More than 3% of Australians have some form of print disability for example because they are vision impaired, have a learning disability or cannot physically hold a book or turn pages. In order for them to read print based information it must be made available in an alternative format such as braille, large print, audio or accessible electronic text.
An increasing number of people with print disability are studying at university and one of the biggest frustrations that they face, is the difficulty they sometimes encounter in getting course materials in an accessible format before semester begins. Delays in obtaining text books and readings can severely disadvantage them or make it impossible for them to succeed.
The Disability Discrimination Act requires universities to make information and course materials available to students in a timely manner and in a format that is accessible to them. Universities Australia has published Guidelines on Information Access for Students with Print Disabilities that provide useful strategies to achieve this.