Students with disabilities often rely on the provision of expensive assistive technology products to help with their education.  Yet in recent years, popular computer operating system such as Windows 7 and mobile device such as the iPad have introduced a number of new built-in accessibility features, and open-source products such as the NVDA screen reader provide additional free solutions. For many students with disabilities, the shift by computer manufacturers and software providers to incorporate accessibility as a part of their out-of-the-box experience has great potential in the classroom: for students with disabilities it can significantly reduce their costs, and for itinerant teachers it can provide additional supporting options. Dr Scott Hollier from Media Access Australia will discuss the changing face of contemporary technologies, exploring the benefits and barriers of using contemporary accessibility solutions and consider the future of accessibility tools in the classroom.

Dr Scott Hollier is a Project Manager and the Western Australia Manager for Media Access Australia, a not-for-profit, public benevolent institution. Scott’s work focuses on making computers and Internet-related technologies accessible to people with disabilities. Scott also represents MAA on the Advisory Committee of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), the organisation primarily responsible for developing and promoting access to media through technology for people with disabilities. Scott has completed a PhD titled ‘The Disability Divide: an examination into the needs of computing and Internet-related technologies on people who are blind or vision impaired’, and has a background in Computer Science and a wealth of experience in both the information technology and not-for-profit sectors. Scott is legally blind and as such understands the importance of access at a personal level.