‘Including all Consumers’ Communicating and Transacting with People with a Print Disability Tricia Cooney and Tony Clark RMIT University Conference October 2006

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 2 Transacting with all Consumers Financial institutions may inadvertently overlook the communication needs of about 20% of the population Approximately 3.5m Australians have difficulty in accessing standard printed information because of a ‘print disability’

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 3 Vision impairment or blindness Physical dexterity problems Learning disability such as dyslexia Brain injury or cognitive impairment English as a second language Literacy difficulties Early dementia Print disability

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 4 Communicating terms and conditions Product disclosure ‘Clear, concise and effective’ Full and independent access Acceptance of offer Disability discrimination Effective Communication

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 5 Alternative format information For those who have difficulty accessing standard print the following alternate formats are available - – Audio CD or audio file on website – Large Print – Hardcopy or pdf – Braille – E Text – Information delivered via Radio RPH – Information provided on accessible websites

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 6 Delivery Mediums There are two principle mediums : – Online – Hardcopy

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 7 Online Strategies Accessibility is directly related to choice Provide a range of online formats : – PDF – RTF – HTML Supporting business practices

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 8 Hardcopy Strategy Mirror standard hardcopy strategies – Mass mail outs – Provision on demand Examples include : – Regular Account Statements – Product Disclosure Statements – Brochures

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 9 Key Components to Deliver Accessibility Knowledge of customer needs – Customer requirements – Capturing of data Knowing the customer will result in truly high quality customer service

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 10 The Future is Here Streamlined production processes allows : – Automated production of statements into all formats – Synthetic text to speech products – Automated conversion Sophisticated customer databases Culture change

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 11 Recommendations Choice must be provided Review and commence with high priority material i.e. PDS, regular statements Review workplace practices

Financial Literacy, Banking & Identity 2006 RMIT University 12 Thank you Please contact Tricia Cooney Vision Australia 454 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong Vic 3144 Ph: Mob: