00:00:14
S1: This is studio One with Sam Rickard and Lizzy Eastham on Vision Australia Radio.
00:00:25
S2: Hello, I'm Sam and I'm Lizzy and this is studio One, your weekly look at life through a different lens here on Vision Australia Radio.
00:00:32
S3: This week we're coming to you from the Round Table conference on information access for people with print disabilities.
00:00:38
S2: We bring you highlights from the conference and interviews with some of the attendees and presenters.
00:00:44
S3: As we always say at this point, please do get in touch with the show, whether you have experience of any of the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One, or if you think there's something we should be talking about. You never know. Your story and insight may help someone who's dealing with something similar.
00:00:59
S2: Please contact us via email studio one at vision australia.org. That's that's studio number 1@australia.org.
00:01:07
S3: Or of course, you can drop us a note on our Facebook page by going to facebook.com/radio network.
00:01:17
S2: All right. So, dear listener, it is 830 in the morning on a Sunday. Don't usually see this side of a Sunday. It's way too early for me. What about you, Lizzie?
00:01:25
S3: Yeah, I usually see this side of a Sunday. I'm usually getting up and getting ready to go to church.
00:01:30
S2: Hello? Are you.
00:01:31
S4: How are you, Sam?
00:01:32
S2: I am good. We have, uh, Erica and Greg with us.
00:01:36
S4: Yes. I don't know, Lizzie. I know her from a podcast. Hi. Hi. I'm Erica and Greg from birth. Oh, hello.
00:01:46
S5: Are you up first? Yes, we're up at 11, I think it is. And 1045. Yeah.
00:01:52
S4: After morning tea.
00:01:56
S2: Agata, maybe you can tell us who you are.
00:01:58
S6: So my name is Agata Montoya, and I am a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney in the discipline of media and communication. And I'm also the president of the Round Table.
00:02:09
S2: Okay, so how has the preparation gone for this year's Round Table?
00:02:13
S4: Very well.
00:02:14
S6: We are a well oiled machine, so the conference has been going for a number of years. We've got a brilliant team on the executive committee and it all went really well.
00:02:23
S2: So one of the tempting things, usually when you're in the disability community, is to expect that everybody out there knows exactly what everybody else does. So maybe in nice, simple language so someone like me can understand, you can explain what exactly the round table is and what it does.
00:02:37
S4: So it's a peak disability.
00:02:38
S6: Body comprising of various organisations including disability sector of course alternative format producers. Um but we also have um publishers, we also have Australian Publishers Association, we've got some libraries and the idea is to provide guidance on guidelines and advocacy. And I think this is something that I would like to do more, um, in my tenure as the president.
00:03:02
S2: So what was your background prior to all this?
00:03:04
S4: Well.
00:03:05
S6: I'm an archaeologist by training, I think I know, and then I became a publisher. So I worked for a number of years for Sydney University Press, and this is how I got interested in accessibility. I led the introduction of accessible publishing practices at the press. From there, I started teaching and I started researching accessibility, and I got recruited to be part of the committee. And yeah, and now I'm a lecturer and a researcher in accessible publishing practices.
00:03:32
S2: So as a relative outsider, is there anything that particularly surprised you coming into all of this?
00:03:37
S6: How much I could learn. So before getting involved with the Round Table and accessibility, I really didn't know anything about the sector. So I started we started producing accessible books without me understanding what am I doing? I was really interested in in following best practice. And it's only through my work with Next Sense and, and getting involved that I understand what's required and why accessible publishing is so important.
00:04:06
S3: So how long have you been the president of the Round Table?
00:04:09
S6: I've only started um, last year, so I was selected in um the last conference. So this was my last year. So my first, you know, half not her first year.
00:04:19
S3: And can you tell us about some of the sessions and the workshops that are on the program for the next three days?
00:04:25
S6: There's how many I counted yesterday. I think we've got over 30 presentations and I think seven workshops. So there'll be a workshop on on accessible galleries. We've got some presentations on AI, of course, and technology. We've got presentations on Braille. Um, we've got a trip to Sasb which should be really exciting. We also have presentations on the use of public libraries and what Vision Australia has done to reach out to public libraries. So it's like, um, as usual, there's a whole variety of programs. And we also have a presentation on um, making chemistry labs accessible to people with disabilities. Yeah. So we've got an academy professor, Ziggy Schmidt from the University of Sydney, talking about his work in making labs accessible.
00:05:11
S2: Well, Agatha, I look forward to, um, most of it. So we'll be in and out, of course, making a nuisance of ourselves and, uh, recording what we can.
00:05:18
S6: You're very welcome. It's a pleasure.
00:05:19
S4: To have you here.
00:05:26
S7: So, uh, first of all, welcome to the 2026 Round Table Conference on Information access for people with disabilities. So it's a pleasure to welcome everyone here to Adelaide. Uh, for this year's conference, I was doing a little bit of research. I think the last time there was a conference here was 2012.
00:05:44
S6: Now, I would like to.
00:05:45
S4: Begin by.
00:05:46
S6: Acknowledging that Guyana people, the traditional custodians of the land on which we gather this morning. Now, dear esteemed delegates, friends and speakers, it is with immense pleasure and honor that I welcome you all here this morning. This year's theme, innovation, Collaboration and Empowerment Gateway to Information Access, holds profound significance for the Round Table community. It reflects our shared commitment to practical solutions, collaborative learning and partnership across the sectors and in our collective mission to ensure that all individuals have equal access to information, enabling them to participate fully in society and lead empowered lives. In a world where information is power, equitable access to that information is the fundamental rights. Welcome to Adelaide and welcome to the 2026 Round Table Conference. I hope you enjoy every moment of it and make lots of new connections. Thank you very much.
00:06:59
S2: So this presentation.
00:07:00
S8: Is going to have a lot of facts and figures. Trigger warning. Um, so, um, for the entire presentation I'm going to just say a number and then everyone's going to clap and cheer. So let's, let's practice uh 500 000. 11,089. We are all learning so much together. My presentation today is about understanding the cohort. So really the question of how many people are there with a vision impairment in Australia. Why is this question important? Well it's important for vision 2020 in particular because we as an organization have two purposes. One of them is to ensure the independence and participation. People who are blind or have low vision, but the other one is to prevent avoidable blindness and vision impairment in Australia. And understanding how many people are around is a great way to track the efficacy of preventative health measures. I think we need to think really carefully about the unique challenges of being a very small cohort within big systems like the NDIS, which is one of the many reasons why we often have trouble with plans and things like that, because we're encountered so rarely by the NCAA that they are often, you know, they've never encountered one of us before. And when you think that we're only 2%, you can kind of understand why that might be.
00:08:39
S9: Talk about talk about ooh, baby.
00:08:44
S1: This is studio one on Vision Australia radio.
00:08:49
S9: Gotta move on.
00:08:52
S2: We have Guy Bennett. Maybe you can tell us what you do.
00:08:55
S10: I am the coordinator at Statewide Vision Resource Center of our support skills program. I run our assistive technology library for students in Victoria or in the education department, and I do a bit of tech training and outreach technology training for students across the state of Victoria.
00:09:13
S3: Can you tell us what the Statewide Vision Resource Centre is?
00:09:17
S10: Absolutely. We provide the support for students in all across the state of Victoria for alternative programs, professional learning for visiting teachers across the state, and a community of practice for. Also for visiting teachers in all sectors across the state of Victoria.
00:09:34
S3: And how long have you been in your in your current role for.
00:09:37
S10: Since 2019.
00:09:40
S3: Of course, that's like seven years. Yes. Amazing.
00:09:42
S10: Yes. Thank you.
00:09:43
S2: What got you started in this whole section? Section of existence, as it were?
00:09:48
S10: Well, I started as a, I, I trained as a primary teacher, but never wanted to be a primary teacher and wanted to work in special education. So back in, uh, when I completed my degree in 1991, I had an option of doing hearing impairment, which is the field I actually wanted to go into. Um, I only took ten students. And then the second choice was vision. And that's where I landed and have been ever since.
00:10:11
S2: So we were your second choice. So are we supposed to be happy that you settled for us? Or, uh, a little disappointed?
00:10:17
S10: I think you should be happy. Because I've loved the field, and Braille has been my passion since I started learning Braille back in the early 90s. And I love the love the the whole Braille field.
00:10:29
S3: So what is it that you most enjoy about your role? Well well well well, if you stay with it.
00:10:35
S6: You.
00:10:35
S2: Stay still. We have a, uh, a slight traffic traffic problem with guide dogs involved.
00:10:41
S3: So back to my question. What is it that you most enjoy about your role at statewide?
00:10:45
S10: The diversity of my days. So I can be doing anything from running the technology library, getting out equipment, troubleshooting assistive technology that's come back into us, um, planning the program for the students into individualizing the program for the students. Yeah, the breadth and the changes every day. So every day is different. Um, and supporting over 40 visiting teachers across the state of Victoria, which also includes the Catholic sector in Victoria. We don't have visiting teachers for the independent schools unless the schools employ that unicorn and, um, pay for their services. I say unicorn because there's not enough of them, and really there's no one to to do it in the independent sector. And for our Catholic sector, we only have two across the state of Victoria. And for those of you that know, Victoria is, um with a couple in regional areas.
00:11:52
S6: Yeah. I guess as we know, you know, growing up in the 80s and 90s was something really that was stigmatised and it was often slurs used to describe, uh, disabled people. Uh, it wasn't until I, um, actually decided to have children that I really noticed the discrimination that I faced because I was told that I shouldn't become a parent. And, uh, that that really affected me because I do have a 50% chance of passing on my disability. Um, but it made me realize that there is just so many barriers when it comes to, um, being disabled. And so I started then to, I guess I got really fired up and realized that the media could change the narrative when it came to disabled people. Yeah. I guess as we know, you know, growing up in the 80s and 90s was something really that was stigmatized and it often slurs used to describe disabled people. Uh, it wasn't until I, um, actually decided to have children that I really noticed the discrimination that I faced, uh, because I was told that I shouldn't become a parent. And, uh, that, that really affected me because I do have a 50% chance of passing on my disability. Um, but it made me realize that there is just so many barriers when it comes to being disabled. And so I started then to, I guess I got really fired up and realized that the media could change the narrative when it came to disabled people.
00:13:35
S11: I am going to use my pulpit because I'm missing my wand to take all of us to South Africa. It's May 2026 and and for those who cannot see me, I'm waving the wand at front squat and turning him into a six year old child. So today I'd like to talk to you about Braille literacy, although I feel like I'm preaching to the converted, as Francis said, we know that it's something deeply connected to so many of us in this room. We know it's connected to dignity, to participation, and to the right to live fully. This presentation does draw on my PhD research and focuses on one central idea.
00:14:20
S3: Well, I am here with Asher Rose at the Round Table conference. Asher, how are you?
00:14:24
S10: Oh, I'm relieved that I've done my presentation. Lizzie.
00:14:28
S3: Brilliant. Yes. And we did hear your presentation this morning. So we had you on the show for International Braille Day, where you talked to us about what your research entails and tell us how it's been going.
00:14:41
S12: Thanks, Lizzie. It's been going really well. I've now developed two complementary tools for for measuring Braille in classrooms, but also at a population level. And that's so these tools can be used with children or adults, which is exceptionally exciting. I've managed to validate them and they are reliable as well.
00:15:02
S3: Fantastic. So, um, your presentation was called Measuring What Matters, I believe. Why does it matter to measure Braille literacy and how do you measure it?
00:15:13
S12: Well, I think it's really important to measure Braille literacy because without measurements, we can't advocate for Braille. So if we don't know how many Braille users we have, for example, or what their lifelong needs are, how do we argue to policymakers and resource providers to say, hey, this is what the Braille community needs?
00:15:33
S3: Absolutely. 100%. Well, this is day two of the Round Table conference. Uh, I assume you've come to to both days so far.
00:15:42
S12: Yes, I certainly have. And would you believe this is my first ever round table? I feel so blessed to have finally gotten here. And I think I'll come to one every year from now on.
00:15:52
S3: Yeah, this is also my first round table. So what presentations or exhibits have you seen that have been really insightful or really surprised you?
00:16:01
S12: I really loved Francois's presentation yesterday when he talked about access procurement. I really want to investigate that some more. I went to Karen Cook. Sorry, Karen Kroc's presentation today. And she talked about the research that she's done with adult Braille learners in terms of their experiences of being Braille in schools. And there were parts where I laughed and there were parts where I wanted to cry when she talked about Braille lists in so-called inclusive settings. Feeling shame about being Braille. We've got so much work to do in this field.
00:16:41
S3: So do we have any laws in this country about Braille being a right or a part of our education system, so to speak?
00:16:49
S12: I think there are international laws, and there's certainly the Spivvy work that was done in 2020 for around Braille being a right. And and not just something, something that should be done because we feel like it. I don't know how we go from having those laws to making them impactful parts of education.
00:17:12
S3: So once you've published all your research and you've finished up with your surveys, because I think the surveys are still going. What do you hope your research will lead to, or what's the big aim for you?
00:17:23
S12: First and foremost, yes, the survey is still going. So if you haven't gotten sick of listening to me and this is the first time you've heard me, please, um, investigate that survey. I'd love to know more about Braille across Australia, but my focus from there will really be about what do we what can we do with policy makers and those resource areas to start getting people to listen about how important Braille is to our community and what resources need to be put in place to make sure that every Braille has the opportunity to access Braille.
00:17:59
S3: Well, thank you, Asha, for speaking with us. You're currently housed at the C differently exhibit at the Round Table Conference, aren't you?
00:18:06
S12: I sure am, yes.
00:18:08
S3: Brilliant. Well, thank you for joining us and enjoy the rest of your conference experience.
00:18:12
S12: Thanks, Lizzie. And you.
00:18:18
S1: This is studio one with Lizzie and Sam on Vision Australia Radio.
00:18:28
S11: Inclusive education has expanded access to mainstream schooling, but inclusion without appropriate measurement risks creating invisibility rather than equity. When Braille literacy cannot be seen or documented, it becomes easier to overlook, to undervalue, or worse still, to replace. These days, most students who use Braille are educated in mainstream schools. Their classroom teachers, as we all know, often have limited or no Braille training and rely on intermittent specialist support. In this context, assessment practices can and do default to design tools for sighted learners. when we don't center Braille in the mainstream, then curriculum, pacing and assessment time frames aren't always adapted for Braille lists and do not reflect differences. As a result, a mismatch occurs between student capability and expectations, and this difference is sadly often interpreted as underperformance of students reading and writing ability.
00:19:42
S6: The first iteration of our readers were, as followed standard Braille paper bound at the top, with each page having a bright, colourful, enlarged image from the same page as the printed reader. The first page of the reader showed any heart words such as and the, etc. in grade one Braille. Then we move to contracted Braille. Our books did not have a title, and this was for a very specific reason. This became part of the game for our student At the end of reading each book, the student was encouraged to guess the title of the book or to make up their own. They would then have enough room on the front where they could braille their chosen title, and they would also have time to draw their own title picture. This was another activity that they really loved to do as the student progressed. We increased the amount of contractions and word signs with the aim of being completely contracted, which is where we are today.
00:20:40
S13: I captioning has made a huge difference in accessibility. It provides real time access to spoken words. Another big advantage is speed. What used to take hours with manual transcription can now be done almost instantly. So from efficiency perspective, AI is really strong helper. Here are some of the tools available that supports AI with the captions and transcription. So for live environment we have PowerPoint Teams Zoom and Google Meet. Now going to PowerPoint. You're experiencing the live transcription right now. So Round Table is using the PowerPoint called subtitle option. And for recorded content we've got YouTube and those who are video editors and using Adobe Premiere Pro, you can also easily create captions within the program itself. Social media platforms are also starting to include it. For example, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram now provides automatic captions for video content as well. So once you have uploaded any sort of video, um, in LinkedIn, for example, there's an option where it's, um, enabled by default where the automatic captioning would start.
00:22:06
S8: The leading causes. This is really important the leading causes of bilateral vision impairment in Australia are for Indigenous Australians were uncorrected refractive error with 38% cataract, 34% diabetic retinopathy, 15% age related macular degeneration, 5% and glaucoma 4% and other 4%. And then the leading causes of bilateral vision impairment for non-Indigenous Australians were uncorrected refractive error with 42% cataract of 29% AMD with 17% other 5% glaucoma, 4%, and diabetic retinopathy 3%. So one of the things that's important is significantly more diabetic retinopathy in Indigenous Australians. So 15% we're seeing there and, uh, less glaucoma in and AMD, uh, in First Nations Australians. Now that's an interesting and complicated news story there because actually what's happening is that First Nations Australians are not are not living long enough to hit those marks of getting more of those things.
00:23:26
S3: Well, we are at the Round Table Conference 2026, just eating our lunch. And I'm sitting with the amazing, the wonderful, the exceptional, the brilliant Elise Lonsdale. Hello.
00:23:37
S2: Hi. I've never had such a huge dust in my life.
00:23:40
S3: Yeah, well, you have now. Now. Um, first and foremost, I will thank you publicly because a lot of the stuff that I've recorded today has been thanks to you. So thank you.
00:23:49
S2: It's been a pleasure. It's lovely to pitch in and help out. Thank you.
00:23:52
S3: Right. So we're on day two of the conference. Which presentation or exhibit has been the most insightful to you and why?
00:24:02
S2: Well, for day two, I think the buyer was, um, yeah, especially when I made the point about the, you know, we've got to get rid of the site first policy, you know, kids who had been denied Braille and looking at ways to have Braille. Also to children's. And because it has a profound effect on literacy and there's plenty of information out there that proves that Braille readers get jobs easier and have a far better, um, far better experience when it comes to education. And of course, there are children out there who, who don't read Braille because they have enough sight. Well, that's fine if they do, but there are many people who have missed out on both because they haven't had the sight and it just hasn't been offered to them. There have been other presentations today with the, uh, with the, um, with beyond speech in, into AI that was done by both on the quantum feeble and a few others that where there was, um, also a brilliant presentation yesterday with front by Joe Booth. It was a brilliant presentation yesterday with Jonathan Craig speaking about how the NDIS was such a small cohort within the NDIS because NDIS has to deal with all disabilities. So often when a patient comes across a person with a vision impairment or who is crying and they've never met before, so they honestly don't know what to do. So there's a lot of information about this conference and many other things that have stood out to me in the presentations thus far.
00:25:29
S3: So everything then?
00:25:31
S2: Pretty nice. Everything. Yeah. I think the whole, um, the whole conference is great. We get a night, we get an opportunity to network, we get an opportunity to catch up with cares, professionals, acquaintances, friends, people at all levels. We even get an opportunity to make new friends. Which of these conferences. So, you know, it's been really it's a great experience. And this would be about my fifth consecutive conference and I love it in my middle.
00:25:55
S3: So have you filled out the exhibitors quiz for the dinner tonight?
00:26:00
S2: I filled out most of. I think I had the problem with one question, and I think when we finished the interview, I might be able to do it. Have you filled yours out?
00:26:07
S3: I wasn't planning on doing it.
00:26:08
S2: Oh, okay. Full mouthful. I've got mine just about to fill that. I think I'm a bit vague on many questions, so we might have to look at that after this.
00:26:17
S3: Brilliant. Well, Elise, thank you so much for joining us. And again, thank you so much for your help and support today.
00:26:23
S2: It's been a pleasure and thank you. And keep up the wonderful work. Oh, I must say, one other presentation that I really enjoyed was yours.
00:26:31
S3: Oh thank you, thank you.
00:26:33
S8: That's a wrap for this week. A big thank you to the contributors and organizers at the Round Table. And Lizzy, there's somebody else in particular. Yes.
00:26:40
S3: I'd like to thank Elise Lonsdale for her help and support helping me to get recordings on the Monday.
00:26:46
S8: You are welcome. And thank you to Jane Wagner for helping us to attend and produce this show.
00:26:52
S3: And of course, a big thanks to you for listening. And that includes our listeners on the Reading Radio Network or wherever you may be listening to us from. You can find a podcast of this program, plus some extra content from time to time on Apple, Spotify, Google, or your favorite podcast platform.
00:27:08
S8: Next week, the budget has come down and big changes are being made to the NDIS.
00:27:13
S3: People with Disability Australia president Jeremy Hope fills us in on how the cutbacks affect us and what we can do about it.
00:27:20
S8: But between now and then, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of any of the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One, or if you think there's something we should be talking about. You never know. Your help and insight may help somebody else who is dealing with something similar.
00:27:34
S3: You can contact us via email at studio 1@australia.org. That's studio number one at vision australia.org. Or of course, you can find us on Facebook or Instagram by searching for VA Radio Network. We want to hear from you.
00:27:49
S8: Bye for now.
00:27:50
S1: Studio one was produced in the Adelaide Studios of Vision Australia Radio. This show was made possible with the help of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more@cbsnews.org.au.
S1: This is studio One with Sam Rickard and Lizzy Eastham on Vision Australia Radio.
00:00:25
S2: Hello, I'm Sam and I'm Lizzy and this is studio One, your weekly look at life through a different lens here on Vision Australia Radio.
00:00:32
S3: This week we're coming to you from the Round Table conference on information access for people with print disabilities.
00:00:38
S2: We bring you highlights from the conference and interviews with some of the attendees and presenters.
00:00:44
S3: As we always say at this point, please do get in touch with the show, whether you have experience of any of the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One, or if you think there's something we should be talking about. You never know. Your story and insight may help someone who's dealing with something similar.
00:00:59
S2: Please contact us via email studio one at vision australia.org. That's that's studio number 1@australia.org.
00:01:07
S3: Or of course, you can drop us a note on our Facebook page by going to facebook.com/radio network.
00:01:17
S2: All right. So, dear listener, it is 830 in the morning on a Sunday. Don't usually see this side of a Sunday. It's way too early for me. What about you, Lizzie?
00:01:25
S3: Yeah, I usually see this side of a Sunday. I'm usually getting up and getting ready to go to church.
00:01:30
S2: Hello? Are you.
00:01:31
S4: How are you, Sam?
00:01:32
S2: I am good. We have, uh, Erica and Greg with us.
00:01:36
S4: Yes. I don't know, Lizzie. I know her from a podcast. Hi. Hi. I'm Erica and Greg from birth. Oh, hello.
00:01:46
S5: Are you up first? Yes, we're up at 11, I think it is. And 1045. Yeah.
00:01:52
S4: After morning tea.
00:01:56
S2: Agata, maybe you can tell us who you are.
00:01:58
S6: So my name is Agata Montoya, and I am a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney in the discipline of media and communication. And I'm also the president of the Round Table.
00:02:09
S2: Okay, so how has the preparation gone for this year's Round Table?
00:02:13
S4: Very well.
00:02:14
S6: We are a well oiled machine, so the conference has been going for a number of years. We've got a brilliant team on the executive committee and it all went really well.
00:02:23
S2: So one of the tempting things, usually when you're in the disability community, is to expect that everybody out there knows exactly what everybody else does. So maybe in nice, simple language so someone like me can understand, you can explain what exactly the round table is and what it does.
00:02:37
S4: So it's a peak disability.
00:02:38
S6: Body comprising of various organisations including disability sector of course alternative format producers. Um but we also have um publishers, we also have Australian Publishers Association, we've got some libraries and the idea is to provide guidance on guidelines and advocacy. And I think this is something that I would like to do more, um, in my tenure as the president.
00:03:02
S2: So what was your background prior to all this?
00:03:04
S4: Well.
00:03:05
S6: I'm an archaeologist by training, I think I know, and then I became a publisher. So I worked for a number of years for Sydney University Press, and this is how I got interested in accessibility. I led the introduction of accessible publishing practices at the press. From there, I started teaching and I started researching accessibility, and I got recruited to be part of the committee. And yeah, and now I'm a lecturer and a researcher in accessible publishing practices.
00:03:32
S2: So as a relative outsider, is there anything that particularly surprised you coming into all of this?
00:03:37
S6: How much I could learn. So before getting involved with the Round Table and accessibility, I really didn't know anything about the sector. So I started we started producing accessible books without me understanding what am I doing? I was really interested in in following best practice. And it's only through my work with Next Sense and, and getting involved that I understand what's required and why accessible publishing is so important.
00:04:06
S3: So how long have you been the president of the Round Table?
00:04:09
S6: I've only started um, last year, so I was selected in um the last conference. So this was my last year. So my first, you know, half not her first year.
00:04:19
S3: And can you tell us about some of the sessions and the workshops that are on the program for the next three days?
00:04:25
S6: There's how many I counted yesterday. I think we've got over 30 presentations and I think seven workshops. So there'll be a workshop on on accessible galleries. We've got some presentations on AI, of course, and technology. We've got presentations on Braille. Um, we've got a trip to Sasb which should be really exciting. We also have presentations on the use of public libraries and what Vision Australia has done to reach out to public libraries. So it's like, um, as usual, there's a whole variety of programs. And we also have a presentation on um, making chemistry labs accessible to people with disabilities. Yeah. So we've got an academy professor, Ziggy Schmidt from the University of Sydney, talking about his work in making labs accessible.
00:05:11
S2: Well, Agatha, I look forward to, um, most of it. So we'll be in and out, of course, making a nuisance of ourselves and, uh, recording what we can.
00:05:18
S6: You're very welcome. It's a pleasure.
00:05:19
S4: To have you here.
00:05:26
S7: So, uh, first of all, welcome to the 2026 Round Table Conference on Information access for people with disabilities. So it's a pleasure to welcome everyone here to Adelaide. Uh, for this year's conference, I was doing a little bit of research. I think the last time there was a conference here was 2012.
00:05:44
S6: Now, I would like to.
00:05:45
S4: Begin by.
00:05:46
S6: Acknowledging that Guyana people, the traditional custodians of the land on which we gather this morning. Now, dear esteemed delegates, friends and speakers, it is with immense pleasure and honor that I welcome you all here this morning. This year's theme, innovation, Collaboration and Empowerment Gateway to Information Access, holds profound significance for the Round Table community. It reflects our shared commitment to practical solutions, collaborative learning and partnership across the sectors and in our collective mission to ensure that all individuals have equal access to information, enabling them to participate fully in society and lead empowered lives. In a world where information is power, equitable access to that information is the fundamental rights. Welcome to Adelaide and welcome to the 2026 Round Table Conference. I hope you enjoy every moment of it and make lots of new connections. Thank you very much.
00:06:59
S2: So this presentation.
00:07:00
S8: Is going to have a lot of facts and figures. Trigger warning. Um, so, um, for the entire presentation I'm going to just say a number and then everyone's going to clap and cheer. So let's, let's practice uh 500 000. 11,089. We are all learning so much together. My presentation today is about understanding the cohort. So really the question of how many people are there with a vision impairment in Australia. Why is this question important? Well it's important for vision 2020 in particular because we as an organization have two purposes. One of them is to ensure the independence and participation. People who are blind or have low vision, but the other one is to prevent avoidable blindness and vision impairment in Australia. And understanding how many people are around is a great way to track the efficacy of preventative health measures. I think we need to think really carefully about the unique challenges of being a very small cohort within big systems like the NDIS, which is one of the many reasons why we often have trouble with plans and things like that, because we're encountered so rarely by the NCAA that they are often, you know, they've never encountered one of us before. And when you think that we're only 2%, you can kind of understand why that might be.
00:08:39
S9: Talk about talk about ooh, baby.
00:08:44
S1: This is studio one on Vision Australia radio.
00:08:49
S9: Gotta move on.
00:08:52
S2: We have Guy Bennett. Maybe you can tell us what you do.
00:08:55
S10: I am the coordinator at Statewide Vision Resource Center of our support skills program. I run our assistive technology library for students in Victoria or in the education department, and I do a bit of tech training and outreach technology training for students across the state of Victoria.
00:09:13
S3: Can you tell us what the Statewide Vision Resource Centre is?
00:09:17
S10: Absolutely. We provide the support for students in all across the state of Victoria for alternative programs, professional learning for visiting teachers across the state, and a community of practice for. Also for visiting teachers in all sectors across the state of Victoria.
00:09:34
S3: And how long have you been in your in your current role for.
00:09:37
S10: Since 2019.
00:09:40
S3: Of course, that's like seven years. Yes. Amazing.
00:09:42
S10: Yes. Thank you.
00:09:43
S2: What got you started in this whole section? Section of existence, as it were?
00:09:48
S10: Well, I started as a, I, I trained as a primary teacher, but never wanted to be a primary teacher and wanted to work in special education. So back in, uh, when I completed my degree in 1991, I had an option of doing hearing impairment, which is the field I actually wanted to go into. Um, I only took ten students. And then the second choice was vision. And that's where I landed and have been ever since.
00:10:11
S2: So we were your second choice. So are we supposed to be happy that you settled for us? Or, uh, a little disappointed?
00:10:17
S10: I think you should be happy. Because I've loved the field, and Braille has been my passion since I started learning Braille back in the early 90s. And I love the love the the whole Braille field.
00:10:29
S3: So what is it that you most enjoy about your role? Well well well well, if you stay with it.
00:10:35
S6: You.
00:10:35
S2: Stay still. We have a, uh, a slight traffic traffic problem with guide dogs involved.
00:10:41
S3: So back to my question. What is it that you most enjoy about your role at statewide?
00:10:45
S10: The diversity of my days. So I can be doing anything from running the technology library, getting out equipment, troubleshooting assistive technology that's come back into us, um, planning the program for the students into individualizing the program for the students. Yeah, the breadth and the changes every day. So every day is different. Um, and supporting over 40 visiting teachers across the state of Victoria, which also includes the Catholic sector in Victoria. We don't have visiting teachers for the independent schools unless the schools employ that unicorn and, um, pay for their services. I say unicorn because there's not enough of them, and really there's no one to to do it in the independent sector. And for our Catholic sector, we only have two across the state of Victoria. And for those of you that know, Victoria is, um with a couple in regional areas.
00:11:52
S6: Yeah. I guess as we know, you know, growing up in the 80s and 90s was something really that was stigmatised and it was often slurs used to describe, uh, disabled people. Uh, it wasn't until I, um, actually decided to have children that I really noticed the discrimination that I faced because I was told that I shouldn't become a parent. And, uh, that that really affected me because I do have a 50% chance of passing on my disability. Um, but it made me realize that there is just so many barriers when it comes to, um, being disabled. And so I started then to, I guess I got really fired up and realized that the media could change the narrative when it came to disabled people. Yeah. I guess as we know, you know, growing up in the 80s and 90s was something really that was stigmatized and it often slurs used to describe disabled people. Uh, it wasn't until I, um, actually decided to have children that I really noticed the discrimination that I faced, uh, because I was told that I shouldn't become a parent. And, uh, that, that really affected me because I do have a 50% chance of passing on my disability. Um, but it made me realize that there is just so many barriers when it comes to being disabled. And so I started then to, I guess I got really fired up and realized that the media could change the narrative when it came to disabled people.
00:13:35
S11: I am going to use my pulpit because I'm missing my wand to take all of us to South Africa. It's May 2026 and and for those who cannot see me, I'm waving the wand at front squat and turning him into a six year old child. So today I'd like to talk to you about Braille literacy, although I feel like I'm preaching to the converted, as Francis said, we know that it's something deeply connected to so many of us in this room. We know it's connected to dignity, to participation, and to the right to live fully. This presentation does draw on my PhD research and focuses on one central idea.
00:14:20
S3: Well, I am here with Asher Rose at the Round Table conference. Asher, how are you?
00:14:24
S10: Oh, I'm relieved that I've done my presentation. Lizzie.
00:14:28
S3: Brilliant. Yes. And we did hear your presentation this morning. So we had you on the show for International Braille Day, where you talked to us about what your research entails and tell us how it's been going.
00:14:41
S12: Thanks, Lizzie. It's been going really well. I've now developed two complementary tools for for measuring Braille in classrooms, but also at a population level. And that's so these tools can be used with children or adults, which is exceptionally exciting. I've managed to validate them and they are reliable as well.
00:15:02
S3: Fantastic. So, um, your presentation was called Measuring What Matters, I believe. Why does it matter to measure Braille literacy and how do you measure it?
00:15:13
S12: Well, I think it's really important to measure Braille literacy because without measurements, we can't advocate for Braille. So if we don't know how many Braille users we have, for example, or what their lifelong needs are, how do we argue to policymakers and resource providers to say, hey, this is what the Braille community needs?
00:15:33
S3: Absolutely. 100%. Well, this is day two of the Round Table conference. Uh, I assume you've come to to both days so far.
00:15:42
S12: Yes, I certainly have. And would you believe this is my first ever round table? I feel so blessed to have finally gotten here. And I think I'll come to one every year from now on.
00:15:52
S3: Yeah, this is also my first round table. So what presentations or exhibits have you seen that have been really insightful or really surprised you?
00:16:01
S12: I really loved Francois's presentation yesterday when he talked about access procurement. I really want to investigate that some more. I went to Karen Cook. Sorry, Karen Kroc's presentation today. And she talked about the research that she's done with adult Braille learners in terms of their experiences of being Braille in schools. And there were parts where I laughed and there were parts where I wanted to cry when she talked about Braille lists in so-called inclusive settings. Feeling shame about being Braille. We've got so much work to do in this field.
00:16:41
S3: So do we have any laws in this country about Braille being a right or a part of our education system, so to speak?
00:16:49
S12: I think there are international laws, and there's certainly the Spivvy work that was done in 2020 for around Braille being a right. And and not just something, something that should be done because we feel like it. I don't know how we go from having those laws to making them impactful parts of education.
00:17:12
S3: So once you've published all your research and you've finished up with your surveys, because I think the surveys are still going. What do you hope your research will lead to, or what's the big aim for you?
00:17:23
S12: First and foremost, yes, the survey is still going. So if you haven't gotten sick of listening to me and this is the first time you've heard me, please, um, investigate that survey. I'd love to know more about Braille across Australia, but my focus from there will really be about what do we what can we do with policy makers and those resource areas to start getting people to listen about how important Braille is to our community and what resources need to be put in place to make sure that every Braille has the opportunity to access Braille.
00:17:59
S3: Well, thank you, Asha, for speaking with us. You're currently housed at the C differently exhibit at the Round Table Conference, aren't you?
00:18:06
S12: I sure am, yes.
00:18:08
S3: Brilliant. Well, thank you for joining us and enjoy the rest of your conference experience.
00:18:12
S12: Thanks, Lizzie. And you.
00:18:18
S1: This is studio one with Lizzie and Sam on Vision Australia Radio.
00:18:28
S11: Inclusive education has expanded access to mainstream schooling, but inclusion without appropriate measurement risks creating invisibility rather than equity. When Braille literacy cannot be seen or documented, it becomes easier to overlook, to undervalue, or worse still, to replace. These days, most students who use Braille are educated in mainstream schools. Their classroom teachers, as we all know, often have limited or no Braille training and rely on intermittent specialist support. In this context, assessment practices can and do default to design tools for sighted learners. when we don't center Braille in the mainstream, then curriculum, pacing and assessment time frames aren't always adapted for Braille lists and do not reflect differences. As a result, a mismatch occurs between student capability and expectations, and this difference is sadly often interpreted as underperformance of students reading and writing ability.
00:19:42
S6: The first iteration of our readers were, as followed standard Braille paper bound at the top, with each page having a bright, colourful, enlarged image from the same page as the printed reader. The first page of the reader showed any heart words such as and the, etc. in grade one Braille. Then we move to contracted Braille. Our books did not have a title, and this was for a very specific reason. This became part of the game for our student At the end of reading each book, the student was encouraged to guess the title of the book or to make up their own. They would then have enough room on the front where they could braille their chosen title, and they would also have time to draw their own title picture. This was another activity that they really loved to do as the student progressed. We increased the amount of contractions and word signs with the aim of being completely contracted, which is where we are today.
00:20:40
S13: I captioning has made a huge difference in accessibility. It provides real time access to spoken words. Another big advantage is speed. What used to take hours with manual transcription can now be done almost instantly. So from efficiency perspective, AI is really strong helper. Here are some of the tools available that supports AI with the captions and transcription. So for live environment we have PowerPoint Teams Zoom and Google Meet. Now going to PowerPoint. You're experiencing the live transcription right now. So Round Table is using the PowerPoint called subtitle option. And for recorded content we've got YouTube and those who are video editors and using Adobe Premiere Pro, you can also easily create captions within the program itself. Social media platforms are also starting to include it. For example, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram now provides automatic captions for video content as well. So once you have uploaded any sort of video, um, in LinkedIn, for example, there's an option where it's, um, enabled by default where the automatic captioning would start.
00:22:06
S8: The leading causes. This is really important the leading causes of bilateral vision impairment in Australia are for Indigenous Australians were uncorrected refractive error with 38% cataract, 34% diabetic retinopathy, 15% age related macular degeneration, 5% and glaucoma 4% and other 4%. And then the leading causes of bilateral vision impairment for non-Indigenous Australians were uncorrected refractive error with 42% cataract of 29% AMD with 17% other 5% glaucoma, 4%, and diabetic retinopathy 3%. So one of the things that's important is significantly more diabetic retinopathy in Indigenous Australians. So 15% we're seeing there and, uh, less glaucoma in and AMD, uh, in First Nations Australians. Now that's an interesting and complicated news story there because actually what's happening is that First Nations Australians are not are not living long enough to hit those marks of getting more of those things.
00:23:26
S3: Well, we are at the Round Table Conference 2026, just eating our lunch. And I'm sitting with the amazing, the wonderful, the exceptional, the brilliant Elise Lonsdale. Hello.
00:23:37
S2: Hi. I've never had such a huge dust in my life.
00:23:40
S3: Yeah, well, you have now. Now. Um, first and foremost, I will thank you publicly because a lot of the stuff that I've recorded today has been thanks to you. So thank you.
00:23:49
S2: It's been a pleasure. It's lovely to pitch in and help out. Thank you.
00:23:52
S3: Right. So we're on day two of the conference. Which presentation or exhibit has been the most insightful to you and why?
00:24:02
S2: Well, for day two, I think the buyer was, um, yeah, especially when I made the point about the, you know, we've got to get rid of the site first policy, you know, kids who had been denied Braille and looking at ways to have Braille. Also to children's. And because it has a profound effect on literacy and there's plenty of information out there that proves that Braille readers get jobs easier and have a far better, um, far better experience when it comes to education. And of course, there are children out there who, who don't read Braille because they have enough sight. Well, that's fine if they do, but there are many people who have missed out on both because they haven't had the sight and it just hasn't been offered to them. There have been other presentations today with the, uh, with the, um, with beyond speech in, into AI that was done by both on the quantum feeble and a few others that where there was, um, also a brilliant presentation yesterday with front by Joe Booth. It was a brilliant presentation yesterday with Jonathan Craig speaking about how the NDIS was such a small cohort within the NDIS because NDIS has to deal with all disabilities. So often when a patient comes across a person with a vision impairment or who is crying and they've never met before, so they honestly don't know what to do. So there's a lot of information about this conference and many other things that have stood out to me in the presentations thus far.
00:25:29
S3: So everything then?
00:25:31
S2: Pretty nice. Everything. Yeah. I think the whole, um, the whole conference is great. We get a night, we get an opportunity to network, we get an opportunity to catch up with cares, professionals, acquaintances, friends, people at all levels. We even get an opportunity to make new friends. Which of these conferences. So, you know, it's been really it's a great experience. And this would be about my fifth consecutive conference and I love it in my middle.
00:25:55
S3: So have you filled out the exhibitors quiz for the dinner tonight?
00:26:00
S2: I filled out most of. I think I had the problem with one question, and I think when we finished the interview, I might be able to do it. Have you filled yours out?
00:26:07
S3: I wasn't planning on doing it.
00:26:08
S2: Oh, okay. Full mouthful. I've got mine just about to fill that. I think I'm a bit vague on many questions, so we might have to look at that after this.
00:26:17
S3: Brilliant. Well, Elise, thank you so much for joining us. And again, thank you so much for your help and support today.
00:26:23
S2: It's been a pleasure and thank you. And keep up the wonderful work. Oh, I must say, one other presentation that I really enjoyed was yours.
00:26:31
S3: Oh thank you, thank you.
00:26:33
S8: That's a wrap for this week. A big thank you to the contributors and organizers at the Round Table. And Lizzy, there's somebody else in particular. Yes.
00:26:40
S3: I'd like to thank Elise Lonsdale for her help and support helping me to get recordings on the Monday.
00:26:46
S8: You are welcome. And thank you to Jane Wagner for helping us to attend and produce this show.
00:26:52
S3: And of course, a big thanks to you for listening. And that includes our listeners on the Reading Radio Network or wherever you may be listening to us from. You can find a podcast of this program, plus some extra content from time to time on Apple, Spotify, Google, or your favorite podcast platform.
00:27:08
S8: Next week, the budget has come down and big changes are being made to the NDIS.
00:27:13
S3: People with Disability Australia president Jeremy Hope fills us in on how the cutbacks affect us and what we can do about it.
00:27:20
S8: But between now and then, please do get in touch with the show. Whether you have experience of any of the issues covered on this week's episode of Studio One, or if you think there's something we should be talking about. You never know. Your help and insight may help somebody else who is dealing with something similar.
00:27:34
S3: You can contact us via email at studio 1@australia.org. That's studio number one at vision australia.org. Or of course, you can find us on Facebook or Instagram by searching for VA Radio Network. We want to hear from you.
00:27:49
S8: Bye for now.
00:27:50
S1: Studio one was produced in the Adelaide Studios of Vision Australia Radio. This show was made possible with the help of the Community Broadcasting Foundation. Find out more@cbsnews.org.au.
