Digital development: hidden accessibility barriers

Digital development: hidden accessibility barriers

“Lower literacy is the Web's biggest accessibility problem, but nobody cares about this massive user group.” 
Jakob Neilsen, 2006.

When:    Thursday, 27 November 2025

Where:   Online via Zoom

Time:     11:00 am - 1:00 pm Melbourne time (AEDT Australian Eastern Daylight Time)

Cost:      $150 + gst

Suitable for
Anyone who wants to know more about how literacy affects consumers’ use of the internet and digital tools: website content writers, website developers, social media managers, communications staff, human services workers, disability advocates, teachers, community educators, researchers, report writers, NDIS staff & providers, My Aged Care staff & providers, project workers, health promotion staff…

Learning objectives

• To develop an understanding of the proportion of people with low digital literacy with or without low literacy.

• To understand some of the barriers in accessing the online world

• To explore some different perspectives and approaches to digital access

• Practical tips.  

This workshop is limited to 25 participants.

Not sure if this training is right for you?

Find out more about Access Easy English and browse examples of our work at https://accesseasyenglish.com.au

Or Call Cathy Basterfield on 0466 579 855 or email cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au 

Bookings

Confirm your registration and pay with a Credit Card using the Humanitix 'Get tickets' tab

or

Request an invoice for Accounts Payable. Email cathy@accesseasyenglish.com.au

Access Easy English is owned by Cathy Basterfield.

Cathy is a trained speech pathologist, with more than 35 years’ experience.

She has a national and international reputation in the development of Easy English.

Cathy is acknowledged by her peers as a highly experienced practitioner in the field of Easy English.

She is recognised as a pioneer in the development of Easy English in Australia and internationally, being the first practitioner in this specialist field 20 years ago. This includes the development of quality standards and benchmarks for Easy English and writing the first and all subsequent guidelines for writing Easy English.  This is the basis of quality evidence-based best-practice Easy English. Easy English applies the evidence from speech pathology, and a range of parallel fields. Find out how it is different to Easy Read, and learn of the breadth of research about the issues with Easy Read.

Cathy was involved in discussions on the Technical Standard 37 for Plain Language which preceded the first of the series of Plain Language ISO’s which started to be released in late 2023.

Cathy was awarded a Victorian Government Ethel Temby scholarship for an investigative study into international trends and accreditation for Easy English writing and publications in 2011. Cathy is a published author, an invited plenary speaker and a regular presenter at many other conferences on this subject matter.

Cathy and her team are recognised for their Easy English work with multiple national and international awards:

• International Zero Project Shortlist for 2023

• International Global Award 2022 – Most Outstanding Communicator for People with Disability in the World

• Australian National Enablement Award 2022 - Most Outstanding Communicator in the NDIS Sector

• APAC Insider Small Business Award 2022 for our Easy English training

• Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI ) – COVIDSafe Business Community Award Finalist 2022. For our pro bono COVID19 content development.
  

See more at www.accesseasyenglish.com.au   and www.readee.com.au

Your presenters for this webinar are

(1) Jodie van de Wetering.  Jodie was an ABC reporter and broadcaster for 13 years, including work for The Queensland Country Hour and regional postings across Queensland and New South Wales.  They are also experienced in corporate communications in the disability sector, supporting agencies’ communication with service users, stakeholders, funding partners and the broader public. As a specialist content writer with Access Easy English they create accessible resources so everybody, of all backgrounds and abilities, has access to information they need to be informed, safe and empowered. 

(2) Damien Basterfield. Damien manages the Access Easy English virtual office and websites. Applying the evidence, he works with people with low digital literacy and low literacy to design, develop and continue to evolve our second website for people with low digital literacy. www.readee.com.au