Speak Out August 2021

Communication Hub A website for all

In 2020 Speech Pathology Australia and AGOSCI commenced the development of the Communication Hub, a website to help us all understand the importance of communication in everyday life and the impact of communication disability.

• describe communication and the diverse ways people communicate, • describe the diversity of communication disability, • differentiate communication differences from disability, • describe the impact of communication support needs, • explain and provide examples of how the NDIS can support people with communication disability, • identify the role of communication partners, • explain communication accessibility and the responsibility for organisations and businesses to be accessible, • provide resources, including stories and videos written information and fact/tip sheets (including Easy English versions) and links to external resources and organisations. The website development is purposefully driven by the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to make web content more accessible to people with disabilities. We are aiming for AAA compliance to WCAG2.1. The project has an advisory group of 16 people who meet regularly to inform and guide the project. The

The Communication Hub will provide high quality, accessible, and evidence-based information and resources to ensure we can empower ourselves and others. The project, funded by an Information, Linkages and Capacity Building Grant (ILC) administered by the Australian Government Department of Social Services, started with widespread consultation and discussion. The website scope was broad, to create a central communication reference hub for everyone. The three main user groups for the website will be • people with communication support needs, • their communication partners - family, friends, carers and other people who support them, and • the wider community – including organisations and businesses. We are working hard to ensure the website will be engaging, interesting and different in the way it presents information, resources, and stories to explain communication disability and how to support communication. The website will • identify communication as a basic human right, • explain why communication is important to everyone,

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Speak Out | August 2021