News
The Hazards Near Me app gets an upgrade
An advocacy win for people living in bushfire-prone areas!
When Guide Dogs NSW/ACT became aware late in 2023 that the Hazards Near Me app (previously Fires Near Me) had become inaccessible to screen reader users, they jumped into action mode.
They wrote to the NSW Minister for Emergency Services to ask that the problem be immediately rectified. They alerted the Minister’s office of how urgent the issue was in the lead-up to bushfire season. When they didn’t receive a timely response, they secured mainstream media coverage through the Australian Financial Review and Channel Nine News.
As a result of the media coverage, the Hazards Near Me iPhone app was updated on 10 January to include screen reader capability, with Android to follow. They have also received a letter from the Minister committing to co-design the app and have conducted an accessibility roundtable with the Royal Fire Service, the NSW Office for Accessibility and the NSW Department of Customer Service.
Guide Dogs NSW/ACT wants to thank Client Donna Purcel and the combined effort from other members of the Guide Dogs community for alerting them to this issue and assisting in this positive outcome.
