Online seminars on accessible engagement and communication with people with disability

The Department of Social Services engaged The Social Deck to design and deliver two online seminars on accessible engagement and communication with people with disability.

The seminars were targeted for people at all levels of the Australian public service, as well as people working in fields relating to disability, public communication and community engagement. 494 people attended the first webinar, on communication, and 285 attended the second, on engagement.

The seminars featured expert speakers with diverse professional and lived experience of disability and the intersections of disability and First Nations communities:

• Jody Barney, Aboriginal Disability Training Consultant at Deaf Indigenous Community Consultancy
• Jane Britt, National Policy Officer at Blind Citizens Australia
• Aine Healy, CEO of The Attitude Foundation and Founder of Ideas Info Action
• Graeme Innes AM, former Australian Disability Discrimination Commissioner
• Dr Scott Avery, Senior Lecturer at Western Sydney University

The seminars included:

• background information on the importance and value of accessible communication and engagement with people with disability
• insights on barriers experienced by certain disability groups, including people with physical disability, intellectual disability, vision impairment, hearing impairment and autism, and people with disability in First Nations and CALD communities, and how they can be addressed
• practical tips for making communications and engagement activities accessible and inclusive
• discussion of questions submitted by audience members.

The seminars were recorded and shared online in an accessible video format, and attendees received curated links to key resources to further support their accessible practice. Access the seminar on Accessible communication with people with disability here and access the seminar of Accessible engagement with people with disability here.