Access to information, goods, and services are fundamental to consumer education, protection, advocacy, and rights. The importance of access and how some people are left out is something that is crucial to discussions about metropolitan areas as compared to rural and remote areas, where access to many goods and services can be limited and potentially much more expensive than in metropolitan areas, and is also important within non-English speaking communities in Australia as WEstjustice’s Settlement Justice Project highlights. But perhaps the most overlooked and yet one of the most necessary group(s) when it comes to consumer accessibility is people with a disability/disabled people. Though technology has bridged some gaps, the accessibility of even something as basic as a website or Zoom meeting is something that requires specific attention so that ignorance or unintentionally inaccessible design choices do not prevent participation of as many people as possible.
The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network has thus recently released an ‘Accessibility Best Practice Guide‘ with the aim to provide:
“a series of guidelines on how to make Word and PDF documents accessible and outlines a checklist to create accessible publications and presentations. It also lists the accessibility features of different online meeting platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet, and identifies key physical, visual and audio requirements for accessible physical meeting spaces.”
ACCAN, ‘Accessibility Best Practice Guide’, 04/09/2023
By using this guide, consumer organisations, other groups, and everyday people can make online communication, publications, meetings, and meeting spaces more accessible for everyone.
For more information on disability and accessibility of public premises see the legislated (2010) Premises Standards here.
For more on accessibility in digital spaces please see the Centre for Accessibility Australia (CFA Australia) who’s website can be found here.