3.1 AIDE 101

Here we will talk about AIDE – what it is and why it is important.

‘AIDE’ is an acronym for: 

A – Accessibility 
I – Inclusion 
D – Diversity 
E – Equity 

They represent a set of principles for enabling full and fair participation in society for those with special needs, or who might be otherwise marginalised, including deaf people.

Let’s unpack AIDE more and use the downloadables to work out how these principles might be applied in your organisation:

Accessibility: The principle that physical environments, systems, tools, and processes should be modified or adapted to enable equality of access, as far as reasonably possible.  This should be done using the most appropriate and suitable tools or approach that best fits with the needs of those seeking access.  In the context of the Deaf community, this includes recognising and addressing their particular communication and information access needs.

Inclusion: The active, intentional, and ongoing engagement in actions that enable increased participation in a particular activity at any time without issues or barriers.

Diversity: The principle of ensuring equal acceptance, understanding and respect for people regardless of differences in their identity, background, preferences, or abilities.

Equity: The recognition that true fairness requires treating people with different needs differently rather than equally, in order to achieve equality of outcomes in access and inclusion.

For deaf people, the Accessibility principle will always be the first focus, as so often their main issue is lack of access to information, or to equal participation in public discussion.

Disability and Inclusion Action Plans (DIAPs) are becoming quite common in Australia in public sector and large private sector organisations.  However, there is a tendency for them to focus on visible disabilities rather than invisible ones, such as deafness.  It can sometimes be simpler to make physical modifications to change systems and processes to ensure appropriate communication and information access for deaf people.

This AIDE Toolkit covers 4 main areas (Education, Employment, Health, and Language Use) to aid you with identifying improvements and changes to make your organisation and its activities Deaf/Auslan-friendly.

Deaf interpreter has white curly hair and is wearing a dark long-sleeved shirt. She is signing in a professional and informative manner towards the camera.