Global Recognition for Accessible Sydney Website

Author: Department of aging, Disability and Home Care
Published: 2010/09/10
Topic: Website Accessibility - Publications List

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: Sydneyforall.com is developed by people with disabilities for people with disabilities to improve visitors experience in Sydney Australia.

Introduction

Main Item

Minister for Tourism Jodi McKay today and Minister for Disability Services Peter Primrose today announced the NSW Government's accessible tourism website sydneyforall.com has won the World Leisure Organization Innovation prize at the World Leisure Congress in South Korea.

Ms McKay said sydneyforall.com provides information about accessible tourism experiences at some of Sydney's major attractions in Circular Quay, The Rocks and Darling Harbour.

"sydneyforall.com is a world first, developed by people with disabilities for people with disabilities to improve visitors' experience in Sydney.

"Sydney is Australia's global city, it's one of the world's favorite destinations and it's important that we ensure everyone has access to all that Sydney has to offer.

Ms McKay said the accessible tourism market is believed to be worth around $4.8 billion to the Australian economy.

"It is estimated that around 1 in 5 Australians and more than 600 million people worldwide have accessibility requirements," Ms McKay said.

Minister for Disability Services, Peter Primrose congratulated the University of Technology Sydney and the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Center on this important initiative.

"Bruce Cameron, Principal of Easy Access Australia, and himself a wheelchair user, also deserves special praise for this achievement.

"Bruce was responsible for physically assessing each tourism attraction included in the sydneyforall.com website.

"Bruce has been working closely with the NSW Government and with Associate Professor Simon Darcy from the University of Technology Sydney on the site's development, which drew its inspiration from Simon Darcy's 2008 research - Visitor Accessibility in Urban Centers.

"Simon's research was funded by the Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Center, and formed the basis for the development of the sydneyforall.com website.

"Winning this prize is a significant achievement for the international recognition and for individual people with a disability who benefit from experiencing these great Sydney attractions.

"This is an important example of how the National Disability Strategy's goal for social inclusion can translate into practical and meaningful opportunities for people with a disability to contribute and be involved in the community," Mr Primrose said.