Digital Inclusion Strategy

Stories of digital inclusion

• Digitisation can be a non-starter no matter how smart you are!

  by Caroline Barlow, over 4 years ago
  I live in the northern suburbs and recently had to give up my NBN service because they could not guarantee speeds, and my land line kept dropping out, often for hours. I have to use a mobile as I need 24 hours phone access for emergencies. However I have essential tremors and have serious problems using a mobile phone and usually cut people off while trying to answer a call. I also have vision problems. I am IT literate and used to build computers from scratch, but cannot function as I am. All my log-ins have been done on my... Continue reading

  I live in the northern suburbs and recently had to give up my NBN service because they could not guarantee speeds, and my land line kept dropping out, often for hours. I have to use a mobile as I need 24 hours phone access for emergencies. However I have essential tremors and have serious problems using a mobile phone and usually cut people off while trying to answer a call. I also have vision problems. I am IT literate and used to build computers from scratch, but cannot function as I am. All my log-ins have been done on my computer, which has created problems trying to install apps on my mobile, and my mobile is not user-friendly, none are, and a tablet or laptop are far too large and heavy to cart around with me. It would still not help with texting, swiping, trying to dial a number, or even touching the right person in my contacts list.

  I also cannot control a mouse on my computer any more, cutting and pasting is pretty much impossible, but I do have a fighting chance of managing it, whereas I cannot manage it on my mobile. Many of my friends cannot use their mobile phones let alone a computer and forcing people to go digital results in difficulties paying bills, responding to government requests, banking, and finding out information as very few government departments now will send out a letter or printed form. The assumption is that if you have a mobile, then you can use it! For example, when I had my last eye check-up at the RAH eye clinic, they texted me after I asked them not to because I could not read the text messages on my phone!

  The reason I have a mobile is because I cannot get reliable NBN service to my house and I need to be able to call an ambulance in an emergency, its not because I like them!

• Powerpoint slides need space at the bottom for subtitles

  by Kathleen Smart, over 4 years ago
  

  I give a lot of talks online these days and I always put my own subtitles on them.

  I am very disappointed when I see subtitles covering an important list on the screen.

  Please could you make it a rule that all PowerPoint slides have subtitles, or if not subtitles, room for the automatic ones.

  Here is a template showing the part of the slide that needs to be kept free of text.

  I give a lot of talks online these days and I always put my own subtitles on them.

  I am very disappointed when I see subtitles covering an important list on the screen.

  Please could you make it a rule that all PowerPoint slides have subtitles, or if not subtitles, room for the automatic ones.

  Here is a template showing the part of the slide that needs to be kept free of text.

• Crystal Brook Central Park is being opposed by government

  by David Clarke, over 4 years ago

  The department of Infrastructure and Transport has opposed the local people's work to improve this land in the center of Crystal Brook while a poll of Crystal Brook residents that I did some time ago showed 191 people in favour of the improvement of the land and only one against. The land has been mostly neglected by government for the 40+ years that I've had a house in CB.

  DIT has even placed signs on the land falsely claiming that it is private property, when in fact it is public property.

  I would hope that government would be in favour... Continue reading

  The department of Infrastructure and Transport has opposed the local people's work to improve this land in the center of Crystal Brook while a poll of Crystal Brook residents that I did some time ago showed 191 people in favour of the improvement of the land and only one against. The land has been mostly neglected by government for the 40+ years that I've had a house in CB.

  DIT has even placed signs on the land falsely claiming that it is private property, when in fact it is public property.

  I would hope that government would be in favour if improving our towns, rather than stopping people from improving them.

  https://comagecontra.net/Australia/CbCentralPark.html

• If you can't read, you'll never be digitally included.

  by Doug Jacquier, over 4 years ago

  Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data and other research confirms that 44% of adult Australians (i.e. 9 million Australians aged 15 and over) are functionally illiterate. That means they can't read the instructions on a medicine bottle, effectively use a computer, sit a written driving test or understand what is being asked of them when they vote. Over a million Australians have a literacy rate so low on the standard scale of 1 to 5 that they fall between 0 and 1. (Note: This figure does not include recent arrivals yet to learn English.)

  Despite the billions invested in education... Continue reading

  Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data and other research confirms that 44% of adult Australians (i.e. 9 million Australians aged 15 and over) are functionally illiterate. That means they can't read the instructions on a medicine bottle, effectively use a computer, sit a written driving test or understand what is being asked of them when they vote. Over a million Australians have a literacy rate so low on the standard scale of 1 to 5 that they fall between 0 and 1. (Note: This figure does not include recent arrivals yet to learn English.)

  Despite the billions invested in education, our adult literacy and digital literacy rates mean almost half of adult Australians are not equipped for our rapidly changing society. As a nation, we need to face this situation openly.

  Australia, unlike other OECD countries, has had no clearly articulated national vision to focus and motivate our efforts on adult literacy and numeracy since 1991, even though we are a signatory to UN Millennium Development Goals, which include:

  Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning
  Goal 8: Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all
  Goal 16: Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies

  The personal impacts of adult illiteracy, including the associated stigma and social isolation, and the inability of parents to adequately support their children’s literacy and numeracy development, were heartbreakingly displayed in the SBS Insight special ‘Reading Between The Lines’.

  Socially, functional illiteracy entrenches intergenerational cycles of disadvantage in education, health, employment and community engagement, compounded by ever-increasing government and business insistence on digital interaction to access benefits and employment. For example, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care reports that only about 40% of adults have the level of individual health literacy needed to meet the complex demands of everyday life. Low individual health literacy is associated with higher rates of hospitalisation and emergency care, higher rates of adverse outcomes generally, and lower uptake of preventive approaches like mammography and the influenza vaccine. Low health literacy can significantly drain human and financial resources, and may be associated with extra costs of 3–5% to the health system. Language illiteracy also often goes hand in hand with financial illiteracy, with devastating consequences in areas such as domestic violence and abuse.

  Economically, the National Council for Vocational and Educational Research (NCVER) reports that with the economic situation that exists today, there is a general decline in the availability of jobs for workers with low literacy and numeracy skills. This group is doubly disadvantaged, as they are also the workers least likely to receive training to upgrade their skills, and are often more reluctant to return to formal learning. Australian Industry Group (AIG) research indicates that over 87 per cent of employers report that their business is affected by low levels of literacy and numeracy.

  One academic has responded that “the problem is not that literacy standards are falling, it is that literacy demands are changing - and we are not keeping up. Schools have their role to play, and they can up their game in order to keep up with the times. But employers must also realise that workplace literacy is their core work, not a supplementary remedial program, and plan their businesses accordingly.” An example of this approach occurred at the Barangaroo development site in Sydney, through an industry collaboration between Lendlease and TAFE NSW. ‘Pop-up’ colleges targeted vulnerable workers by providing foundation skills to improve literacy and numeracy, apprentice mentoring to retain apprentices, high risk license training, trades skilling and safety leadership development. 10,000 workers undertook formal skills training resulting in over 16,000 accredited training outcomes.