Information accessibility for people with disability during COVID-19

Presented by Dr Ariella Meltzer, UNSW Centre for Social Impact.

Information accessibility is a right under that UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Article 21) and is an area protected by the Disability Discrimination Act in Australia. Yet in the face of the COVID-19 crisis, the immediate reality and implications of this right have never been more apparent for people with disability: having access to good quality, up-to-date information in accessible formats is quite literally a matter of life and death. This webinar examines some questions about what providing accessible information in such a crisis means.

This webinar examines some questions about what providing accessible information in such a crisis means:

  • How quickly does accessible information come out?
  • Which accessible formats are covered, and why?
  • To what extent is accessible information kept up-to-date?
  • Is only the baseline information covered or the same variety of sub-topics that others receive?
  • How, and by who, is accessible information produced and disseminated?
  • Who checks the accuracy and quality of accessible information?

Examples of accessible information will be included in the webinar, along with discussion about what providing good quality accessible information means at the current moment in time.