Online toolkit and policy to boost digital accessibility

Aimed at helping organisations create more accessible digital platforms, the policy and toolkit have been developed in consultation with Vision Australia, Royal Society for the Blind SA, people with lived experience of disability and other key disability stakeholders.

The policy will address the use of screen readers, visual design, including contrast and background, audio content, captions and transcripts and use of images to help people with a range of disabilities including vision impairment.

South Australian Minister for Human Services, Michelle Lensink says the free resources are available for all organisations to make use of including local Government, private enterprise and the not-for-profit sector.

“It is vital that online content is accessible for those most in need and it also helps breakdown barriers for people with disability and allows them to participate independently in the community.

“I encourage all organisations across South Australia to review their website content and make use of these free resources to help improve access for everyone.

“The co-design of this policy and toolkit is another example of the State Government’s commitment to ensure people with disability have the leading role in shaping policies and creating programs which influence their lives.

National Manager of Digital Access at Vision Australia, Neil King welcomes the resources.

“It’s great to see the State Government taking a leadership position and creating a toolkit that will assist all South Australian organisations to think about how they develop digitally accessible platforms.

“We support more than 25,500 people across Australia who are blind or have low vision and we’re confident this toolkit and more accessible digital platforms will help those people achieve the possibilities that they choose in life.”

You can access the new online accessibility policy and toolkit at accessibility.sa.gov.au