NCBI sees it as a priority for information to be made accessible to people who are blind or vision impaired. Provision of accessible information is also supported by legislation.

What does legislation say?

Public bodies now have a legal obligation to, “as far as practical”, provide the documents that they produce in accessible formats.

The Disability Act, 2005, recognises that people with disabilities must have equal access to both written information and ‘electronic communications’ in order to have access to a level playing field. The relevant provisions are contained within Sections 26, 27 and 28 of the Act.

Read more about the Disability Act and access to information.

What should I do first?

If you require printed or online documents published by a public body in an accessible format for example, a college prospectus, a health booklet or a Government publication, please contact the head of the organisation that produced the publication and request it in the format that you require. Advise the organisation to contact the NCBI for advice and support if they are unsure about how to produce a document in the format you have requested.

Making a complaint

The procedure for complaining to a public body for failing to provide published documents in the format that you requested is set out in Section 38 of the Disability Act. This section of the Act also describes the steps the public body must take to respond to your complaint.

The Ombudsman has a specific role under the Disability Act to investigate complaints about compliance by public bodies to make their information accessible.

Find out more about how to make a complaint to the Ombudsman.