Submission on the First New Zealand Report on Implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

As part of ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, New Zealand is required to report regularly to the United Nations on implementation. In November 2010, the Office for Disability Issues shared a draft copy of New Zealand's first report to the United Nations and invited public comment.

The Foundation's response commented on specific points in the draft Report, on significant remaining gaps in New Zealand's implementation of the Convention and on the three areas of focus in the Discussion Document (supports for living, mobility & access and jobs).

Full text of submission

Introduction

This is the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind’s submission on the First New Zealand Report on Implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind

The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind (the RNZFB) is New Zealand's primary provider of vision-related habilitation and rehabilitation services to blind and partially sighted people. The RNZFB's vision is empowering and supporting blind and partially sighted New Zealanders to ensure that they have the same opportunities and choices as everyone else.

The RNZFB has about 11,500 blind and partially sighted members, including many who are deafblind. The RNZFB financially supports and works closely with a network of consumer organisations that directly represent the interests of blind and partially sighted people.

One of the RNZFB's strategic priorities is supporting an accessible and equitable society by removing barriers to full participation.

This submission

The RNZFB appreciates this opportunity to comment on the Government's first report to the United Nations on implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We applaud the Government's consultative approach in developing this report, and its ongoing commitment to the Convention.

This submission comments on specific points in the draft Report, on significant remaining gaps in New Zealand's implementation of the Convention and on the three areas of focus in the Discussion Document.

First area of focus: Supports for living

The Government funds a range of supports for blind and partially sighted people through a range of Government agencies. Most supports work well, but gaps exist.

The ACC scheme works well to support people who have acquired injury through accident. The scheme has a strong focus on rehabilitation and provides generous entitlements, in contrast with health-based disability supports. A blind New Zealander who has acquired vision impairment through a degenerative condition is currently entitled to far less support than someone who is blinded through accident. The RNZFB supports the Equity-for-illness campaign [1] in its call to remove this form of discrimination and provide needs-focused services at ACC levels, regardless of the cause.

One of the major types of support provided to blind and partially sighted people is communication technology, for example computers with speech software or a braille display. Access to a computer with these adaptations can allow blind and partially sighted people to participate in a range of employment and education opportunities that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to access. Funding exists to obtain this equipment for blind and partially sighted people who are in employment or tertiary education. However, individuals need access to the equipment and training to use it before they enter education or employment, so that they can gain the necessary skills to take advantage of those opportunities. They also need access to communication technology to access information independently and to participate in other areas of life including volunteering, political, cultural and family life. Currently, there is very little funding available to allow access to technology outside of education or employment contexts. A more holistic approach to funding would see individuals assessed and able to obtain equipment based on their need and potential to participate, not on their specific current participation in work or study.

Assistance with transport costs through the Total Mobility scheme and subsidised public transport is available in most parts of New Zealand, but the amount of support varies across the country. The RNZFB supports the Association of Blind Citizens' call for a Total Mobility scheme which is easy to use, nationally available and consistent, with rules that are fair, reasonable and equitable. [2]

Welfare payments can provide ongoing support for disabled people. A supportive welfare system should aim to compensate individuals for the costs associated with blindness, [3] to allow blind people to participate in all areas of life on an equitable basis, in line with the Convention. The welfare system should also provide a basic level of income for people not in paid employment, to ensure an adequate standard of living, in line with Article 28 of the Convention. The current review of New Zealand's welfare system by the Welfare Working Group focused on "long-term benefit dependency" has raised concerns that changes being considered will not provide ongoing support to meet costs of disability.

Some essential disability supports are not Government funded. Provision of RNZFB guide dogs and the training to use them for independent mobility is dependent on public donation. Similar types of rehabilitation, including instruction in using white canes as a mobility aid, is funded by Government. Funding for disability supports should be based on the needs of disabled people, allowing for choice and difference.

The RNZFB is concerned about recent cuts to general health services that may particularly affect our members. These include widespread cuts to home help services for older people, which affect many of our members. Almost 70% of our members are over 65, and more than 50% are over 80. Cuts to services including house cleaning may affect our members disproportionately, as many common household tasks are more difficult for blind and partially sighted people.

Second area of focus: Mobility and access

Access to the physical environment

Blind and partially sighted people face barriers related to accessing the physical environment independently: pedestrian spaces, transport and buildings. Awareness of the specialised needs of blind and partially sighted travellers is not as widespread as for wheelchair users.

Article 9 of the Convention requires Government to take appropriate measures "to provide in buildings and other facilities open to the public signage in Braille and in easy to read and understand forms". The RNZFB notes that braille signage in public places is currently very limited, with the exception of lift buttons. The RNZFB recently published an accessible signage guidelines document [4], which was developed in consultation with the blind community. We would welcome Government's support on integrating these guidelines into Government initiatives on universal access. The New Zealand Transport Agency's requirement to provide braille signage in taxis from 2008 was welcome and is improving the independence of blind travellers.

As noted in para 199, Government provides legal protections for guide dogs, but does not fund their development. The RNZFB's Guide Dog Services is funded by the New Zealand public through voluntary giving. It is notable that Government does not fund orientation and mobility training for blind and partially sighted people learning to get around with a guide dog, though the same training is funded for people who choose to use a white cane or sonar device. Funding guide dog mobility training would support ongoing access to an essential mobility option for blind and partially sighted New Zealanders.

Access to information

Blind and partially sighted people are at a significant disadvantage in a society that still presents most information in a visual format. It is estimated that globally, less than 5% of information available in print is also available in formats accessible to blind and partially sighted people. [5] Information technology, including the internet, has the potential to remove barriers, but also to create new ones.

Enabling access to the range of society's information is essential to achieve several articles of the Convention including those related to employment, education, justice, informed consent around medical procedures, civil emergencies, and participation in political and cultural life.

The Government's Web Standards are an excellent initiative. They have improved the accessibility of Government websites and have provided leadership outside of Government in promoting web accessibility. In practice, however, barriers to web accessibility remain. One example is the use of CAPTCHA[6] on Parliament's website, which creates a barrier to blind and deafblind people making submissions on proposed legislation. The self-assessment tool mentioned in para 105 of the draft report is a welcome step, but accessibility can not be checked purely through automated tools. Self-assessment procedures should include a requirement for seeking feedback from disabled users on the practical barriers they face in using websites.

The draft report notes that access to broadband is important for Deaf people in accessing language and culture. The RNZFB notes that broadband is also hugely important for blind and partially sighted people. Internet access reduces social isolation and enables blind and partially sighted people to access a wide range of information in a time-relevant way. This can remove many of the barriers to participation that exist in a society where information is presented in print and other visual formats.

Many blind people can not access information online because of the additional cost of obtaining adaptive technology, the level of computer skill required and the cost and availability of broadband. Ensuring that public information is available in a range of accessible formats including braille, audio, large print and electronic formats is a critical part of enabling access to information. Although para 206 notes that Government information is available in braille, in practice this is very limited. Notable exceptions include Census forms, some election-related information and the upcoming release of information from the Ministry of Civil Defence in braille and audio (as noted in para 119). Provision of key Government information in braille and other accessible formats is critical to ensure this information is available to all.

The RNZFB's library service helps to reduce information barriers by producing and distributing information in accessible formats. The library acquires accessible content from a range of sources, and produces local and specialist material in-house. Public library services provided by local authorities do not offer the range of accessible information that the RNZFB's library does. Para 204 of the draft report states that the Ministry of Social Development funds the RNZFB to provide a talking books service for blind people. The funding provided by the Ministry of Social Development is significant, but this statement is slightly misleading. The Ministry provides funding for the postage of talking books to blind New Zealanders, but does not fund the operation of the RNZFB's library or its book production costs. The majority of the library's budget is contributed by the New Zealand public through voluntary giving. The library is currently transforming from a cassette-based library service to a digital library based on CD and online delivery. The RNZFB has launched a public fundraising campaign to find $5.5 million over three years to ensure an uninterrupted library service to blind and partially sighted New Zealanders. Library services for print-disabled people are Government funded in Australia and many other countries. As part of its commitment to the Convention, Government should consider funding RNZFB to provide library services to print-disabled New Zealanders.

A significant barrier to information access remains in relation to elections. The RNZFB commends Government on its work with the disabled community in improving access to elections, but note that there is still no provision for blind and partially sighted people to express the right to vote "by secret ballot" as provided for in the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990. Currently, most blind and partially sighted New Zealanders have to rely on friends, family or strangers to assist them with voting. The Electoral Commission has committed to revisiting the possibility of electronic voting following the 2011 election.

Copyright law can present discriminatory barriers to print-disabled people.[7] To read printed information, print-disabled people rely on conversion into accessible formats. This process comes under the jurisdiction of copyright law. New Zealand was a world leader in introducing section 69 of the Copyright Act 1994, a human rights based provision that permits prescribed bodies, such as the RNZFB, to make accessible adaptations of published materials without the need to obtain copyright permissions. This provision is working well, however barriers remain in sharing accessible works internationally. Accessible format library services in the US, in particular, contain tens of thousands of accessible books in digital formats. These are not easily available to blind people in New Zealand because international copyright law does not adequately allow cross-border sharing, even though both the US and New Zealand have similar specific provisions in copyright legislation to promote information access for print-disabled people. The WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) is currently considering ways of improving access to information by allowing cross-border movement of reading material in accessible formats. The RNZFB commends New Zealand's support for allowing cross-border exchange of accessible information.

Third area of focus: Jobs

RNZFB research in 2007 found that blind and partially sighted people of working age are significantly more likely to be unemployed or underemployed compared with other disabled groups and the general population.[8]

Blindness itself does not mean that a person is unable to work, but blind people face significant barriers to employment. The 2007 research found that 50% of unemployed working-age blind people would accept suitable employment if it was available.

For blind people, the main barriers are:

• Health and disability issues, including having additional conditions or impairments.
• Transport difficulties. In general, blind people have less transport options than sighted people as they are unable to drive and navigating independently may be difficult. Blind people often depend on costlier alternatives like taxis. Consistent, adequate access to public transport and subsidised taxi travel across the country would improve employment outcomes for blind and partially sighted people.
• Lack of skills, training and access to the systems that prepare individuals for employment - for example limited access to education and training, work experience opportunities, transition support from school into employment and Government supports targeted at individuals on the Unemployment Benefit. A welcome step would be a review of how well Government-funded employment support services include disabled job-seekers.
• Inadequate access to specialist equipment and training to use it. Access to modified computers or technology can allow blind people to participate in a much wider range of employment. For example, access to screen reading software and a refreshable braille display can allow a blind person to perform most computer-based tasks, with the right training. Some funding is available for blind people in employment to access equipment and training, but this is limited, particularly for those who are not yet in employment. The 2006 Disability Survey found that people with sensory impairments were more likely to require technical equipment to participate in employment, and that this was the type of support where the most unmet need was reported. [9] For job seekers, access to equipment and training is critical to developing work skills such as computer literacy.
• Access to information, job application processes and workplace technology. Most work environments require employees to access a wide range of information in print and through computer software. A blind or partially sighted employee can participate equitably if software systems are designed to work with adaptive technology and information is provided in accessible formats such as electronic text, braille or large print. A job seeker faces additional barriers to entering work if the job application process is not accessible. Initiatives to reduce workplace discrimination should include awareness of information access issues.
• Equitable access to tertiary education and training. Funding is limited for technical equipment and study materials in accessible formats needed for tertiary study and work preparedness training. In many cases, accessible study materials are not available to allow a blind or partially sighted student to complete tertiary study on an equitable basis. For example, the RNZFB recently heard of a student who received accessible study materials 8 weeks into a 12 week short course. Tertiary institutions receive Equity funding from the Tertiary Education Commission to support them to enrol disabled students. A review of how effective Equity funding has been in supporting inclusion is needed.
• Lack of perceived or actual financial return for working. For Foundation members who do not quality for the Invalid's Benefit under the blindness criteria, their benefit reduces or is stopped when they begin working. Blindness-related costs associated with working may amount to more than the additional amount earned through paid work. For example, transport costs may significantly increase because an individual may need to travel by taxi. Welfare reforms should aim to remove any financial disincentives to working.
• Attitudes and awareness of employers and colleagues towards blindness and deafblindness. Blindness and deafblindness are low-incidence disability types, particularly among the working age population. Many New Zealanders have not interacted with a blind person, and have limited perceptions about their capabilities. For example, employers may cite Health and Safety legislation as a reason not to employ a blind person, because they are not aware of what is required to make an environment safe for blind people. The recent launch of the Employers' Disability Network is a positive development. The RNZFB also commends the Government's announcement of funding for a public attitudes campaign, and the increased role for Human Rights Commission in addressing discrimination on the basis of disability. The RNZFB encourages Government to ensure that awareness of sensory disability including blindness, partial sight and deafblindness is included in the public attitudes campaign, and offers to partner with Government to share expertise in this specialist area.

Further Information

Please direct any questions to:

Moira Clunie
Insights, Policy & Advocacy Manager

Telephone: +64 9 355 6938
Email: mclunie@rnzfb.org.nz

Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind
Private Bag 99941
Newmarket
Auckland
NEW ZEALAND

[1] Equity-for-illness campaign website: http://www.equity-for-illness.org.nz/

[2] Association of Blind Citizens of New Zealand Inc, Are We Being Taken For A Ride?

[3] Gravitas (2004) The Cost of Blindness in New Zealand. Prepared for the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind. and Disability Resource Centre (2010) The Cost of Disability Final Report, available online at http://tiaho.org.nz/about/project/cost_of_disability_research_project/.

[4] The accessible signage guidelines are available on the RNZFB's website: http://www.rnzfb.org.nz/about/business-services/environmental-design-advisory/accessible-signage

[5] The Royal National Institute of Blind People (U.K.) bases this figure on Lockyer, S., Creaser, C. & Davies, J. E., 2004, Availability of Accessible Publications, Library and Information Statistics Unit, Loughborough University, Loughborough.

[6] "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart", commonly used to prevent spam or other malicious actions performed by automated software, requires users to type the letters of a distorted image. CAPTCHA is inaccessible to blind, deafblind and partially sighted people, and the common "accessible" alternative, an audio equivalent, is inaccessible to deafblind people. See http://www.w3.org/TR/turingtest/

[7] Section 69 of the Copyright Act 1994 defines print disability:

(4) For the purposes of this section, a person has a print disability if he or she—
(a) Is blind; or
(b) Suffers severe impairment of his or her sight; or
(c) Is unable to hold or manipulate books; or
(d) Is unable to focus or move his or her eyes; or
(e) Suffers a handicap with respect to visual perception.

http://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1994/0143/latest/DLM346211.html?search=ts_act_copyright_resel&p=1#DLM346211

[8] Wilkinson-Meyers, L; McNeill, R; Inglis, C and Bryan, T (2008) Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind 2007 Employment Survey. Centre for Health Services Research and Policy, The University of Auckland Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.

[9] Statistics New Zealand (2006) Disability and the Labour Market in New Zealand in 2006. Statistics New Zealand.