Deafblind Australia identified a gap within the Deafblind community during the COVID19 restrictions in 2020. The government’s direction was to stay home to stay safe, but unfortunately this meant that we were all isolated from each other.
Many people have struggled with loneliness and isolation during the COVID19 pandemic and for our community, this was no different. Deafblind Australia decided to build a program for the community to better equip them as digital citizens, so that if we are ever isolated again, our community will still be able to connect online.
Seen and Heard Project
Our aim is to increase the confidence and independence of the Deafblind community within the digital world. This means Deafblind Australia is providing educational workshops to members of the community to help them better navigate online and stay connected.
This project will run until December 2022 in all major cities of Australia. Deafblind Australia will provide free workshops that will focus on training members and their support workers and or caregivers in the following areas:
- Email (eg. Outlook, Gmail)
- Social media (eg. Facebook, Instagram, Snap Chat)
- Video conferencing (eg. Zoom, Skype, MS Teams)
- How to find information via a search engine (eg. Google)
- How to navigate websites
- How to navigate their NDIS My Portal
- How to access the National Relay Service
- Learning basic internet security
- Digital communication etiquette and complaints
Members will also be encouraged to bring their own devices and software to workshops for a personalised experience.
Where and when will the workshops be held
The workshops will be held in major cities across Australia – please register below to find your nearest workshop. Most workshops will commence from October 2021 and end by June 2022. For more information, please register in the contact form below and you will be contact directly with workshop venues and dates specific to your location.
How much do the workshops cost
The workshops are FREE. You only need to register in the contact form below. You will be contacted with venue information along with the dates and topics for each workshop. These are community focussed events and we encourage everyone to attend all the sessions to get the most out of the program. However, there is no pressure to attend every session and most sessions will be accessible online by the end of June 2022.
How do I attend
Please register your contact information in the form below. You will be contacted by the Project Officer for your state, who will explain where and when each of your closest workshops are. They will give you the information on how to get to each workshop, the date, the venue and any other accessibility information you may need to know. Light refreshments will also be available at each session.
What happens if I can’t attend a workshop
That’s OK! Deafblind Australia will be uploading recorded workshops onto the Deafblind Australia website by the end of 2022. Each video will be captioned and translated into AUSLAN for your viewing. Please kindly register below to be added to the email list and we can email you a link when the videos are available.
Funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. Go to www.dss.gov.au for more information.