S1: Hello everyone. Welcome to Talking Tech. This edition, available from
S1: March the 18th, 2024. I'm Stephen Jolly. Great to have
S1: you with us listening maybe through Vision Australia radio, associated
S1: stations of the Radio Reading Network or the Community Radio Network.
S1: There is also the podcast to catch that, all you
S1: need to do is search for the two words talking
S1: tech and Danica. Nor come usually on a Tuesday afternoon
S1: just after it's been produced. Another option is to ask
S1: your Siri device or smart speaker to play. Vision Australia
S1: radio talking tech podcast. Vision Australia radio talking tech podcast. Normally,
S1: Vision Australia's national access technology manager Damo McMorrow was with me.
S1: Damo is still tied up with Sea Sun, the International
S1: Assistive Technology Conference duties, but he will be back with
S1: us next week. In the meantime, one of demos team
S1: is with me And that's Steve Moneghetti from Vision Australia.
S1: I think you're located in Bendigo. Steve. Welcome.
S2: Thanks. Stephen. Yeah, that's right in in Bendigo, central Victoria.
S1: And your role is in access technology service development lead.
S1: And I'm sure as soon as I've uttered those words
S1: there are people screaming at me into their device saying,
S1: Will you ask your guest what an access technology service
S1: development lead does?
S2: Yeah. So I was previously an access technology specialist. So
S2: the people who go out to to clients from Vision
S2: Australia that go out to sea to sea clients and
S2: talk to clients about their technology needs and their goals,
S2: and now I've moved into the role as a technology lead.
S2: So I actually mentor the Ats's, in particular in Victoria
S2: and Queensland. So I do some training, I coach them
S2: through different scenarios and and talk them through different options.
S2: So it's a mentoring role with all the ATS.
S1: An ATS is.
S2: Our access technology specialist.
S1: You joined VA 18 years ago.
S2: Yeah that's right. It started a very originally as a
S2: recreation worker at Vision Australia, but quickly moved into the
S2: At role, the assistive technology role and have been working
S2: in the field for about 17 of the 18 years.
S1: So how did you get interested in assistive or access technology?
S2: It was part of my background. So I'd completed a
S2: postgraduate qualification in computing and had worked in that field
S2: for a number of years. And then the opportunity arose
S2: that we needed to expand the the ATS role in Bendigo.
S2: And so the opportunity came up for the position in Bendigo.
S1: When you started to move into it and you had
S1: to get your head around Using a computer in what's
S1: not really a natural way for people who can see
S1: to use it. How did that go for you?
S2: You're quite right. It's a very steep learning curve for
S2: the first 3 to 6 months, you know, navigating jaws
S2: and as you said, discussing all the acronyms for a start.
S2: But then, you know, learning how to use the magnification,
S2: the screen readers and then moving eventually into being able
S2: to use some of the Braille devices as well. So
S2: it was a 12 month learning curve to get up
S2: to speed with, with many of those things. And then
S2: it's a consistent process in just updating your skills, updating
S2: your knowledge, and keeping you informed of of what's out
S2: there and what's happening. My computer starts every day with
S2: jaws running. So jaws is a screen reader for windows,
S2: and I try not to touch my mouse throughout the
S2: whole day, so I try and navigate my whole day
S2: just using the keystrokes as a screen reader user would do.
S1: We've seen lots of change with access technology over the
S1: time you've been with Vision Australia. What's really stood out
S1: for you? Sort of some of the milestones along the way.
S2: When I started in the role, we spent a lot
S2: of time teaching people around computers and windows computers and,
S2: you know, to turn the computer off, press the start
S2: button and things like that. And it changed remarkably the
S2: day the the iPhone started to become popular and available,
S2: and then the iPad and all the smartphones that followed.
S2: So our role has really, really changed from, you know,
S2: being PC based and PC centred to, you know, the
S2: vast majority of our work these days is around tablets
S2: and phones and, and connectivity and the different apps and
S2: things that are available with, with those devices.
S1: I understand that the access technology role at Vision Australia
S1: is about supporting people with their use of the technology,
S1: Maybe in their personal life, in their education, in their employment,
S1: as well as working with external organizations like educators and employers, etc..
S1: Tell me about, in particular, the job access program of
S1: Vision Australia.
S2: Job access is a federal government funded program, and it
S2: enables people who are employed to get the technology they
S2: need in order to be able to complete their work tasks.
S2: People can access it through either their Disability Employment service,
S2: if they're using a disability employment service can access the
S2: job access funding when they get a job, or they
S2: can apply directly to job access. Either them or their
S2: employer can apply. And and that starts a process of
S2: assessment around what their work tasks are and determining what,
S2: what equipment they need for people to be able to
S2: undertake the roles associated with their tasks at work.
S1: So someone might have been in a role for quite
S1: some time. They become aware of a new piece of technology,
S1: and they can get their employer to put their hand
S1: up and investigate it through Vision Australia.
S2: That's right. And I've had some people, I think I've
S2: done 4 or 5 assessments for over the years. So
S2: you can certainly go back and as job roles change
S2: or new equipment becomes available, then you can go back
S2: to job access and have that review process and re-establish
S2: what equipment they need and, and go through that process.
S2: The great thing about job access is it's it's both quick.
S2: So it, um, we only get 12 days from the
S2: day we get notice of the assessment to actually having
S2: completed the assessment. Often those reports are reviewed quite quickly
S2: and the employee gets an answer about that equipment very quickly.
S2: So within 3 to 4 weeks from lodging the application
S2: They can. They can have that equipment working for them
S2: in their workplace.
S1: Let's just look at some sort of fictitious example. My
S1: boss contacts Vision Australia says I have a person who
S1: has low vision or is blind. What are the steps
S1: from there on?
S2: If Vision Australia is given, given the job, we'd make
S2: contact and discuss their vision and their roles, and then
S2: we'd go out to the workplace and actually conduct an
S2: assessment and retake some, some equipment that we think might
S2: be appropriate for their for their work tasks. And that
S2: can that can be all sorts of things. So I've
S2: been in dairies, in a cow cowshed, in a dairy,
S2: looking at lighting and magnification in that setting. And I've
S2: been at banks and head offices in, in Melbourne. So
S2: it's a really a varied role. It's amazing the different
S2: places I've been to in assisting in this way.
S1: Is it usually to support someone getting a new job
S1: or in their existing job?
S2: Well, both. It's 50 over 50 on that. Certainly people
S2: that are starting out can go through the process and
S2: get the equipment they need. Or as I said, if
S2: people's jobs changes or they need different equipment, we can
S2: go back again and and have a look at that
S2: equipment and conduct that review.
S1: Mhm. I guess the way you interact with the people
S1: that you're visiting varies. Someone doing an ongoing job and
S1: somebody starting out in a job when they're starting out,
S1: the employer, potential employer is probably a little bit sort
S1: of nervous about how this is going to work. Whereas
S1: once that person has been in a role for quite
S1: some time, as you know, had that connection with the organization,
S1: they're wanting to make the best of things for him,
S1: put the best technology in his hands.
S2: Yeah. That's right. So, you know, in that case with
S2: a new employee. You know, we'd often sit down with
S2: the employer as well, initially to start with and have
S2: a chat and discuss the role and, and the job
S2: access process so that they're familiar and understand how the
S2: actual process works. Also, at the conclusion of the of
S2: the assessment, get them back again and, you know, discuss
S2: the equipment that's going to be recommended and what that
S2: will do and usually quite often demonstrated as well. So
S2: they've actually got an understanding of what we're talking about.
S2: But as you said with with clients that are at
S2: the workplace already, it's about usually about some sort of
S2: modification and some different equipment. So the the process changes
S2: a little bit.
S1: So somebody might be driving along somewhere in Australia listening
S1: to this program casually and thinking, maybe we can do
S1: more for one of the people in our team who
S1: has low vision or can't see at all. Who would
S1: they make contact with to explore the job access opportunities.
S2: There's probably two ways to go about that. They could
S2: look it up online, either typing in to a search engine,
S2: job access or the Employment Assistance Fund. And there's some
S2: certainly some great information online. Again, that's the federal government site.
S2: That's that's got that information. Alternatively, if they've got contact
S2: at the local Vision Australia office, they could make contact.
S2: And one of the job access panel members could actually
S2: make contact and have a chat to them as well.
S1: So are there other organisations apart from Vision Australia who
S1: are part of the job Access scheme?
S2: Obviously we're here today talking about people who are blind
S2: or have low vision, but it's broader than that. So
S2: it's all disability. So there are occupational therapists and and
S2: other service providers that provide this service. And there are
S2: other providers in the vision space as well.
S1: So there's a great opportunity for someone to contact that program,
S1: or I guess they could contact Vision Australia directly and
S1: find out more about the program. Is that right?
S2: That's right. Yes. Yeah. Yep. Uh, there's, uh, panel members across, um,
S2: the eastern, the eastern states, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.
S2: There's panel members. Vision Australia has panel members in each
S2: of those states. So they'd be able to talk people
S2: through it.
S1: Mhm. Excellent.
S2: But the service is available in the other states as well.
S2: But Vision Australia just provides a service across those states.
S1: Yeah. Yeah. So you're involved with the job access program.
S1: What other things do you do in your job as
S1: the the lead you talked about mentoring or leading other
S1: access technology specialists. What sorts of other things do you do?
S2: We've just been running induction for we've had five new
S2: access technology specialists this year, so we've just been running
S2: induction for them, and there's a continual, um, training program
S2: and building on their skills and knowledge over over the
S2: next 12 months will be supporting them. And we also
S2: do services into Tasmania and Northern Territory as part of
S2: a contract with the Department of Education. So I go
S2: up into Darwin every year and for a week and, uh,
S2: provide assessments in the schools up in Darwin. And one
S2: of the other team members, Kent, goes down to Tassie
S2: 2 or 3 times a year and provides the same service. Um,
S2: we're also doing some consulting work as well. So at
S2: the moment I'm working with a couple of external organisations
S2: and providing some consultancy around accessibility on the computer.
S1: Steve, as an experienced hand, I nearly said an old
S1: hand with access technology. What in your quiet moments are
S1: you looking forward to in the next sort of 1
S1: to 5 years?
S2: It's an enormous period of change at the moment, and
S2: it will be interesting where the AI will take us.
S2: I guess we're waiting to see where that will head.
S2: Apps like Seeing Eye and Be My Eyes and other
S2: apps where you can ask it questions and get a
S2: picture described to you, and then ask it more details
S2: about the picture. Jaws has got that smart feature function
S2: where again, you can get a description of of an
S2: image that's on your computer and things like that. So
S2: that whole AI side of things is really going to grow.
S2: We've seen the meta glasses and what they can do.
S2: And as different options come out in that space as well.
S2: So it's going to be more mainstream products that become
S2: available using that, those AI features and that really expand
S2: what what is available.
S1: Well, Steve, it's been great speaking with you today. Good
S1: luck as you continue your work making a difference for
S1: so many people around the country. Steve Moneghetti, who is
S1: a Vision Australia Access Technology service development lead Based in
S1: Bendigo in Victoria. Thanks for chatting with us on Talking Tech.
S2: Thanks, Dave and thanks for the catch up. It's been great.
S1: And before we go, a reminder that you can find
S1: details of what we've been talking about in this and
S1: previous editions of the program by going to VA radio.org/talking tech.
S1: VA radio.org/talking tech and to right to the program Damon
S1: McMorrow at Vision australia.org. Yes, he's still checking his inbox.
S1: Damo McMorrow McMorrow R.o.w at Vision australia.org and Damo will
S1: be back next week with a lot to tell us
S1: about season. This has been talking tech. My guest was
S1: Steve Moneghetti, a member of Damo team as an Access
S1: Technology Service development lead. I'm Stephen Jolley. Stay safe. We'll
S1: talk more tech next week. See you.