By Gisele Mesnage and Charissa Ramirez The South Australian Government Online Accessibility Policy and Toolkit (Online Accessibility Toolkit) and Travel for All Guide are among the 76 Zero Project Awardees 2022 for their exceptional work to improve accessibility. The awards will be officially presented at the Zero Project Conference 2022 at the United Nations Office…
Our Focus Areas
Human Rights and Technology
On 14 April 2020 DGI provided our submission as part of the AHRC Human Rights and Technology consultations. In 2021, the Australian Human Rights Commission provided a final report. A summary of the Commission’s final report Sarthak Sinha, Chairperson, DGI The Australian Human Rights Commission (referred to as the AHRC) in March 2021 released the…
Anna Bligh In-Touch with need for more Accessible Banking practices
In our last blog post you’ll recall DGI pondered if Anna Bligh AC would bring her “Absolutely everybody” stamp to her new role as CEO of the Australian Bankers’ Association (ABA). On 26 April, DGI team members Gisele Mesnage, James Newton and Robyn Lee had the unique opportunity to meet with Anna in person at…
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Can we Bank on Anna Bligh bringing the “Absolutely Everybody” stamp to her new role?
When she was Queensland Premier, Anna Bligh championed the state’s “Absolutely everybody” disability policy, saying that “a Queensland that is inclusive and accessible to all community members will be better for everyone.” The “Absolutely Everybody” theme was based on the popular song by Vanessa Amorosi, featured in her 1999 album, “The Power”. In February 2017, Anna…
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Keep pushing for tactile Keypads on Touch Screen POS devices
This is the third article in our series on the Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s “Albert” point-of-sale touchscreen payment device. Albert has been available to Australian merchants since March 2015 and the bank is marketing it to retailers, cinemas, restaurants, festivals and other businesses and government services that use EFTPOS terminals. The PIN entry function of…
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DDA Standards: A Good First Step for an Inclusive Digital Society
Access to technology is at least as important as accessing premises. One struggles to find a transaction that, these days, takes place without the use of digital technology – computers, payment devices, mobile phones and tablets, white goods and appliances. The Digital Gap Initiative advocates for national, compliance-based standards to address impediments to accessibility of…
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Councils set to leave a bad Taste in the mouth of disabled event-goers across Australia
Hobart City Council is on the verge of signing up to use the Commonwealth Bank’s inaccessible EFTPOS tablet, Albert as the key payment device for their 2015/16 Taste of Tasmania food festival. The Digital Gap Initiative wrote about this device on 18 September, after its Founder and President met with CommBank to express their concerns.…
Commbank’s new EFTPOS “Albert”: Accessibility short-changed
by Gisele Mesnage and Ted McCoskey Our first editorial is not published with the intent of naming and shaming the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) or any other business. Our message is that the story of Albert highlights the need for national, compliance-based standards on digital accessibility. Albert is a new touch-screen tablet EFTPOS payment…
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