Reference Group

A title page appears. There’s a black background with white font that reads Introduction to Reference Group Bundle. A man appears on screen he is wearing glasses and facing the camera he’s signing in Auslan. This video is about the DBA reference group bundle. DBA aims to get information from the Deafblind community about what their needs are. Doing this by setting up a Deafblind reference group. We utilize the reference group to understand what their needs are so that DBA is able to set up new resources to meet those needs.

This video bundle set includes various videos talking about how the reference group was set up and how it’s used. As well as why DBA uses that.

A title screen appears , “What is a reference group?”. What is a reference group? A reference group has individuals who are skilled with great expertise and able to share their experience and knowledge by providing feedback and advice based on their lived experience.

The reference group isn’t the same as a training or a workshop.

The reference group is different the people within the group provide advice their perspectives based on their life experience and their expertise. “DBA’s history with a reference group”. DBA’s first reference group was set up in 2020 and went until 2024 and had about 25 members within the group who were deafblind. The members were from across Australia and were quite diverse. For example, there were different diagnoses of deafblindness different, cultures, identities and genders. DBA is excited! Soon there will be a new reference group that is set up from November of 2024 until June of 2025.

“The Reference Broup Bundle”. If you’d like to learn more about what’s in the bundle you can click below. There are five videos within the bundle the first video discusses the reference group that was formed from 2020 and finished in 2024 the second video is about how to gather and present feedback. The third video is an expression of interest for the new upcoming Deafblind reference group. The fourth video is called Terms of Reference. That means what’s included in being in the reference group if you are someone who is interested. And the final video is the timeline of the upcoming reference group. If you’ve missed out on this opportunity and you’re watching this video after June of 2025, please have a look at DBA’s website for more information. A title page appears that reads “Funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. go to www.dss.gov.au for more information”

There is a title page with a black background and white font that reads “DBA reference Group 2020 to 2024”. The DBA logo appears in the top left hand corner. A man appears on screen. He is bald with gray facial hair and blue glasses. He’s facing the screen using Auslan. DBA reference Group from 2020 to 2024.

A title page appears, “Members”. Who were the members of the reference group? These members were deafblind themselves and they provided advice and information from Australia wide about what was happening for them. The Deafblind members were paid for their time, experience and expertise.

A title page appears that reads, “Timing”. Timing. This started in 2020 at the same time as Covid lockdown at this time when everyone was at home. This meant that individuals couldn’t go out and members had to learn how to use the internet and various platforms such as Zoom. This was lots of new learning and information to take in. Deafblind individuals know that there’s incredible barriers to accessing information online and had to be determined to succeed beyond those barriers and persist through such a challenging experience.

A title screen appears, “From 2020 to 2023”. From 2020 to 2023. In that period DBA provided over 30 online trainings. A title screen appears that reads “From 2023 to 2024” from 2023 to 2024 finally individuals were able to meet again in face to face in that time. DBA provided 12 trainings and the reference group was finally able to meet face to face as well is making Auslan video resources. a title page appears that reads “Members identified topics about deafblindness”. What topics did the members choose? There are six topics in total topic one: safety, topic two: self- advocacy, three: communication, four: technology, five: Deafblind awareness, and six: mental health. A title page appears, “Train the Trainer.” Training a Deafblind person on how to become a trainer themselves. There were four Deafblind members who were involved in this training program.

Later, two of those de blind members became staff with DBA. A title page appears, “Training and workshops.” Trainings and workshops. Deafblind members became presenters to various groups of organizations which included NDIA, local government, CommGuides, Interpreters, Allied health professionals which includes: OTS O&M, and social workers. As well as mental health professionals it includes doctors, nurses, counselors and psychologists and the last group is community disability providers.

We want to thank everyone who was included in the reference group. Title page appears, “Funded by the Australian government Department of Social Services go to www.dss.gov.au.”

Title page appears with a black background and white text that reads, “DBA Reference Group: Terms of reference.” There’s a DBA logo on the top left corner of the screen. A man appears on screen. He is bald with gray facial hair wearing blue glasses and facing the screen. he is using Auslan. Terms of reference for DBA’s reference group. A title screen appears that reads “Background”. What is the background? The national information project has been extended by 12 months. During this 12 months there will be a review to ensure that all the videos and information are accessible for individuals who are Deafblind. The members of the reference group will be part of this review to ensure that it’s fully accessible. We aim to find 15 to 20 members to be part of the reference group. In particular, we’re searching for people who are Deafblind, who are family members of Deafblind or representatives from an organization who represents Deafblind Community. Those are state-based groups such as DBV, DBW or perhaps groups from New South Wales and Queensland. Additionally, we want individuals in the group who are quite diverse. Including a diversity of age, various cultural identities, genders, various types of deafblindness and various types of communication.

The title screen appears that reads “the reference group has four jobs”. The reference group has four jobs. the first job is to review all of the documents to determine how easy or difficult it is for Deafblind to access this material. The second job is to help DBA understand who is best to share these resources with. The third job is to provide feedback and information regarding the materials and any other concerns to the Deafblind Australia staff. The fourth job is to let DBA know of any relevant resources.

A title page appears that reads, “Aims”. What are the aims of the reference group? The first aim is to improve the quality of the videos and other resources by increasing accessibility. The second aim is to improve the quality of life for people with deafblindness by providing them with better access. The third is to provide all reviewed material by the cutoff date, and the fourth is to improve your skills on providing feedback.

To be add.

What is an accessibility check? Information is all around us. Not everyone can understand this information.

Accessible information, means information is easy to understand. There can be challenges to accessing information. Examples of challenges are font size, lighting, colour schemes and tricky English.

Business or government departments make information. They may ask different community group members to how easy or hard is it to use the information. This feedback can be used to change their documents to be better understood by everyone.

Why is Deafblind community feedback important? Information about Deafblind people, or their lives, needs to be easy to understand. It needs to be in the right font, format, and language. Businesses and government departments ask for Deafblind feedback about general information.

The Deafblind community is diverse. They have different language use, technology and supports for accessing information. DBA believes making something Deafblind accessible will make it accessible for everyone. Companies ask DBA to review their information to know if it is accessible. This information may be in videos, printed material, or websites.

DBA believes Deafblind people are experts in what makes information easier to understand. Deafblind people are best equipped to provide valuable feedback and opinions.

How to gather feedback Useful feedback comes from a diverse group of people looking at the same information. The deafblind community is diverse. They have different language use, age, backgrounds, and assistive technology. The diverse Deafblind community are important to ask about accessibility. Example: To get feedback on a company’s website it is important to get the opinion of a person whose:

• first language is Auslan;
• an older person who is new to computers;
• someone who uses a screen magnifier and
• someone who uses Braille.

Each person will have different perspectives. ALL the feedback needs to be included in the changes to make sure the website is accessible to everyone. Feedback can be collected in many ways. For example, meeting in-person, online, through social media, or in writing. No matter what way you choose, it is important to make sure:

• There is enough time to review and give feedback
• Questions are clear and easy to understand
• That answers can be recorded or written down

Feedback can be presented in many ways depending on what has been asked. Example:

• it might be a simple question: Is this video accessible? The results can be given as a percentage: 80% of people said yes and 20% of people said no.
• It may be more detailed. This can be presented it in many ways such as a word document or excel spreadsheet grouping information in topics. Sections can be labelled: font and colour, layout, and language used.

What to look for in an accessibility check.

• Specific feedback like “is the English in this document too complex?”.
• General questions like, “can Deafblind people understand this information?” or
• Using a scale- “On a scale of 1-10 how accessible is this website?”
• The organisation needs to let you know exactly what they want.

Questions to think about when checking accessibility Videos:

• Is the lighting good?
• If it is in Auslan, is the signer easy to see and understand? Is the signing speed ok?
• Are there other things on the screen that are distracting?
• Is the video captioned? Are the captions a size and colour that is easy to read?
• Is the audio track easy to understand?
• Is there a transcription of the video available for those who use Braille?

Print/Written information:

• Is the document format (.doc .pdf etc) accessible for braille and screen readers?
• Is the font the right size and clear?
• Is the language used in the document easy to understand?
• Are there graphics or pictures or charts/diagrams? Are these easy or hard to understand?
• Is the layout and colour scheme of the document easy for you to use?

Websites and online information?

• Is it easy to navigate to different parts of the site?
• Is the information easy to find?
• Does the website work well when using a screen magnifier, screen reader or Braille display?
• How does the site function when the colour is inverted?

Funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. Go to www.dss.gov.au for more information.

A title page appears Deafblind Australia reference group expression of Interest DBA logo in the top left corner a man appears on screen he’s wearing black with blue glasses he’s signing in Auslan and facing the camera DBA expression of interest for the reference group DBA is searching for 20 people to be involved in the Deafblind reference group members who are interested in joining will be asked to provide advice review documents and videos this will be to check how easy or challenging those are to access as a person who is deafblind.

The group will be starting in November of 2024 and continue until June of 2025 there are four responsibilities of the reference group members you’ll be meeting online five times with a DBA staff member as well as other deafblind members who may be in the group for every meeting that you attend you will be paid $50 there’s also eight reviews that must be done this is looking at different resources perhaps written or videos or a number of things that might be available to you and then providing information about how accessible they are after each of those resources are reviewed you will be paid $75 altogether between the meetings and the reviews you’ll be paid a total of $850.

Additionally you might have contact with DBA via email or to provide additional information but you will not be paid for that time if you would like to apply you can do that via email through written English or in an Auslan video the email address will be listed below with your application you’ll need to answer seven questions we need to know your name where you live what’s your preferred communication type what type of accessible technology do you use? have you been involved in a DBA reference group in the past? your experience with deaf blindness and why it is that you’d like to be involved in this reference group? a black background appears with white font that reads funded by the Australian government Department of Social Services go to www.dss.gov.au for more information