CAL and Vision Australia hold print disabilities workshop

CAL and Vision Australia hosted a print disabilities workshop on Monday 7 September to discuss how access to works can be improved for people with print disabilities. This event was the result of many years of dialogue between the two organisations, which recognised the need for an open discussion between publishers and authors, and the print disabled community.

Attending the event were over 50 guests, including authors and representives from major publishers, the print disabled community, copyright organisations and the education sector. There were a small number of attendees with vision impairments to provide a further insight into the needs of the print disabled.

The event also marked the launch of the re-developed CAL Masters' Catalogue, which allows users to search for works in alternate formats such as audio or Braille.

There was a clear commitment by those in attendance to work together in good faith to ensure that access to works is improved – particularly by making use of digital technologies which provide such great facilities for the print disabled to close the information gap which exists.

A summary of the workshop and agreed actions can be viewed here.