Written question asked by Michael John Foster (Labour) on Thursday, 21 January 1999, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 1 February 1999. It was answered by Stephen Byers (Labour) on Monday, 1 February 1999 on behalf of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Dept of Trade and Industry

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, what plans he has for departmental (a) White and (b) Green Papers to be made available on floppy disk format in a form which facilitates access for the visually impaired.

Answer: Mr. Michael J. Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans he has for departmental (a) White and (b) Green Papers to be made available on floppy disk format in a form which facilitates access for the visually impaired. [67847] Mr. Byers: We aim to make key departmental information as widely available as possible and to put departmental White and Green Papers on the DTI Internet web site. This is useful to people with visual impairments since they can adjust their software to increase the text size to meet their requirements. It has not been our usual practice to offer texts on floppy disk simply because there has not been a demand. Availability of texts via the Internet may now be satisfying that demand but if we receive an ad hoc request for a text on disk we are happy to produce and supply it. Officials are due to meet representatives of the RNIB in early February to discuss what further steps the Department could take to help the visually impaired access DTI material.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 67847; 324 c508W
Session: 1998-99
Subjects: Software Disability aids Department of Trade and Industry Government departments Visual impairment White papers Consultation papers