Who should attend

The DARES short course will be suitable for educators, researchers and practicing professionals across multiple disciplines, including business, law, Information Technology (IT), arts, graphic design, education, medicine, nursing and allied health.

What you will learn

The course will provide information and practice initiatives to:

• Increase understanding of accessibility guidelines (WCAG) and the difference between AA (standard level) and AAA (optimal level) accessibility standards.
• Grow knowledge of how accessible written and spoken communication within research, education and practice can be inclusive of and welcoming to all.
• Develop strategies to effectively involve consumers and community members as part of research or project teams (including consideration of the continuum, and conundrums, of consumer and community engagement).
• Ensure accessibility in written and spoken communication across methods and processes used.
• Facilitate accessible dissemination and translation of teaching, research or project findings into practice.

Dr Em Bould (they/them)

RAIL Research Centre and Department of Occupational Therapy, Monash University

Em has a background in psychology and over 20 years’ research and program design expertise. Their work has established new standards for accessible research participation, for people with disabilities, limited literacy and culturally and racially marginalised (CALM) backgrounds. This includes co-design and co-production with lived experience experts, service providers and government agencies. In addition, Em also has expertise in AAA-accessible digital and print resource design. They have produced various accessible web-based and other digital resources.

Associate Professor Libby Callaway (she/her)

RAIL Research Centre and Department of Occupational Therapy, Monash University

Libby is an occupational therapist with 30 years of experience working with people with disability, across both inpatient and community settings in Victoria and the United States. Libby is the Independent Living Stream lead in the RAIL Research Centre. At Monash, Libby leads a research program focused on housing, technology and support design, and workforce development, for independent living. This research includes a strong focus on consumer and community co-design.

If you'd like to find out more about this program, please get in touch with our team at spahc.rail@monash.edu.