QUESTIONNAIRE SWEDEN
EBU Questionnaire Survey on the situation of blind and partially sighted
people
across the 27 EU Member States
September 2007
Name: Bertil Sköld
Organisation: Swedish Association of
the Visually Impaired
Country: Sweden
e-mail address:
bertil.skold@srfriks.org
Telephone number: +406 (0)8399274
1/ Benefits
1.1. Does your country have any form of benefits system/ allowance for
blind or partially sighted people?
.gif){kind=small}
Yes
1.2. If yes, is this allowance sufficient or does it need to be
increased ?
Needs to be increased, Needs to include also they
who become visually impaired as pensioners.
2/ Transport / Mobility
2.1. Does your country provide blind and partially sighted people with
any form of assistance for access to public transportation?
Yes
2.2. If yes, in what form?
2.2.1. Facilities allowing a better accessibility of public transport for blind and partially sighted people:
2.2.2. Financial aid:
2.2.3. If yes, is this assistance available :
At reduced cost.
Free of charge
Other (please explain)
Don’t know.
2.3. Are there any measures facilitating the mobility of blind of
partially sighted people?
Yes
2.3.1 If yes, are they:
Financing of guide dogs.
Tactile paving.
Provision of auditory means of communication.
Provision of auditory signals at crosswalks.
Other (please explain)
Don’t know.
2.4. Concerning accessibility / transport in general, what suggestions
for improvement do you have?
Better personal assistance in travel centers
3/ Employment
3.1. Are private companies under any obligation to recruit a certain
number of disabled people?
No
3.2. Are some jobs reserved in priority for:
3.2.1. Disabled people?
3.2.2. Blind or partially sighted people?
3.3. Are there any targeted wage subsidies or bonus for employers who
recruit blind and partially sighted people?
Bonus.
Targeted wage
subsidies.
Yes
Other (please explain)
Don’t know.
3.4. Does your country have sheltered workshops or any other kind of
structure employing only blind and partially sighted people?
No
3.5. Are there any other incentives in your country to facilitate blind
and partially sighted people’s employment?
Yes (explanation)
1 Free
technical aids,
2 subsidy to employer for personal assistant (50 000Skr/year)
3 Special support system within Labour market board
3.6. What is the situation with regard to the employment of blind and
partially sighted women:
Under-employment.
Yes
Discrimination in recruitment.
Discrimination in wages.
Yes
Don’t know
3.7. Concerning employment in general, what kind of suggestion for
improvement do you have?
More of supported employment.
Better rehabilitation
4/ Education
4.1. Does your country have specialized schools for blind of partially
sighted children?
No, There is one school for visually impaired with
additional disability.
4.2. Is it possible for blind of partially sighted children to attend
mainstream schools?
Yes
4.2.1. If yes, are there any support services for blind and partially sighted children?
Provision of books in Braille.
Provision of Braille writing devices.
Provision of adapted electronic devices.
Support by specially trained teachers.
Other (please explain)
Don’t know.
4.3. Can blind or partially sighted students at university benefit from
some form of financial aid to purchase an adapted computer?
Yes
4.4. With regard to education in general, what kind of suggestions for
improvement do you have?
Better support system in schools. Now there is large
differences between schools depending on which school you go to.
5. REHABILITATION CENTRES FOR BLIND AND PARTIALLY SIGHTED PEOPLE
5.1. Does your country have any rehabilitation centre for blind or
partially sighted people?
Yes
5.2. Concerning rehabilitation centres, what suggestions for improvement
do you have?
Increase the number of centres.
Improve existing
centres.
Yes
Increase the capacity of the centre.
Improve the training of staff (auxiliary nursing staff,
special education teacher …)
Yes
Modernise the methods of rehabilitation to daily life.
Yes
Modernise professional training.
Other (please explain)
Don’t know.
5.3. Have you noted any progress in these areas?
No
5.3.1. If no, did you notice a decline in the quality of the rehabilitation measures for blind and partially sighted people?
6/ VOCATIONAL TRAINING
6.1. Does your country have a specialized vocational training centre for
employed or unemployed blind and partially sighted people?
No
6.2. Can blind or partially sighted employed or unemployed people attend
mainstream vocational training centres?
Yes
6.3. If yes, are there any support services for the blind and partially
sighted?
Provision of books in Braille.
Yes
Provision of Braille writing devices.
Yes
Provision of adapted electronic devices.
Yes
Support by specially trained teachers.
Other (please explain)
Don’t know.
6.4. Have these measures been adopted since your country’s accession to
the EU or did they exist before?
Old
6.5. With regard to vocational training in general, what kind of
suggestions for improvement do you have?
Better possibilities to train in different
occupations.
7. ACCESSIBILITY OF ICTs
7.1. Is it possible to obtain support for ICTs for blind people of all
age categories
At school.
Yes
At university.
Yes
At work.
Yes
At home.
No
What kind of support ? (Please explain)
At school and at work visually impaired people can
get devices like screenreaders magnifiing software, daisyplayers, other
special equipments for VIPs.
At home it depends on where you live, age or other reasons.
7.2. Is it possible to obtain support for ICTs for partially sighted people
of all age categories.
At school.
Yes
At university.
Yes
At work.
Yes
At home.
No
What kind of support ? (Please explain)
At school, university and workplaces there
is little if any differences between what all visually impaired people can
get.
A big problem in Sweden, I think, is decisions on regional or local levels.
In Sweden we are expected to do banking, shopping, communicate with the
society etc via internet. Especially elderly people with a disability are
for many reasons loosers.
8/ E-GOVERNMENT
8.1. How do you evaluate the accessibility of public websites (E-government;
documents, forum, services, interactive pages, etc.)
Very good.
Good.
Medium.
Bad.
Very bad.
Please, explain:
As I wrote above. It depends on my specific
situation.
Public web sites are farely well done.
But, as long as many VIPs can not get the needed support it is a big
problem.
8.2. Is your government doing anything to make E-government websites
accessible to blind and partially sighted people?
Yes
A document guidelines from 1999 adopted by the
state says among other things information and communication must be
accessible in the end of 2010.
Guidelines for accessible webbsites where also produced in 2004.
9/ EU INFLUENCE
9. Do you think that the EU has had a positive influence on the situation of
blind and partially sighted people in your country ?
Yes
I think that EU-initiative #europe guidelines from
2002, Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, has had a good influence on the
decision makers in Sweden.
10/ Finally, do you have any expectation with regard to your country’s
belonging to the EU?
10. Do you have expectations with regard to:
Access to information (accessibility of ICTs).
Yes
Other. (please explain) :
Discrimination laws, Standardization, TV
accessibility