Curtin aims to provide its information in formats accessible to people with disability.
Accessible information and communication
Accordion
Types of disability impacting information access
Some Curtin staff, students and visitors may have difficulty accessing printed, online and spoken information and may require material to be provided in an alternative format. This may be due to:
- impaired vision or blindness
- hearing loss or deafness
- disabilities that affect the processing of information (learning disabilities, psychiatric illness, cognitive or intellectual disabilities)
- physical disabilities that affect the person’s ability to hold or manipulate printed materials.
We aim to provide a range of accessible communication options to suit varying needs. This can be achieved through designing accessible information and providing alternative formats when required.
Accessible information guidelines and resources
Many access difficulties can be avoided by providing information in an accessible format in the first instance, and by providing a range of communication options to suit varying needs. Compliance with the following guidelines and policy will maximize accessibility for people with disability.
Ally tool for blackboard
Ally For students: supports provision of accessible content for students by automatically providing alternative formats such as Electronic Braille, text-to-speech and immersive an reader, of content that is provided in Blackboard Units.
Ally For staff: via in-context feedback and step-by-step instructions, staff can use the tool to improve the accessibility of content they provide students though Blackboard.
ECHO360 ASR
Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) provides full transcripts for video content and has been enabled for all new iLecture recordings and new content loaded into Echo360.
The following links provide additional Curtin resources on accessible information:
- Accessible information policy and procedures
- Guidelines for accessible printed information (downloadable below)
- Brand Toolkit
For other resources, please use the following links:
- Universities Australia guidelines for information access for students with print disabilities
- Disability Services Commission Accessibility Resources
- Media Access Australia—a non-profit, independent media access organization.
Guidelines for accessible printed information Alternative format guidelines
Curtin is required to provide materials in an alternative format, on request from a person with disability, in a timely manner. Formats may include:
- Large print
- Electronic format
- Braille copies
- Audio recordings
- Captioning or transcription of iLectures and videos
- Sign language interpretation.
Many requests for alternative formats can be avoided by following the guidelines for accessible information above.
Please refer to the document below for guidelines on providing information in alternative formats for people with disability.
For further advice, contact us
Guidelines for providing information in alternative formats for people with disabilityWeb accessibility and disabilities
Accessible web design refers to the philosophy and practice of designing web pages so that they can be navigated and read by everyone, regardless of location, experience or the type of computer technology used.
People with disability are likely to be disadvantaged if the principles of accessible web design are not implemented. Failure to follow these principles can make it difficult or impossible for people with disability to access web pages.
Please refer to the following links for more information:
- Curtin’s Web Toolkit (Curtin staff only)
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
- Web Accessibility Network for Australian Universities (WANAU)—A nationwide network with the objective of improving web accessibility across the university sector
- Australian Human Rights Commission—Provides advisory notes on World Wide Web Access
- Media Access Australia.
Staff accessibility support resources
For quick reference, accessibility support resources for staff can be found under the Learning and Teaching tab and Curtin policies in the staff portal.