As universities are now increasingly using online course delivery, it is more important than ever that students who are blind or have low vision do not face barriers that will have a negative impact on their studies and future opportunities for employment and further education.

The webinar is free to attend, it will be live captioned and recorded. The captioned video will then be made available on ADCET.

Presenter

Bruce Maguire. Lead Policy Advisor, Vision Australia

Bruce is blind and has a Master’s degree in Policy and Applied Social Research. Before joining Vision Australia in 2008, Bruce worked in the Disability Rights Unit at the Australian Human Rights Commission. He has also been Chair of the Australian Braille Authority and President of the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities. He also led Vision Australia’s research project into barriers to online learning experienced by university students who are blind or have low vision.

More details and registration are available on the ADCET website.