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Funding and governance of library and information services for visually impaired people: international case studies

Part 2: Country studies

Submitted to: IFLA/BL/MLA steering group

Version: Final

Date: 8 May 2007

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Contents

Australia

Basic country data

Population 20.155m (2005).

Over 65s as % of total population: 2005 13.1%; 2020 16.4% (projected).

GNI per capita (international dollars converted at purchasing power parities) 2005: $30,610

Government: Federation

Estimated number of visually impaired people: 300,000

Estimated number of print-impaired people (including those with vision loss): 1.4m

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Note on information sources

The questionnaires had a particularly good response in the higher education sector in Australia and there is a much greater level of detail available here on that subject than in most other countries. However, no respondent felt able to give us a national picture, perhaps reflecting the state-based nature of provision We have relied quite heavily on the answers provided by Vision Australia; bodies who provide similar services in other parts of Australia were contacted but did not respond. Some information gaps have been filled by desk research.

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Definitions and their effects

There are several definitions used in Australia, in general trending towards including print disabilities as well as visual impairment

Vision Australia referred in its response to the "government definition, shared by special libraries" as follows:

"a person without sight, or whose sight is severely impaired; a person unable to hold or manipulate books or move his or her eyes; a person with a perceptual disability which limits the ability to follow a line of print."

A similar definition was also incorporated into the Copyright Amendment Act 1998, but omitted the words "... disability which limits the ability to follow a line of print" from the last point.

It also has strong similarities to the definition of print disability set out by another respondent, the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities [*1 http://www.e-bility.com/roundtable/about.php]:

"People with a print disability are those who cannot obtain access to information in a print format because they:

  • "are blind or vision impaired
  • "have physical disabilities which limit their ability to hold or manipulate information in a printed form
  • "have perceptual or other disabilities which limit their ability to follow a line of print or which affect their concentration
  • "cannot comprehend information in a print format due to insufficient literacy or language skills"

In the library context, the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) stated that that "in Australia in contexts such as legislation and elsewhere the broader term 'persons with print disabilities' is often used in preference to persons with a vision impairment when referring to the needs of persons for information in formats other than standard print."

Different definitions are also in use locally: The University of Tasmania library uses 6/60 as the definition of legally blind, but provides services to any student with a certification of visual impairment from any authorised medical practitioner, and also takes a flexible approach to the definition of print impairment, including learning difficulties.

It was generally felt that the above definition was broad enough to permit libraries to offer services to people with vision and perceptual disabilities on a rights basis rather than on a narrow clinical or overly medical definition. However, a point was raised by one university library that the standards used by the government to determine the number of students with a vision disability are directly linked to funding for overall resources and services, while the standards used by the libraries themselves revolve around individual demand for specific services, and not all people with a vision disability identify their needs to libraries.

Interestingly, while the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act of 1992 [*2 http://scaleplus.law.gov.au/html/pasteact/0/3/11/top.htm] was frequently referred to, there was some confusion as to whether the DDA actually contained a definition of visual impairment. In fact the Act defines the obligations of institutions in relation to the rights of disabled people, rather than defining specific disabilities.

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Library and user group data

Prevalence of visual and print impairment

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, around 292,700 Australians are blind or vision impaired (2004). The figure is set to increase to 421,600 by 2021 as 'baby boomers' reach retirement age.

There is general agreement about the visually impaired and print disabled population: Vision Australia estimates 300,000 visually impaired people and 1.4m print disabled people and the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities estimated in 1995 that there were over 1 million Australians who have a print disability.

This figure may be increasing. According to a 2002 discussion paper on provision of materials in the tertiary education sector from the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission:

"While the definition of "print disability" is clear, there are few reliable statistics that can be used to make firm predictions about increasing numbers. This in itself indicates that there is scope for research. However, all the anecdotal and extrapolated evidence suggests that the number of people in the general population who have a print disability is increasing, and that the number of students with print disabilities who are enrolled at universities is also increasing." [*3 http://www.hreoc.gov.au/disability_rights/education/forumdp.html]

There is also a survey on the incidence of disability among indigenous people, but this subsumes sight, hearing and speech disabilities in one category and a number of factors mean that it is not comparable with other surveys. A paper from the National Library of Australia on library services for disabled people in the aboriginal communities in 2002 [*4 http://www.nla.gov.au/initiatives/meetings/disabilities/indigenous.html] stated:

"Given the difficulties associated with collecting basic data on the prevalence of disabilities within indigenous communities, it is not possible to clearly identify the needs of indigenous people with disabilities with respect to library and information services. However, it is known that indigenous communities suffer relatively high rates of certain medical conditions that can be expected to lead to varying degrees of disability, for example a higher incidence of glaucoma, ear infections and diabetes, leading to sight and hearing impairments. Together with low rates of English literacy, this translates to a major incidence of print and other disability in indigenous communities and is a serious barrier to library use."

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Public libraries

According to the Australia Bureau of Statistics Public Libraries survey 2003-4 [*5 http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Lookup/08CDEAE368A2A931CA256A780001D4DB], at the end of June 2004, there were 548 public library and archive organisations operating through 1,754 locations. The number of local government libraries rose from 505 in 1999/2000 to 532 in 2003-4, after a decline between 1996-7 and 1999-2000. The number of local government library locations was also up from 1,510 in 1999/2000 to 1,716 in 2003-4.

Visits rose from 93.3m to 99.6m to local government libraries. There were 105 million visits to local government, national and state libraries, representing an average of five visits per head of population.

Income rose from $478m in 1999/2000 to $545.2m in 2003-4 and the total number of employees went up slightly from 9,592 to 10,606.

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Rights and attitudes

Rights

The main rights, including access to buildings and services, are laid down in the Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act, 1992.

Libraries operating out of educational institutions are also required to comply with subordinate legislation in the form of the Disability Standards for Education, August 2005 [*6 http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/school_education/programmes_funding/forms_guidelines/disability_standards_for_education.htm] which clarify the obligations of education and training providers to ensure that students with disabilities are able to participate in education without experiencing discrimination.

Case law is clarifying the provisions of the DDA.

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Attitudes on equal access

General

Most visually impaired people expect to get access to material, even if their expectation is that access should be responsibility of specialist blindness services. Older and more recently visually impaired people have lower expectations – they are not aware that they can ask for accessible material and would be supported by anti-discrimination laws. Many visually impaired people do rely on family and friends, especially for personal mail and email.

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Students

Visually impaired students are generally well aware of their rights but most are also somewhat accepting of the difficulties in providing the volume of information resources available to sighted students in the timeframe available. In particular, expectations would be that required reading is made available, but that recommended reading is not automatically available as it would be to sighted students. Visually impaired students would also expect assistance with research and any training needed to use unfamiliar equipment and help with computer and information literacy.

In contrast with the general observation that those who have lost their sight recently expect less, one university felt that students losing their sight had greater expectations, along with those who have been educated in mainstream schools.

Another university observed that "complaints lodged against educational institutions by people with vision impairments have increased, with outcomes slowly building case law in the form of court decisions."

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Services to print impaired people in relation to services to visually impaired people

All the responding institutions provide services for visually impaired and print impaired people alike, from the same budgets and using the same structures.

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Models and responsibilities

Service provision – general

Library services are provided by state governments in Australia, and public libraries have some limited audio and large print collections.

A national public library for print disabled people is provided under the auspices of Vision Australia, which was formed in 2004 through the merger of separate agencies serving blind people: the Royal Blind Society (RBS), the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind (RVIB) and Vision Australia Foundation (VAF) and the National Information and Library Service (NILS). NILS had been formed previously through the merger of the constituent organisations' library services, and was constituted as a jointly-owned subsidiary of the three agencies.

Just as this report was being finalized, Vision Australia announced a merger with the Royal Blind Foundation Queensland (RBFQ).

Vision Australia had a total revenue of AU$70.35 million. It is funded mainly by bequests and donations (38%) and government grants (36%). Sales of goods and service revenues account for 8% and 2% of income respectively [*7 http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/docs/about_us/AR06_Final_lores.pdf]. The large majority of its expenditure (77%: AU$47.8 million) is on providing services to clients and operating its information library, which supplies accessible materials direct to readers. The relative share of these activities is not stated.

However, agencies in Western Australia, Tasmania and South Australia remain outside the Vision Australia umbrella and their ability to buy outsourcing services from Vision Australia is subject to funding constraints at the state level.

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Educational provision

Schools

Library services for visual and print-impaired school students are organised on a state basis under the relevant state ministry for education and training. For example, the Vision Education Service in Western Australia provides a range of services, including equipment loan and alternative format reading and other curricular materials, from pre-school to the end of secondary education. They make the point that others have also made that educational material is time-consuming to produce.

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Universities

Library services to disabled students in tertiary institutions are the responsibility of the individual university, (in accordance with anti-discrimination laws) and depend on the funding and other organisational aspects of the individual university. However, universities do collaborate to share and make materials available and they also access materials from special libraries through interlibrary loan. Vision Australia Information Library Service provides student material on request only, not as part of the regular collection. The specialist organisations also help tertiary institutions to increase access to materials and support to individual students though their advice. CAUL noted that Vision Australia's moves to full cost recovery in recent years have tended to lead to universities undertaking more in-house material provision, though Braille materials will mostly be provided by Vision Australia. Other universities also noted less reliance on specialist blindness agencies to provide materials and more c o-operation between universities to share materials.

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Governmental responsibility

There are points of responsibility and both Commonwealth (federal) and state level within the ministries responsible for the rights and welfare of disabled people and in the ministries with authority over schools. The regulation and funding of universities is on the Commonwealth level through the Department of Education Science and Training (DEST).

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Overlaps – are they a problem?

None of the respondents believe that there are problematic overlaps in responsibilities. Materials are shared via inter-library loan. The major issue raised is the fact that several states are outside the Vision Australia organisation, but there are arrangements to renew agreements with those organisations and VA hopes to improve service to people living in those areas.

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Gaps between policy and practice

General services

The major gap identified is in the uneven provision across different states, due to the lack of a national special library service, as Vision Australia covers only some of the states – albeit the most populous ones.

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Higher education

Respondents identified a number of gaps between the policy of equitable access and the reality. These can be categorised as follows:

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Time lags

One of the biggest challenges is to provide material in a timely way. Gaps arise due to the time and resources required to prepare alternative format information resulting in delays in the timely provision of alternative format material to students. Often reading lists are not provided with sufficient lead time to allow the preparation of alternative format materials in the timeframe they are required. This can be the fault of the teaching staff or it can be because students do not advise the institution at the time of their enrolment of the full extent of their support requirements. Case studies of individual students referred to in the HREOC's report already cited identify other time-related issues, such as lecturers not realising that providing ad hoc reading material for immediate discussion in classes without advanced notice poses problems for visually impaired students and puts them at a disadvantage.

There is a time lag between the development or upgrading of mainstream software programs and the upgrading of assistive software (e.g. screen readers) relied upon by people with a disability and used in conjunction with mainstream software.

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Formats

Other gaps arise from the challenges in providing description of visual content (diagrams, images etc) in information resources, in particular if the significance of the illustrative material is not apparent to the transcriber.

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Assumptions in relation to technology and online resources

As computers are used more and more to deliver library services, there is an expectation that all users will have the technology and skills needed. For vision impaired people, much of this technology is quite expensive which places individual items out of their reach. Furthermore, libraries in the sector are not satisfactorily meeting the individual training needs of these users and a number of library systems do not comply fully with web accessibility and other standards for providing material to people with vision disabilities in a suitable format. Resources provided on the web for students may not always be accessible – e.g. some PDF documents, some library databases, etc. At times material may not be considered for alternative formatting because it is already available electronically and assumed to be accessible. However users of screen reading software at times find that documents in electronic format are not accessible via their screen reader. Some PDF documents are particularly problematic.

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Training

There is a lack of training in accessible software and accessibility standards by people responsible for webpage and coursework design and for digitisation of resources such as course readings.

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Are the models in flux?

The main change in organisation came with the formation of Vision Australia. Vision Australia expects a strengthening of relationships between public libraries and specialist libraries. Models of delivery will be affected by the transition to digital technologies.

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What is driving change?

Technology

The general view is that there is a mainstreaming process occurring in the provision of library and information services as the Internet and DAISY take over from the old audio tapes. Some public libraries are beginning to look at technology for the delivery of accessible information services.

However, the identification of gaps between policy and practice indicates that there can be dangers in the idea that technology is solving all the problems, if it is incorrectly assumed that all online material is readily accessible; cost, lack of training and bad practice can all prevent accessibility, and much material is not available online.

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Policy framework

The government's Print Disability and Postal Concessions to the Blind Report 2003, referred to above, looked at the way alternative format materials were funded, produced and distributed. It contained five recommendations.

According to Vision Australia, the recommendations would make a considerable impact were they to be carried out.

The five recommendations were:

  • 1. Department of Family and Community Services commission research into the application of contemporary technology to the production of alternative format material
  • 2. Department of Family and Community Services further review the funding model for services funded under the Print Disability Services Program
  • 3. Department of Family and Community Services and Australia Post jointly review the arrangements for administering the Postal Concessions for the Blind Program
  • 4. Department of Family and Community Services works with Australia Post to ensure Australia Post staff are aware of the Postal Concessions for the Blind Program.
  • 5. Department of Family and Community Services reviews items considered eligible for postage under the Postal Concessions for the Blind Program.

The first two were pursued in a report by Jenny Pearson entitled Research into the Application of Contemporary Technology to the Production of Alternative Format Material.

This report made a number of recommendations, including the following:

Recommendation 1

Producers of audio format materials should transition to digital production of masters as a first priority. Conversion of selected analogue masters should occur as a second priority.

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Recommendation 2

Production of analogue audio copies (e.g. audio cassettes) should be continued during the period of transition from analogue to digital production in order that consumers are not disadvantaged.

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Recommendation 3

The DAISY (ANSI/NISO Z39.86) standard should be adopted as the formatting standard to be used by Australian producers of digital audio books.

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Recommendation 4

There should be a choice of formats and delivery methods for consumers, including physical formats such as hard copy Braille and Large Print (although it is not suggested that every provider produce both physical and electronic formats).

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Recommendation 5

Current work by the Attorney Generals Department towards revision of the Australian Copyright Act (1968) should be accelerated with the underpinning principle being the appropriate removal of barriers to access by people with a disability, consistent with the Disability Discrimination Act (1992).

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In its response to the Pearson report [*8 http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info.aspx?page=988], Vision Australia supports a number of the recommendations but points out that there are large costs involved in converting to digital delivery and as it will save money from the postal concession, the government should consider the issues together. The Pearson report was not asked to consider the postal concession issues. It is also concerned that it is impossible to know whether the proposed funding model will deliver the same level of subsidy as the current model, which is itself insufficient to cover the costs of producing alternative format materials.

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Measuring success

Vision Australia has a number of mechanisms in place to measure how well it is satisfying users.

Targets include the range and depth of material available; speed of supplying item;users' satisfaction with the service across a range of measures

Market research and development team suggests Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to the executive, based on comparisons with like organisations. Targets are reviewed annually, with a philosophy of continuous improvement. The baseline (as VA is a new organisation) was a survey of a representative sample of library clients carried out in 2005. The survey will be repeated 2007 to look at trends. Indicators covered: customer service; professionalism of staff; effectiveness of services in relation to vision and missions/values of VA; preferred formats; internet and PC usage; adherence to disability service standards. Also use focus groups and did a research pilot with 700 clients to test new digital service delivery model.

Universities have a variety of targets and means of measurement, for example Rodski Research is a company used by approximately half of Australian and New Zealand universities to conduct surveys of library client satisfaction.

However, CAUL believes user satisfaction is not well measured

"There is a question in the Rodski survey, a client satisfaction survey used by university libraries, that relates to "Aids provided for users with disabilities" but it has limited usefulness as a measure of success. Apart from the Rodski survey, individual institutions may conduct their own client satisfaction surveys."

Individual universities

UTAS: The library has a maximum 6-week turnaround time for providing reading materials. Academic staff are required to make unit outlines and reading lists available 6 weeks prior to the start of semester

Generally, tertiary education libraries attempt to measure their success in providing services to students with a range of disabilities – including vision disabilities. Clients are surveyed on a range of Library related issues.

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Participation by visually impaired people

VA has a strong consultative framework with boards and a library client committee. It also undertakes specific surveys and research into client expectations and satisfaction. Governing Board of VA includes several users of the service. A sub-committee of the Board oversees all client services including the library.

Universities

Within UTAS, some staff involved in Disability Support have a visual impairment. There are student representatives on relevant university committees.

People with a vision disability have little leadership or operational involvement in relation to services provided by other organisations assisting tertiary sector libraries in meeting their needs. Students with vision and other print disabilities have some involvement via provision of feedback to library staff regarding service availability and quality and participation on advisory committees designed to monitor service provision issues for library users with disabilities. However, their level of involvement varies from one university to another.

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Funding sources and adequacy

General

Vision Australia

Vision Australia gets most of its funding (70%) from donations and the sale of services. The remainder comes from Australian Federal and State Governments, specifically from the Department of Family Community and Indigenous Services (postal subsidy) and the Dept of Veteran Affairs (equipment and services).

Vision Australia Information Library Service has a budget of A$4m 2006-7. It has 16,000 clients for materials. Funding has been static and is not adequate. Vision Australia believes that in each state they should be funded as a public library at A$7m+ per annum, with matching or more Federal funding.

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Higher education

CAUL estimates the funding at approximately $342 per capita, estimated from total funding divided by approximate number of university students with disabilities, for all programs, not direct services to students, and not specifically library services.

The number of students with a disability in 2000 was 18,775 of whom 3,505 had a visual disability [*9 http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse/Information%20and%20Services/Current%20Students/Student%20Services%20Group/Disability%20Coordination%20Office/Statistics%20on%20People%20with%20a%20Disability/#university accessed 30 August 2006]. It appears that the 2002 participation rate for students with visual disability is around 0.5% [*10 http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/higher_education/publications_resources/profiles/analysis_of_equity_groups_in_higher_education_1991_2002.htm] Accessed 30 August 2006].

Macaquarie University also made the following comments:

"It is difficult to obtain national data regarding this as responsibility for providing library services for students with vision disabilities is undertaken by different spheres of the Australian education and print disability service systems. These are operated by different state and territory governments which have jurisdiction over different levels of education, private education institutions owned and managed by churches and other bodies and registered charities (blindness service agencies) providing support to people with vision disabilities in the general community.

Unfortunately, funding of library services for students with vision disabilities in the Australian tertiary sector appears to have increased only marginally over recent years. It is not adequate. Considerable funds need to be injected in to the tertiary education library system to purchase and house a greater range of reference sources, maps and other data, journal holdings and other material in a suitable common electronic file format for access by students with vision disabilities.

Funding also needs to be increased to allow sufficient opportunity for upgrade and replacement of assistive technology needed to access electronic material. Greater training budgets for use in equipping library staff and students with the skills they need to make best use of available and required technology is also needed. Braille production equipment and training in its use also needs to be available in educational libraries to reduce the amount of time taken to access material from external sources in this format for use by students with vision disabilities. At least 300 million dollars is needed to establish/enhance the above-mentioned services offered by Australian tertiary education libraries to students with vision disabilities. Funding would then need to be provided on a continuing basis to ensure these services are adequately maintained."

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Overall availability of material in alternative formats

Vision Australia has 18,000 analogue titles in its collection.

According to the Round Table on Information Access for People with Print Disabilities, only 3% of information is available in accessible format for use by people with vision and other print disabilities.

CAUL believes that:

Most text books recently published in Australia would be available electronically on request direct from publisher through individual licence for students with a print disability. Many text books published overseas are also available on request.

The Blind Citizens' Australia 2002 survey, cited above, stated:

"The two quasi-national specialist services have a combined total of around 16,000 unique titles, around 2500 new titles being added annually. There are 95,000 audio books and 40,000 Braille books available for borrowing. By comparison, local government libraries in Australia have 36 million books and other materials available as lending stock, and the state and national libraries hold a further 15 million books and other materials as non-lending stock.

"The public libraries' collections include both large print and audio titles, but these are a fraction of the size of the standard print collections, often quite old, and far more limited in diversity. Many of the audio books held in public libraries are in abridged forms, and often in poor condition. With the exception of the Canberra Library, public libraries in Australia do not hold Braille collections (although Braille is the preferred literacy medium of many blind people)."

Clearly, while some numbers will have changed, the overall relationship between material available to sighted and visually-impaired people is not likely to have changed substantially.

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Materials provision

General

A range of not-for-profit organisations produce alternative format materials, as well as a number of for-profit companies. The Department of Family and Community Services (FaCS) produced the Print Disability and Postal Concession for the Blind Review Report 2003 [*11 http://www.facs.gov.au/disability/blind_review_report/03.html] which listed the organizations responsible for producing alternative format materials:

"There are 13 producers of alternative format material across Australia that receive funding under the Print Disability Services Program. These producers comprise:

  • The Queensland Narrating Service, Queensland;
  • The Australian Listening Library, New South Wales;
  • Royal Blind Society of New South Wales, New South Wales;
  • Royal Institute for the Deaf and Blind Children: Vision Ed, New South Wales;
  • St Edmunds School for the Blind and Vision Impaired, New South Wales;
  • Canberra Blind Society, Australian Capital Territory;
  • Christian Blind Mission International, Victoria;
  • Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind, Victoria;
  • Vision Australia Foundation, Victoria;
  • 'Hear a Book' Service (Tasmania) Inc, Tasmania;
  • Royal Society for the Blind of South Australia Inc, South Australia;
  • Association of the Blind of Western Australia Inc, Western Australia; and
  • Narkaling Inc, Western Australia.

"Twelve of the 13 organisations produce material and services for blind and vision impaired people and one organisation produces alternative format material for people with an intellectual disability.

"A range of alternative format material for State, Territory and Catholic Departments of Education are produced by some of the Print Disability funded services. These services also receive funding from State and Territory disability service programs.

"Private enterprises are also commercially producing Braille, audio and large print materials for people who require material in alternative formats."

It should be noted again that the Royal Blind Society (RBS), the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind (RVIB) and Vision Australia Foundation (VAF) came together the following year in Vision Australia.

Vision Australia is a major provider of materials. It has a digitisation programme in hand.

Braille

Original materials supplied: Print book or e-text

Conversion: VA staff

On-demand: Contract, student and personal support requests

Stock: Projected client requests for the library

Targets for range/depth/speed: No targets apart from a quota of titles for the library each year

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Audio - standard cassette and CD

Original materials supplied: Print books or sheets

Conversion: Text narrated by volunteers or professional narrators; synthetic voice production being trialled for some elements of production

On-demand: Contract, student and personal support requests

Stock: Projected client requests for the library

Targets for range/depth/speed: None

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Audio Daisy

Original materials supplied: Print

Conversion: VA staff

On-demand: Contract, student and personal support requests

Stock: Projected client requests for the library; also analogue materials are being converted to Daisy based on its availability from other agencies and quailty checking for specific date ranges; envisaged that all audio masters held will be converted to Daisy

Targets for range/depth/speed: None

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Daisy text and audio

Original materials supplied: Print

Conversion: VA staff

On-demand: Contract, student and personal support requests

Stock: Projected client requests for the library; also analogue materials are being converted to Daisy based on its availability from other agencies and quailty checking for specific date ranges; envisaged that all audio masters held will be converted to Daisy

Targets for range/depth/speed: None

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Supplied in alternative formats

how supplied: Digital masters in 45 min lengths or wav files

who supplies: Commercial vendors

Basis for decision to acquire: Client preferences for genre, client suggestions, Australian content, award winners and popular authors

Targets for range/depth/speed: None

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Digital audio downloads/streaming

VA does not yet have material available for digital audio download or streaming but is aiming to have downloads available for library content within 12 months, and is spending AU$1.4 million on its DAISY-based digisation project.

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Other materials/formats

Music: There are several producers of Braille music in Australia. Holdings of Braille music are listed in Libraries Australia (the national union catalogue)

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Schools

As an example, the Western Australia Vision Education Service, through its Transcription and Resource Unit, produces, loans and stores curriculum materials and textbooks in:

  • Braille
  • audio tape
  • tactile and
  • large print formats

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Universities

CAUL identifies LaTrobe University's services as typical:

"After providing evidence of your disability or medical condition, Disability Advisory Staff will evaluate your needs and, if required, ensure the provision of:

  • Notetakers, personal readers, scribes, help with assignment preparation and other personal and academic assistance on campus
  • Alternative examination or assessment conditions and applications for special consideration
  • Arrangements for course materials to be made available in an appropriate format, eg. Braille, audio-cassettes
  • Loan of equipment such as wheelchairs, scooters, portable cassette recorders, lecterns, ergonomic chairs
  • Access to computer equipment
  • Arrangements for lectures and tutorials to be held in physically accessible venues
  • Information and support regarding day-to-day university life
  • Information and support regarding complaints of disability discrimination
  • Information regarding scholarships and awards applicable to students with disabilities/additional needs
  • Information regarding accessible accommodation on campus Referral information both internal and external to the University (See http://www.latrobe.edu.au/equity/disas/studinfo.htm visited 28 August 2006)

Macquarie University has established a service called Macquarie Customised Accessibility Service (M-CAS) which provides transcription and consulting services on a fee-for-service basis to tertiary institutions, (and also companies and government departments to support the needs of employees). In liaison with the student's own institution, it works with the academics and individual students to determine their needs and produces material in-house to support that student. It has direct relationships with academic publishers which facilitates fast access to files.

CAUL gave us the following information which generalizes university practices. In most cases, information from individual universities confirmed this. An exception is DAISY, where CAUL said DAISY format texts for students were not currently obtainable: Macquarie was able to source them from specialists and also suggested that several universities were planning to create texts. Macquarie itself is trialling DAISY format production services at its Macquarie Customised Accessibility Services (M-CAS).

Braille

Original materials supplied: Electronically from publisher as word or PDF file or OCR scanned from hard copy.

Conversion: Conversion of hard copy Braille is outsourced to Vision Australia or other specialised transcription services. Some Universities may have conversion equipment for in house transcription.

On-demand: yes

Stock: no

Targets for range/depth/speed: none

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Audio - standard cassette and CD

Original materials supplied: May be hard copy or Electronic (from CD or email)

Conversion: In house through University Disability Services; Outsourced to Vision Australia and other specialised transcription services; Text or screen reading software such as JAWS, Kurzweil, Text aloud or Read and Write Gold may also be used by students to read directly from electronic files

On-demand: yes

Stock: no

Targets for range/depth/speed: none

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Audio digital for download/streaming

Original materials supplied: CD, digital, hardcopy

Conversion: In house through University Disability Services

On demand: yes

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Supplied in alternative formats

how supplied: Post

who supplies: University Disability Services; Education Libraries; Students own conversion

Basis for decision to acquire: Subject areas taught at the university and depending on availability from usual vendors.

Targets for range/depth/speed: none

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Preferred situation

Respondents were asked to describe the ideal way is which library services would be organised, funded and delivered and how organisations would collaborate to do so. There was a lot of agreement in the tertiary sector about the ideal solutions. Schools placed emphasis on better trained staff. It was agreed that governments should provide some or all the funding, with some respondents believing that publishers should also contribute.

Schools

Governments would provide the funding, education departments would deliver the services. There would be greater inter library communication. Ideally, there would be qualified teacher librarians in all schools in Australia and qualified knowledgeable staff and adequate funding.

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CAUL

One idea would be to establish a federally funded national agency which obtained texts and required readings for tertiary education providers on behalf of their enrolled students and staff. This agency would have access to a reliable and comprehensive database of materials in accessible formats and would have established relationships with publishers and be empowered to obtain material in electronic format promptly. The material would be delivered online to visually impaired people's through the tertiary education provider's online learning management systems.

Funding would come from the Department of Education, Science and Training to education providers, who would deliver the services.

The ideal level of service would be timely, accurate materials in preferred format, providing visually impaired people with all required reading prior to the commencement of the semester.

Visually impaired people should also be encouraged to develop the skills to undertake their own independent research which will prepare them for their future work.

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Macquarie University

Ideally, a national central repository needs to be established which would allow for access to materials produced Australia-wide in accessible format to enable libraries and their users with vision disabilities to have more efficient access to costly materials.

All governments involved in establishment of the world education library of accessible study materials for people with print disabilities would contribute financially to this facility on a regular basis. Publishers of educational texts would also contribute funds to ensure technologies available to the library and its users remained current and accessible. Publishers would be required to contribute funds to facilitate Braille/large print production of their texts which would need to be published in compliance with the DAISY standard to ensure availability of an accessible common file format for use in producing material in required formats. The Australian government would also contribute funds to ensure ongoing work of the national education library in providing a high quality uniform service to Australian students with vision impairment – regardless of where they live. All educational institutions would also be required to earmark a significant proportion of their library funds for use in enabling institutional libraries to perform their role in assisting students with vision disabilities at a local level as outlined previously.

Various libraries connected to the 3-tiered system described above would deliver the services. These libraries would share information about their collections and service delivery systems via a common database and participate in joint initiatives designed to improve the quality and range of services available to their clients. They would also ensure barriers to accessing materials in a time-efficient manner would not be created by non-compatible catalogue or inter-library loan systems and processes.

This would be done using a combination of methods: online dispatch of material; delivery of books etc on CD if recorded in DAISY format; or in hard or soft copy Braille/large print. User preference would be a significant factor in shaping the service delivery mode/s to be used. If users did not have specific technology, e.g. DAISY players needed to access some material, the institutional library would need to source this from the national education library for their students. Some material, such as newspapers and certain periodicals, could be delivered to students via a digital broadband satellite wireless transmission system which would facilitate real time access to this material for playback on specially designed devices by the end user. This concept is now a reality and already being applied in South Australia via the "Books in the Sky" initiative (see above under special projects) allowing people with vision disabilities to read talking books and newspapers.

An ideal level of service would involve the provision of material in a user's preferred format within 24 hours of a request being received by the education institution's library.

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The view from the user's perspective

Vision Australia

Vision Australia Information Library Service provides access to a range of fiction and non-fiction, reference, newspapers, magazines, textbooks, children's literature, scientific and academic works through the provision of a free public library service.

To access the collections clients must fill out an application form that is available online, via the post or from a range of local and regional centres. All applications must be signed by an appropriate referee to certify that a client meets the eligibility criterion. Referees include people such as health care professionals, librarian, and teachers.

The library catalogue can be accessed via the phone or on line. Once a client has joined the library the Library Management System (LMS) AURORA is used to construct a reader profile. The LMS automatically circulates the titles, authors, and genres that the client chooses. Materials are currently circulated via the mail (fiction and non-fiction, reference, textbooks, audio-described video) and online (newspapers, scientific journals) with books to be delivered online in the near future. Profiles are dynamic and are updated regularly in conversation with member services librarians who can be contact via a virtual reference services on-line via e-mail twenty-four hours a day or over the phone during business hours and services clients throughout Australia.

A client can suggest a new title for the collection using the "Suggestions" module of the LMS. The acquisition of such a new title depends of Collections Policy and the annual acquisition budget.

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Education

Schools

State education authorities provide textbooks in Braille and other formats to primary and secondary schools.

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Higher education

  • A visually impaired person in a tertiary institution checks the Library catalogue to see if the Library holds the item in accessible electronic format. The person accesses the item from their home or in the library and manipulates the data to their preferred format.
  • If the item is unavailable from the Library in accessible electronic format the student contacts the Disability Officer or the Library at their institution to request the item.
  • If the library holds the item in print format the Disability Officer or the Library may enlarge the required section if that format is suitable for the student.
  • If the Library does not hold the print item or if large print is unsuitable the Disability Officer or the Library checks if an electronic version of the text is available commercially and arranges purchase.
  • If the Library does not hold the print item or if large print is unsuitable the Disability Officer or the Library checks The Catalogue Of Master Copies For Use By Institutions Assisting People With Disabilities maintained by the Copyright Agency Limited. If item is listed arranges to obtain copy in appropriate format
  • If the item is not listed in the CAL Catalogue the Disability Officer or the Library checks Libraries Australia (the national union catalogue) to see if the item is available in another library in Australia in an appropriate format. If item is listed arranges to obtain a copy.
  • If the item is not available through those sources the Library contacts the publisher to request an electronic copy or licence to scan if an electronic copy is not available.
  • The Disability Officer or the Library may choose to use a commercial provider such as Vision Australia or Macquarie Customised Accessibility Services to provide materials in accessible formats.

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A reference work

A limited range of reference works, such as general and subject-specific dictionaries, are available in formats such as Braille for access by people with vision disabilities. However, these are rarely held by tertiary sector libraries. There would need to be specific demand for the purchase of these materials by students with vision disabilities studying at individual institutions given storage and financial issues. If a reference work should be required by a student, they would need to be registered with their institution as a student with a disability. This requires them to contact their disability services section or equity office to have their needs assessed. As part of this process, they would be required to provide supporting documentation from a qualified medical practitioner or allied health professional before being referred to their library for assistance. Next, the student would need to communicate with the reference librarian an their institution library to initially request the work. If available in a suitable format, the library may be able to obtain it from a specialist library on an inter-library loan basis. If it is not available and their was sufficient demand for the work, the library would consider its purchase in the required format when sufficient funds permitted the cost of its production in the required format being met. From the point of view of the vision impaired user, this could amount to lengthy delays in accessing required material.

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A periodical

An increasing range of periodicals are available in electronic form. However, many are only available in PDF form which poses problems for vision impaired computer users – particularly those with access to older technology. If required, an institutional library would need to attempt to source the material or arrange for its conversion in to Word or text format. This would then provide some flexibility for having the material produced in Braille, audio or large print format by the library or suitable accessible format producer.

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A scientific journal article or volume

Generally speaking, vision impaired students would need assistance from library staff in accessing hard copy versions for individual transcription in to an appropriate format by an accessible format producer. Alternatively, students may scan material from these sources using equipment available in dedicated areas within individual libraries which house equipment for use by students with disabilities. These courses of action need to be taken in most instances given the limited availability of such resources in accessible format. However, this situation may improve with the increasing use of electronic media for their publication. Libraries will still play an important role in facilitating access by individual students to these resources by providing required computer hardware and software needed by people with vision disabilities to access written information and assistance with conversion of this type of material should its initial format be inaccessible to these users.

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An academic book

Generally speaking, Australian tertiary education libraries do not purchase academic texts in accessible formats for use by students with vision disabilities. This function is generally performed by disability service areas of individual institutions. Libraries can, however, play an important role in making hard copies of required academic texts available to accessible format producers on extended loan to allow for their contents to be transcribed in to an appropriate format for use by individual students. The accessible format producers are generally contracted on a fee-for-service basis to undertake this work by disability services areas located separately within tertiary institutions.

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General note

In attempting to source the material referred to in the above-mentioned situations, students with vision disabilities must plan as far ahead as possible in relation to their accessible format material requirements for study in order to minimise the risk of experiencing considerabl