Disability Action Week 2024

Dear Members and Friends of The Hopkins Centre,

This week, 24 November to 1 December, 2024, we mark Disability Action Week and celebrate the contribution of people with disability to our families, local communities and society as a whole. This year’s theme Accessible Communication: Connect, Include and Empower  will resonate deeply with many of you as it does with our ongoing mission at The Hopkins Centre.

Accessible communication means everyone can access information, whatever their needs and is at the cornerstone of inclusion and empowerment, enabling individuals with disabilities to fully participate in society. This week, I encourage you to reflect on the simple ways that we can all enhance accessible communication for people with disability, for example,  remembering to ask people how they want or need to receive information and then thinking about the best communication method to meet those needs. At The Hopkins Centre, we are proud to lead initiatives that break down barriers and foster connections across communities and healthcare systems.

I also invite you to consider the meaning of accessible communication in your life and work, participate in the discussions that will unfold this week, and contribute to spreading the word about the importance of accessible communication. Your advocacy plays a vital role in driving forward our vision for a more inclusive world! It is also a great opportunity to improve your understanding about and skills in accessible communication. You can find more at Disability Action Week | People with disability | Queensland Government or by joining in the Disability Action Week Webinar.

Thank you for your dedication to our mission and for joining us in marking this significant week. Together, we continue to learn, innovate, and advocate for changes that have a profound impact on the lives of those we serve.

Warm regards,

Professor Tim Geraghty
Director, The Hopkins Centre

 

Accessible Communication: Connect, Include and Empower

We’re excited to share some of the effective strategies and creative solutions we use at Inclusive Futures: Reimagining Disability and The Hopkins Centre, Griffith University, to make communication more accessible for all.

 

Did you know?
More than 1.3 million people worldwide–including 21.4% of Australians–live with a disability or chronic health condition?

Disability results from the interaction between people with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that impacts full participation in society on an equal basis with others.

Disability: The Statistics

• 16% of the world’s population or over 1.3 billion people experience some form of disability.[1]
• 21.4% of Australians or 5.5 million people experience disability and live with an impairment.[2]
• 7.6% of Australian children <15 experience some form of disability.[3]
• 650,000 people in Australia are active NDIS participants with approved plans.[4]

 

Accessible Communication for Everyone
Accessible communication is essential for creating a society that connects and includes everyone, regardless of ability. Clear, inclusive communication helps to ensure that information, services, and opportunities are available to all people, breaking down barriers and fostering genuine engagement in every aspect of life.

 

Consider your Audience
When creating content, consider the divers learning and communication needs of your audience.  Accessible technologies and inclusive communication materials are essential to effectively reach and support people with disability, with approximately half of all Australians with disability reported to use some form of aid or assistive device. Further, almost 1 in 10 have experienced discrimination or unfair treatment because of their disability needs.

 

Accessibility for the d/Deaf and signing community
Approximately 466 million people (or 6.1% of the world’s population) are living with hearing loss.  In Australia, one in six people are affected by a variety of forms of hearing loss. There are 30,000 Australian Sign Language (Auslan) users.[5]

• Some ways of supporting the d/Deaf and the signing community include:
• Use subtitles and captions – preferably live captions where possible
• Use the services of an Auslan interpreter (where needed)
• Provide verbatim transcripts of live events, meetings and events
• Enable technology access
• Facilitate the use of online chats in virtual meetings (as an option) – NB: lipreading, captioning and Auslan interpreting is preferred
• Use digital whiteboards, this is especially helpful in medical settings or emergencies.

 

Accessibility for blind, low vision and other vision impairments

• Use large, scalable, legible fonts – preferably sans serif, upper and lower case, with high contrast such as bold and normal text
• Avoid the use of all caps, italics and underline (unless a hyperlink)
• Use clear, high contrast colours – use an accessibility colour checker
• Ensure your communication is screen reader accessible
• Use alternative (Alt) text on images and label decorative objects as such
• Use braille where possible, especially on signage in public spaces
• Provide multiple / alternate formats
• Use pattern, texture, shapes and labels rather than colour, especially on graphs, charts and diagrams
• Do not use too much red or colour, just for the sake of using colour – this is not helpful for individuals with low vision or those who are colour blind.

 

Communication accessibility for mobility disability

• Use accessible spaces and conduct site visits where possible
• Offer hands-free options such as lapel microphones
• Offer multiple formats e.g. print, written, audio, video and digital, depending on your target audience and their requirements
• Use assistive technologies such as speech-to-text, eye-tracking systems, adaptive keyboards, headsets and mounted devices.

 

Cognitive considerations

• Visual Aids – Provide visual aids, step-by-step instructions, or prompts for individuals with cognitive impairments
• Be Patient – Be patient with slower or non-verbal communicators; confirm understanding with repetition or paraphrasing
• Assistive Technologies – Use apps or devices that facilitate simple, customisable communication (e.g., ACC or communication boards)
• Avoid Special Effects – Avoid the heavy use of effects such as animation, transition, flickering or strobing in multimedia
• Use Plain Language – Use plain, straightforward language to reduce cognitive load for individuals with brain injury / processing difficulties
• Easy Read & Visual Aids – Incorporate gestures, visual aids and easy read formats to supplement standard verbal and written communication.

 

Design for equal access
By embracing accessible designs and tools, we create environments where everyone has equal opportunities to connect, understand, and participate fully.

• Design for accessibility and inclusion
• Use inclusive language
• Apply universal design principals
• Embrace co-design
• Test your content
• Facilitate inclusion training for your staff.

 

Our Commitment atThe Hopkins Centre and Inclusive Futures 
At Inclusive Futures: Reimagining Disability and The Hopkins Centre at Griffith University, we’re dedicated to leading the way in accessible practices. Here’s a look at some of the ways we’re advancing inclusion and accessibility:

• Developing research on communication access and tools to support diverse needs, including our new Inclusive Events Checklist.
• Integrating inclusive communication into all research projects, translation and dissemination, for example Voice of Queenslanders with Disability, ARC Adjudicating Rights for a Sustainable National Disability Insurance Scheme, and Partnership to understand Indigenous experiences of CTP.
• Hosting inclusive events and workshops, which seek to lead from the front and by example – for example our recent Hopkins Centre Bold Ideas Better Solutions Symposium and Inclusive Futures: Winning Medals with Equity and Diversity Symposium, Book Club Events and our successful Inclusivity in Play Pitch Festival.
• Engaging in projects that drive innovation in assistive communication technologies, including:
  • Potential of smartphone apps to assist people with spinal cord injury - Hopkins Centre
  • Seed Project: Development of the ROBIN (Returning hOme after Brain INjury) smart device application - Hopkins Centre
• We offer partnerships, consultation, resources, and training to support organisations in developing inclusive practices. Our programs are led by co-designers with lived experience of disability through initiatives like the Dignity Project and Inclusive Voices. Additionally, we equip the next generation of citizen researchers through our Citizen Researcher Essentials: A Short Course.

Together, we are building a world where everyone can connect, be included, and feel empowered. Discover how you can integrate accessible communication practices into your workplace, starting with small, impactful steps.

Thank you for committing to a future where communication is accessible to all.

 

MORE INFORMATION

For more information, collaborate or to partner with us in creating inclusive accessible content, research, projects or events, please email: inclusivefutures@griffith.edu.au or hopkinscentre@griffith.edu.au

[1] The World Health Organisation, 2024.
[2] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2022.
[3] Queensland Government, 2024.
[4] NDIS, 2024.
[5] Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2022.

 

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Camila Shirota - VisADL's project.

For this important week, The Hopkins Centre and Griffith Inclusive Futures asked researchers what this year’s theme meant to them and why it is relevant to their work.

Camila Shirota shares her thoughts on the meaning of accessible communication for connection, inclusion and empowerment in the context of their Seed Funded Research Project, entitled “Can we enhance the home modification process and outcomes using 3D visualisations of activities of daily living (ADLs)?” or, for short, the VisADLs project. Camila is  co-Chief Investigator on the VisADL's project, alonside Matt McShane. 

We asked:

How does the VisADLs Project align with the Disability Action Week 2024 theme of Accessible communication?

Camila answered:

"Visualising and communicating about home modifications is difficult, especially when people who need those modifications are still in hospital, and cannot access their home. The VisADLs project is working to make an accessible tool to help people involved in home modifications better communicate with patients in hospital needing home modifications. The tool will show avatars doing common activities of daily living – such as transferring in and out of bed – to help people see how much space is needed to do these activities and in a safe manner. By turning abstract concepts of home modification into 3-dimensional (3D), visual models of the space needed to do ADLs, the project aims to make home modifications more collaborative between service providers and service users. We hope that having these ‘visualisations’ available for people with disabilities needing home modification will facilitate inclusion of patients in the home modification process, by making the tools used to communicate the process of home modification more accessible. Our goal is to ultimately enable all home modifications stakeholders - therapists, builders, funders, and people with disabilities - to be able to understand each other via a consistent and accessible communication tool."

We asked:

Why is accessible communication important in the context of your work?

Camila said:

"Home modifications can include major changes to a person's home. They are often done while a person is still in hospital, making it difficult for them to understand what is happening and participate in the process. Our tool would allow people to see how much space they will need and understand why certain changes are needed in a very accessible way, through the power of virtual reality, rather than home modifications stakeholders using words or text, flat pictures, or floorplans to describe those changes."

We asked:

How do you see accessible communication in rehabilitation contexts can connect, include and/or empower individuals?

Camila said:

"The accessible communication tool we are developing would empower people to participate in decision-making and taking ownership of modifications to their home environments."

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Belinda Adams - NeuroRhythm Project

Belinda Adams OAM shared her thoughts on the meaning of accessible communication for connection, inclusion and empowerment in the context of her latest project, NeuroRhythm.

The NeuroRhythm project, headed by Centre Ambassador, Belinda Adams OAM, was announced as a winner of The Heart Foundations Active Innovation Challenge, in July 2024. The project will bring together the elements of Djembe drumming and free dance movement to engage people living with a brain injury to express themselves and re-inhabit their bodies post injury. The project will be filmed, and turned into a documentary.

 

We asked:

How does the NeuroRhythm Project align with the Disability Action Week 2024 theme of Accessible communication?

Belinda said:

NeuroRhythm is a groundbreaking arts-based community program that will use fun live music to improve fitness, balance and coordination all whilst empowering participants to be artists and fostering community connections.

Drumming and dance have been shown to help rebuild pathways in the brain. Research shows that the physical transmission of rhythmic energy to the brain synchronises the left and right hemispheres making it a powerful tool in healing.

 

We asked:

Why is accessible communication important in the context of this project?

Belinda responded:

Cultural activities can be limited for people with a brain injury who often feel isolated. Drumming circles provide an opportunity for synchronicity and creative expression as well as connection with like-minded people. The NeuroRhythm program has the potential to improve the health, fitness and emotional well-being of individuals with a brain injury.

 

We asked:

How do you see accessible communication in rehabilitation contexts can connect, include and/or empower individuals?

Belinda said:

The development of the NeuroRhythm program will be documented on film, giving participants the opportunity to share their lived experience. Through their personal accounts viewers will be able to relate to the day-to-day reality of living with a brain injury.

Film has a unique ability to captivate audiences and drive meaningful change. When people connect with a character on screen, it can shift viewpoints so WHO is telling the story matters. The program and film will offer an opportunity to participants to advocate for themselves.

 

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Delena Amsters - Health Literacy Project

For Disability Awareness Week, clinician and researcher Delena Amsters reflected on the Project: Implementing principles of health literacy into rehabilitation practice using a change champion/co-design approach: A pilot and feasibility evaluation, or the Health Literacy Project, which upholds the theme of this year's theme of Accessible Communication at it's core.

We asked:

How does the Health Literacy Project align with the Disability Action Week 2024 theme of Accessible communication?

Delena Said:

Through the Health Literacy in Rehabilitation Project, we are focusing on supporting rehabilitation clinicians to be better communicators so their clients with disability can be more connected, included and empowered in their healthcare journeys.

We asked:

Why is accessible communication important in the context of this project?

Delena told us:

Health literacy is a person’s ability to find, understand and use basic health information. Health literacy responsiveness is when clinicians know how to adapt their communication to meet the needs of their clients. One of the early findings of our project is that expert clinicians might not necessarily be experts at being health literacy responsive.

We asked:

How do you see accessible communication in rehabilitation contexts can connect, include and/or empower individuals?

Delena Replied:

Our project team has been supporting clinicians to learn how to use some of the many available technologies to simplify health information. Using AI chatbots such as Chat-GPT is an example of a technology that clinicians can use to tailor their communication to the needs of their clients. Another simple but frequently overlooked technology is a virtual whiteboard, which can be used to add pictures, diagrams, and text to a conversation about health information. At the end of the conversation, clinicians can provide the whiteboard output to their clients as a visual reminder of what has been discussed.

Another important part of the project is the real-world testing of new health information.  We are helping to connect rehabilitation clinicians with lived experience experts who can provide feedback to ensure health information is fit for purpose.

In the project's next phase, we will be working with clinicians who provide services to people with acquired brain injury. We will adapt our support to the learning requirements of these clinicians and, in turn, the communication requirements of people with ABI.