From Vision Australia. This is talking vision. And now here's your host, Sam Coley.
Hello everyone. It's great to be here with you. And for the next half hour, we talk matters of blindness and low vision. People who have low vision, they'll tackle it in their own way. They have different, obviously different levels of sight, different eye conditions. So it really isn't a one size fits all. And that was really important for us to keep present throughout the whole process. Welcome to the program. We've got another exciting event coming up
for you on the 9th of May. It's the Impact Conference run by the Australian Disability Network. I'm joined today by the Chief Executive Officer of the network, Karen Strauss will be catching up with her later in the program, so make sure to stay tuned for that one. But before we chat to Karen and finish up with another reader recommended from Francis, I catch up with Chris Adkins, one of the brains behind The Pupil Project, a new video series created by Vision Australia to highlight the everyday
experiences of people who have low vision in particular. And that conversation is coming up right now. I hope you'll enjoy this week's episode of Talking Vision. Almost half a million Australians, including yours truly, live with low vision, which we predict will increase by 25% by 2030. The stigma and lack of understanding can be barriers to inclusion, which is why Vision Australia is thrilled to announce a new project that will help more Australians see the world through
the eyes of someone with low vision. It's called the Pupil Project and to have a chat with me about the project, I'm joined by marketing lead from Vision Australia, Chris Adkins, making his Talking Vision debut. Chris, thanks so much for your time. Welcome to Talking Vision. Thank you. I'm a bit nervous. It's my first time on radio. Welcome.
Welcome to the big world of radio. It's great to have you, but we are talking, of course, today about the Pupil Project, one of the exciting new initiatives from Vision Australia. So, Chris, tell us a little bit about the Pupil Project. Yeah. So the Pupil Project is a series of five videos that depict some of the everyday scenarios people with low vision may experience, but also showing
what people with various eye conditions will actually see. So we've got things in there, you know, reading a use by date, having dinner, trying to order off a menu on a wall that's written in cursive handwriting, which can be hard for everyone. Certainly. Yeah. And Chris, who is the target for the pupil project, what are we sort
of looking for in terms of the audience there? Well, we created it to show sighted Australia what people with low vision see, but also get a peek at that for themselves and actually see through their eyes as much as we can. We also developed a full suite of informative resources for both sighted Australians, but also people in the blind and low vision community, including ways to be more inclusive, learning more about eye conditions that cause vision
loss and taking care of your eye health. But we also created a brochure that focuses on living with low vision and dealing with a recent vision loss diagnosis for people in the community. Tell us a little bit about the process behind how the videos came about. I was, um, quite exciting as a member of the low vision community to be involved behind the scenes there. So it was fantastic to get some input from people out there with low vision who had a lot to say and a
lot of things to contribute. So, you know, what was the process like there from your standpoint? Well, first, it was great to have you involved to be a lot of fun. Yeah. We, uh, linked up with Amy and Jess from The Open Arms, which is just an external agency to create the video series in a really fun environment, super bright and super attention grabbing, so that people can learn more about low vision and being more inclusive in
everyday life. And they were a great to work with, super collaborative, and really helped us make sure that we had people with lived experience involved in the process from start to finish. Just making sure what we created was
really real and authentic. We worked with you and a group of others who are all have low vision in scenario workshops, just trying to find these moments that were really real, but also everyday, and what people who aren't low vision or people who are sighted would relate to as well. Then we took those. We tested them through script writing, came back to the same group and like, does this feel right? What do we need to change?
The scripts were also written by someone named Imogen, who has vision loss herself, and one of the video crew members was actually supporting his mum through vision loss too. And I think that's why the end result, the whole video series, feels so real because it's all based on
like real experiences. It was really interesting to see the creative process behind it, and there were a few things in there where it's really interesting to see the different perspectives and different ways that people interact with their disability. Like a lot of people feel a certain way about a certain thing, but then somebody else says, oh, no, I have, you know, this experience with this certain thing. And it's really important to highlight that low vision isn't
a monolith. And this is a great way, I think, to do that. So when we were having those discussions, Chris, I'm really interested to go into that a little bit more because there were so many different outlooks on what it means to be somebody with low vision and what that experience is like. So what sort of things did the team really enjoy from that and really get out of there? Well, I think it's clear to everyone that people who have low vision, they'll tackle it in their
own way. They have different, obviously different levels of sight, different eye conditions. So it really isn't a one size fits all. And that was really important for us to keep present throughout the whole process. You didn't want to say this is what all people think or experience or might see, just because it's not accurate. And I think
the most interesting one to me was actually yourself. You brought up the menu walls, which we actually ended up using in one of the videos, and it was something that even myself, as you know, a sighted person, I struggle with those at times and have to either take my phone out or like, lean in and squint. I actually did it on this weekend. Yeah. And, um, it was interesting to see how everyone tackled it in different ways.
Some people, like, I might ask for help or I'll just take a photo on my phone, zoom in, step aside and figure out what I want to get, I might ask, oh, can you list off this menu? I can't see it or I'm struggling to read it properly. And that one was the most interesting because it felt like such an everyday, normal experience. Yeah. Pop off to the cafe in the morning, get your coffee, maybe get
a croissant. But it's something that people also just wouldn't really think about with low vision and how there's different barriers for different people. And we had a really funny description of, you know, someone going into the most detailed description of what everything is down to the type of bread being used. And yeah, I someone was like, we don't need to go to that level of detail. Just tell me the basics of what cheese is it? And
anything that's important to know. So well. That's right. And I sort of with, um, where I'm living, I've hit the cafe jackpot. I've got three around the corner from me, so it's something very front of my mind. So that's certainly something that's definitely come up a lot, which is something I know a lot of other people did, um, also deal with. So it was so relatable. And so, as you've said, so every day. So it was great
to have that included. And it was interesting to see the way that the scripts kind of changed and shifted in terms of, oh, that doesn't sound right. Or um, the, you know, some, some funny instances of how they were sort of wording things or it's like, look at me, I'm this wacky person with low vision and I'm like, no, you can't. It's like, let's just yeah, let's dial that back a little. Di that. Yeah. Or this. Yeah. No.
Things like to demonstrate contrast. Someone was wearing stark white against black and all this stuff, which is I guess I get the point, but it's not. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was an interesting learning process for us all because things like black and white, before I was at Vision Australia, I was just like, oh, that makes sense. That's contrast
in like a graphic design sense. Yes, but it's just a totally different thing and there's different ways to get around it, which is why we ended up with these really cool set designs where it's bright yellow, bright green, bright blue, but contrasted with this dark blue to make it feel real and feel it was all accessible. We landed in really cool spot that wasn't just black and white. We had some color and some fun in it as well.
It's important to note this was exclusively about low vision, so it's about people with usable vision in this instance. So that could be from the cusp of being legally blind up to myself, who has quite a sizeable amount of, um, usable vision. And then there's another potential discussion down the track of that whole thing of being, quote unquote, not blind enough. That's a whole other conversation. But, you know, there's so much to unpack there. So it was great
to be involved. Yeah. And the reason we tackled low vision in this scenario is that a lot of people think they understand it, but they don't fully understand what it actually means to be legally blind or have low vision. Yeah. People aren't. Oh, you can wear glasses and that'll, that'll do it. And it's like, no not quite. No. Um, no. But it's been interesting and it's been a fun journey to tackle that education point because it's something very simple
to explain. Oh, it just is when glasses aren't enough. But a lot of people don't know that unless they know someone or have been in that experience themselves. So it's been an interesting thing for us to address in such a fun way. How can people access the videos from the Pupil Project or the other resources that are attached to those videos? Yeah, so you can head to Vision Australia. Org slash pupil Hyphen project to watch all the videos. It's a video of five series with audio
description and without depending on your need or preference. And you can read all the informative resources we developed as well. About low vision being more inclusive and learning more about your eyes because it's relevant for all people, and it's something that I think everyone can take for granted, even simple as wearing sunglasses when you go outside is really important for everyone. Absolutely. Well, I've been speaking today with Chris Adkins from the team behind The Pupil Project, an
initiative from Vision Australia to highlight the lived experiences. Of people with low vision going about their everyday life. Chris, thank you so much for your time today. It was a pleasure to have you on the show and great first interview. You did a great job. Thanks for having me. I'm ready to be here more often. I'll love to have you. I'm Sam Kelly and you're listening to Talking Vision on Vision Australia Radio. Associated stations of the Reading
Radio Network and the Community Radio Network. I hope you enjoyed that conversation there with Chris Adkins about the Pupil Project, which recently launched. If you missed any part of that conversation with Chris or you'd love to hear it again. Talking vision is available on the Vision Australia Radio website at VA radio.org. That's VA radio.org. Or you can find the program on the podcast app of your choice or
through the Vision Australia library. And now coming up next, there's a big new event to chat about involving the Australian Disability Network on the 9th of May. The Australian Disability Network will be holding their annual impact conference, taking place at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, and to have a chat with me about the conference. It's my great pleasure to welcome the Chief Executive officer of the
Australian Disability Network, Corinne Strauss. Corinne, welcome to Talking Vision. It's a pleasure to have you.
Hello, Sam.
Now, before we get into the impact conference today, Corinne, I'd love to hear a little bit more about the Australian Disability Network and the work you do.
Australian Disability Network is Australia's peak body to help Australian employers build their disability confidence to welcome and include people with disability as employees and also as customers. And we do that by, you know, providing them tools and resources and training, um, helping them write their disability action plans, building disability employee networks and a range of other tools and resources. So yeah, it's a it's a it is
a peak body. It's a member based organisation. And it has a whole range of members ranging from the Prime Minister and Cabinet Office, you know, Australian government through to state government through to our famous brands like Qantas and Commonwealth Bank and Medibank etc.. So yeah, it's an amazing organisation.
Could you tell us a little bit more about your work, specifically in the blindness and low vision space, for example, with organisations such as Vision Australia, who, as I understand you've been working with for quite a bit.
Yes. Mm. That's a good question. So I think first and foremost what I want to say is that our work is around all people with disability. Yes. And so we don't specifically focus on particular disabilities because we need Australians to be confident when they're engaging with people. Disability because some people can have blindness or low vision and they can also have chronic health conditions. So we want them to be able to have a conversation and make
sure that adjustments are in place for everyone. But in our case, you know, we have our internship program for university graduates or near to graduation. And we also have a mentoring program for job seekers or career changers with disability. And many of them have low vision, uh, people with low vision. And we work with them and our member organisations to ensure that workplace adjustments are in place. And we support them to have conversations that allow for the
best experience. It's not just the work we have done with these organisations, but the ongoing interactions we have on a daily basis with a community. We've supported many people through our Directing Change program, which is a board increasing the representation of people on boards with disability. And, you know, we've even had somebody from Blind Citizens Australia as a scholar on that program. And, um, you know, I can
only think that they'll go from strength to strength. And we've worked with Vision Australia and they've been a member of our since 2007. So that's as significant period of time. And we've with Vision Australia, they've taken on an internship and they've taken on mentoring programs. Guide Dogs in New South Wales are looking at doing an internship with us. And they've also accessed our e-learning platform to do the
training for building disability confidence in their organisation. And so to his guide dogs, Victoria looked at joining our network. So those are some samples of our engagement with people with low vision or blindness.
And um, moving on to something quite exciting. Over the next couple of weeks. On the 9th of May is the Impact conference. So tell us a little bit about the conference there and some details around that.
Well, Sam, very excited about that. I have to say, we've got our awards night on the 8th of May in Melbourne at the Convention Centre and will be announcing the Disability Changemaker of the year. We'll be announcing the disability initiative of the year and also the Disability Employee Network of the year, and also our mentor and mentee of the year and our supervisor of the year as well,
and the intern of the year. The other thing that is huge on this night of the awards is the announcement of the top performer in the Access and Inclusion Index. So this is a massive amount of work that is undertaken by organisations to ensure that they are building a really inclusive organisation for people with disabilities. So we'll be announcing the winner on the night and it's going to be great news. And then the next day is this conference,
which has got superstars from around the world coming. We've got people like the United Nations special Envoy for disability, uh, United Nations special envoy. Her name is Professor Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes, and she is a person who is blind, a lawyer by background, and also was a chair and a co-author on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with disability. A beautiful woman in the sense of just a beautiful soul, and so knowledgeable on the convention,
on the rights of People with disability. And we have Randy Lewis, who absolutely changed the way Wallgreens works by introducing employment of people with disability into their warehousing systems, and really just focusing on getting employment of people with disability up significantly in wallgreens. And they made such a huge difference to their profitability as a result. So he's
coming over from the United States to speak. We've got the global lead of accessibility at Microsoft, Jenny Lefler, coming over from overseas. Jenny has hearing impairment, but she absolutely lives and breathes accessibility. And of course Microsoft. What can I say. They do amazing work around accessibility. There's so much to talk about. There is so much on the agenda. Just how much time have you got? Well.
That's the thing. We only do have a certain period because I could talk to you about this for hours. It is an absolutely star studded event for people to head along to. I'm sure a lot of people out there are thinking, oh my God, I'd love to head along to that. So could you give us some details about on the 9th of May, how long that conference is running for, how can people access it and where they can access it as well?
Yeah. So the conference information is on the website. I also want to say in an Australian first, because I've never seen this before, we have got CEOs of Australia's biggest brands coming into a room to share their insights on building a disability confident organisation. So their experience, their journey and those are the CEOs of Qantas, the CEO of Coles, the CEO of Australia Post, the CEO of Medibank and also the CEO of Pacific National, which is
all our rail infrastructure. And they've been doing great work around building disability inclusion. And so we'll hear from them what it's like as a leader to be building a disability inclusive organisation. So 9th of May, you can find the information on our website which is Australian Disability network.org dot a U. All the booking is on the website. Our website is completely accessible. We are wcaG 2.2 compliant,
so it should be accessible to everyone. And the program, the registration and all the information is on there for people to look at and to decide whether they want to come along.
And I'm sure they will, because that's absolutely incredible. The amount of people and, you know, the serious star studded line up that the Australian Disability Network has put together all in one room, that is an incredible effort and something I'm sure a lot of people will enjoy heading along to. So look forward to hearing how that all goes.
I've been speaking to. A date with the chief executive officer of the Australian Disability Network, Karen Strauss, about the work the network is doing and will continue to do, as well as the upcoming Awards Night and Impact conference taking place over the eighth and 9th of May. Karen, thank you very much for your time today. It was a pleasure to catch up and hear all about the network as well as the upcoming Impact conference.
Thanks, Sam. It was my pleasure and thanks for all the support. It's I'm very proud to be a part of this.
And now here's Frances Kelland, with a reader recommended.
And now on to some fiction. The first book today is Life Sentence. This is by Judith Cutler, and it's part one of a series. Chief Superintendent Frances Harman has been assigned to investigate the case of a woman beaten into a coma. Elise has been in a coma for two years, and if the hospital switch off her life
support now, her attacker will be guilty of murder. Fran faces overload as she takes on more responsibilities her elderly parents, as well as Elise, a child abduction, the disappearance of her only witness, and the growing affection that she and her long time colleague Mark Turner seemed to share for one another. But is this all too much for one woman to handle? Let's hear a sample of Life Sentence by Judith Cutler. It's narrated by Diana Bishop.
She jerked sharply awake. Where was she? And what was that noise? Had she fallen asleep and crashed the car? No, it was someone rapping on the driver's window. God knew what time it was. She hadn't dared drive any longer. That was it. Not without a coffee and some fresh air. And before she'd done more than cut the ignition, she'd fallen asleep. She must have dribbled and probably snored too.
But it was the trickle of saliva that troubled her most, an outward and visible sign that she'd not been in control of herself while technically being in control of a vehicle. You all right, miss? It was a traffic cop, his Day-Glo jacket fluorescing in the headlights of the cars, still using the car park even at this hour of the morning. Yes, it had been about midnight when she'd pulled off the M3 into fleet services, which was where she must be now.
She heaved herself out of the Saab. I've had a long drive, officer. Thought I'd take a break. And before I got anywhere near my Kit-Kat, there I was, sending my pigs to market. Nodding without sympathy or humor. The young man, he looked about 18, dodged back to his Range Rover and came back, fitting a mouthpiece to a breathalyzer.
Thank goodness her parents Devon bungalow was dry capital D. She blew, as if to clear the last cobweb from her brain and then, damn it, if she didn't start a flush right from her belly up into her hair, it went. The night air blessedly sliding onto it like ice cream onto hot chocolate sauce. That seems to be all right, he said, tacking on miss as an almost insulting afterthought as he registered this symptom of her age.
I suppose this is your vehicle. Without speaking. She reached for her bag, stowed in the rear footwell, out of sight of casual predators. She always practiced what she preached when it came to crime prevention.
And that was a sample of Life Sentence by Judith Cutler. Judith is spelt Judith. Judith Cutler is Cutler. Cutler. And that book goes for nine hours, and it's part one of the Fran Harman series of books. And she's written quite a few different series, all with a female protagonist in the lead. Uh, there's the Josie Welford mystery series. Cold pursuit is the second in the Fran Harman series,
so quite a few. And there's also standalone novels as well, and there's just a lot in the library, a lot of her different series, as I said, always featuring a woman as the primary character and lots there if you enjoy her books.
And that's all the time we have for today. You've been listening to Talking Vision. Talking vision is a Vision Australia radio production. Thanks to all involved with putting the show together every week. And remember, we love hearing from you. So please get in touch any time on our email at Talking Vision. At Vision australia.org. That's talking vision all one word at Vision australia.org. But until next week it's Sam Colly saying bye for now.
You can contact Vision Australia by phoning us any time during business hours on 1300 847 406. That's one (300) 847-4106 or by visiting Vision Australia. Org that's Vision australia.org.