2007 PhD Thesis Final Revised.pdf - Curtin University
2007 PhD Thesis Final Revised.pdf - Curtin University
2007 PhD Thesis Final Revised.pdf - Curtin University
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endeavouring to address such issues, the result is that people who are blind or vision<br />
impaired are likely to have an inconsistent experience when locating government<br />
information. This again results in a disability divide for information retrieval.<br />
5.3 Legal precedents regarding access to information<br />
technology for people with disabilities<br />
The policies regarding provision of online information by government appear to have<br />
limited impact, but at least they are guided by policies that take account of disability<br />
needs. There is no IT-specific policy relating to provision of IT for people with<br />
disabilities outside of the government sector. For example, there is no obligation for<br />
private industry to ensure that public web site information is accessible. As<br />
previously discussed, the DSA and the DDA must be interpreted by HREOC should<br />
issues regarding the provision of computing and Internet-based technologies for<br />
people with disabilities arise. In recent years the importance of access to online<br />
information has increased due to the near exponential increase of online information.<br />
Two of the most significant cases in this respect are the Scott v Telstra case and the<br />
Maguire v SOCOG case.<br />
The Scott v Telstra case came about when a hearing impaired man requested<br />
that TTY services be provided for the cost of standard telephone services (Clear,<br />
2000). Scott argued that the refusal of Telstra to meet this request resulted in Scott<br />
losing access to business opportunities, telecommunication facilities and most<br />
importantly, access to emergency services. The ABS estimated that approximately<br />
35,000 people could potentially be discriminated against due to similar disability<br />
requirements, leading to the HREOC ruling that Telstra had an obligation to cater for<br />
equal telecommunications access to people with disabilities (Bourk, 2000). This case<br />
was highly significant as it was the first in Australia to demonstrate that the IT needs<br />
of people with disabilities must be supported in particular circumstances. The case<br />
demonstrated that people with disabilities have a right to expect the provision of AT<br />
products in relation to telecommunications.<br />
The second and highly relevant case was Maguire v SOCOG (already<br />
mentioned above). In 1999 a blind man named Bruce Maguire required ticketing and<br />
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