Monday, February 06, 2012
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Telecommunications

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Research Completed in the area Telecommunication for People with Little or No Speech considering issues of Accessibility, Affordability and Availability

 

The following barriers were found to be present:

 

  1. Emergency service for people with little or no speech is a major concern for people who provided feedback to us.  000 is not a feasible response nor is the allocated TTY line through NRS.  What happens to people who live independently within the community who use a landline and has difficult to understand speech?  Under the present system the person needs to access the phone and under stress relay their message.  Stress may impact on their ability to communicate which will then impede their help.  The existing system is not adequate.

 

  1. Accessible Information is still a major concern for people. There is a lack of access to easy to use, good information with available solutions for people who have diverse needs.  People still do not know where to get information on the NRS or other key services.  The TIO is unknown.  There is a lack of knowledgeable people across our community sector to support people who wish to access these services.  Communication Rights Australia cannot adequately respond to all the needs as resources are too limited.

 

In addition information on contracts, new phone systems and compatibility of equipment is continuously being updated and needs to be distributed from a range of services. 

 

There is a lack of general knowledge within the Telecommunication Industry regarding the needs of people with disability, their supports and requirements. 

 

  1. After sale service would relieve a huge amount of stress.  Initial training for people who have never used services in the past is essential with Technical support and Troubleshooting mechanism offered.

 

  1. Training and Education needs to be developed with a ‘back to basis’ component to build confidence in people who have not used telecommunications services in the past.  The program should be customised for different skill levels.   There needs to be more training for the NRS Relay Operators as the low level of usage by people with little or no speech means that they do not get experience with the diverse range of voices and electronic devices.   

 

In addition there needs to be ongoing community awareness and advocacy throughout the sector for people with little or no speech to improve access for people.

 

  1. Implementing Known Solutions and Exploring Innovative Solutions involves exploring possible options for those who cannot access current technology.  Regular monitoring should be instigated to support new users to ensure ongoing usage of solutions.  This will allow for people to grow with the solutions and adapt the technology as their skills grow or deteriorate. 

 

  1. Overall it is about Equity of Access and industry recognising that it is a human right to use the same services as other members of the community enjoy.  This should be the leverage for industry change especially now we are a signatory to the UN Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  The Shadow Report to the UN will provide an avenue for community members to express the barriers to telecommunications and for government to respond.

 

Telecommunication Website Project

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For People with Complex Communication Needs / Severe Communication Impairment
Rob Garrett, Toan Nguyen and Harriet Korner
 
A project is currently underway to develop a community based website / wiki for individuals with complex communication needs (CCN) or severe communication impairment (SCI) and their supporters. Wikis are a way to create collaborative community websites.A wiki is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of web pages, allowing input to the website from the community. This project has been funded primarily by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) Grants Scheme, with in-kind funding and support from the Australian Communications Exchange (ACE), Telstra and Novita. Rob Garrett is the Project Coordinator, working with Toan Nguyen and a reference group of people with CCN/SCI and supporters from around Australia.
 
Telecommunications has often been an area of difficulty for people with complex communication needs. Relying on a speech-generating device when using the telephone has many areas of difficulty, such as the time taken to compose messages, poor sound quality and difficulties with accessing phones. Some people have found recent technology has improved this situation, with touchscreen phones (such as iPhones), texting, Facebook and Twitter providing new options.
 
The National Relay Service includes options for people who use augmentative and alternative communication, such as speech generating devices and computers with speech and/or text output, as well as for people who have speech that is difficult to understand. However, not everyone who needs these options knows about them. Not everyone who knows about them finds that they work for them. Solutions are often a mix of things that work for an individual.
 
There is also a need to think about other methods of communication, such as signing and pictures, for people rely on these modes of communication. It is hoped that the website will provide a way for people to share their knowledge, experience and ideas about what is needed across all kinds of complex communication needs.
 
The website aims to help people succeed with telecommunications – whether this is by using a phone, texting, Facebook or Twitter – “telecommunications” is any form of long distance communication. The website will be interactive and will enable people with CCN/SCI and their supporters to add information on available solutions and to receive directions to known useful resources. 
 
Objectives of this project are:
·         to share information about solutions
·         to provide individuals with an opportunity to highlight gaps in telecommunications access and information
·         to collect information that the community needs and collate it in one space
·         to allow a space where individuals can voice their opinions
·         to identify actions and funding required to make telecommunications more accessible.
Website design is being lead by Rob Garrett and Toan Nguyen with Shannon Roos from ACE and in consultation with Dr Daniel Woo, University of NSW. The website project reference group is helping to link with the community. Members of the reference group are[TN1] :
·         Jan Ashford, Communication Rights Australia
·         Annabel Vasquez, National Relay Service
·         Harriet Korner, Independent Living Centre NSW and
·         Darryl Selwood, Mathew Hesketh and Hank Wyllie, who all have complex communication needs / severe communication impairment.
 
The project is funded for one year up until June 2011. The website is in the initial design phase at present and will then be trialed and improved. This will be an accessible website, aiming to be easy to use with good design to help answer people’s questions and find solutions.
 
We would like “end users” - that is, individuals with complex communication needs/ severe communication impairments, and supporters to provide suggestions, feedback and advice to make this website useful, practical, interesting, interactive and above all empowering…
 

 

 
The project team wants to hear from you!

 

 
Could you let us know about your experience
in using telephones and telecommunications
·         What works for you? 
·         What has not worked?
 
What are questions you would like to have answered?
 
What are good solutions to using telephones that worked for you?
 
Are there any issues you'd like to bring up for the website developers to consider?
 
Have you any suggestions about what makes a good website?
 
Let’s use the website to build our community, so all the people who have a communication disability, with little or no speech, and their supporters, have great ideas about ways to connect in whatever ways they find can work.
 
Yes we can …telecommunicate!
 
To help with this project, please contact the CCN/SCI Telecommunications Project
 
c/         Rob Garrett
Project Co-ordinator
Novita Children’s services
PO Box 2438
Regency Park SA 5942
W: (08) 8243 8263
M:  041 927 8094
Skype: rob.garrett
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