Accessing the Essentials

Message from Andrea Midgen, Chief Executive of Blind Low Vision NZ

Today, I am delighted to launch Blind Low Vision NZ’s Accessing the Essentials campaign. It is our priority as an organisation to empower independence and promote social inclusion for people who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision. To make this happen, everyone must be able to access those services that are critical to living well in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Every day our clients receive information in formats that they can’t access. Blind, deafblind and low vision people have the same right to information, independence and privacy as anyone else. When an electronic payment terminal in a shop or a form in a doctor’s office is inaccessible, it’s not just poor design, it’s a human rights issue. It excludes blind, deafblind and low vision people from society. It’s also entirely avoidable.

Too often we see digital tools such as websites and mobile apps built without accessibility in mind, and developers must try to fix the issue after the fact, if they attempt to fix it at all. But accessibility works best and is far more cost effective when it is built in from the beginning through co-design.

What happens when people can’t access the basic services they need? They have to find ways around it, which may infringe on their right to privacy, or they’re shut out from certain parts of society. For example, if someone can’t read a letter from their doctor or specialist explaining their medical condition, they might have to get someone to read it to them. That is a violation of their rights. And if they don’t have anyone to help them navigate these systems, they might avoid going to the doctor altogether.

Julie Woods recently spoke about her experiences navigating the healthcare system as a blind woman. These experiences include being given information in print, being asked to fill out paper forms, and having items placed in front of her without any verbal communication. The lack of consideration for the patient’s specific needs is one of the reasons disabled people have worse health outcomes than the general population (PDF).

Our next steps

Over the next few months, Blind Low Vision NZ will be launching a podcast series in partnership with Health Informatics NZ on digital health and equity for the blind, deafblind and low vision community. This series will cover topics such as accessibility in patient care, equity in employment, and integrating systems across sectors. With this series we hope to engage both providers and consumers in the digital space and effect change that will have a significant positive effect in our clients’ lives.

In addition, we will be engaging with the Government on how they can improve their digital accessibility standards and the application of those standards across the public sector.

Accessibility is not just for public services. Currently, all government websites have to meet the NZ Government Web Standards, and the Government Chief Digital Officer is working to replace this with a Digital Accessibility Standard that will cover all digital content, not just websites. However, the private sector has no legal obligation to meet these guidelines in their web design – but these digital platforms are an important part of everyday life. With many consumer websites, mobile apps and electronic documents remaining inaccessible, these businesses prevent people who are blind, deafblind or low vision from accessing them.

To ensure inclusion in every aspect of society, Blind Low Vision NZ would like to see the Government promoting the Web Standards, and the Digital Accessibility Standards when they are released, to the private sector as best practice.

How you can help

We are asking businesses to include blind, deafblind and low vision people in the design of their digital platforms from the outset. Inclusion is a right – not a ‘nice to have’.

• What can your organisation do to make your products or services more accessible? Speak to your people leaders and IT department about providing alt text (text descriptions) on images, headings on documents, and testing your website for screen reader software compatibility.
• As a customer, ask businesses what they’re doing to be more accessible, especially when interacting with vital services such as healthcare and banking. Let people know that accessibility matters to their customer base. 1 in 6 New Zealanders have a disability, and they cannot be consumers if the doors to them remain shut.

Digital technology has the capacity to be a great equaliser, to make things more accessible than ever before. Screen readers, Braille displays and AI tools such as Be My Eyes have made a world of difference in closing the equity gap between the blind and general population. But if we don’t include accessibility at the outset of design, we will continue to leave people behind and further isolate them.

This is the beginning of a 3-year advocacy campaign which aims to improve the lives of our clients in some of the most important areas. Blind Low Vision NZ are committed to empowering people who are blind, deafblind or low vision to live the life they choose.