Guide Dogs NSW/ACT has developed a ‘Boundless Workshop’ program to change the online industry’s approach to digital accessibility. Over 500,000 Australians living with low vision or blindness face daily exclusion across social apps, online retail, and websites due to inaccessible content.
From 31 October, Guide Dogs NSW/ACT is rolling out in-person digital accessibility workshops at its St Leonards flagship office to train marketers, platform owners, content creators, media outlets, brands, and government on how to create accessible content.
During the half-day workshops, attendees will hear from Guide Dogs clients who will provide context into the lived experience of inaccessible content and common challenges.
“We have a long way to go before we achieve a fully accessible digital world, but part of the reason is because many aren’t even aware of the barriers or issues to begin with,” said Guide Dogs NSW/ACT chief marketing officer Michael Apte.
Guests will learn practical skills from Guide Dogs’ accessible content experts to help them understand how to overcome barriers, then test these out with a hands-on accessible content session featuring some four-legged friends.
Research from Guide Dogs revealed that more than three in every four clients with low vision or blindness experience digital exclusion.
People often aren’t aware of the small changes they could make when creating digital content for social media or websites which would make a significant difference to those with blindness or low vision, eliminating any exclusion. This could be as simple as adding alt text descriptions when posting videos with writing or utilising correct grammar for a screen reader to follow and read out correctly.
The Boundless Workshops will encourage and equip key change makers with the tools to help build an accessible digital world and remove significant barriers for the community.
This is the latest installment of Guide Dogs NSW/ACT’s ‘Boundless World Projects’ and follows the launch of Guide Dogs Best practice accessibility toolkit for all social media users earlier this year.
