The Scottish Accessible Information Forum (SAIF) is always interested in hearing from potential new members. SAIF is an advisory group promoting accessible information provision for disabled people and their carers throughout Scotland.
As a group dealing with issues affecting disabled people and their carers, it is a priority that the majority of members have direct experience of disability. We therefore strongly encourage the participation of disabled people. To support this, we provide all our material in members preferred format, organise any aids/adaptations for meetings and will pay members and their personal assistants expenses for travel and accommodation when required.
Members of the Scottish Accessible Information Forum
Jean’s main areas of interest are accessible information, dyslexia and epilepsy. She was a free-lance consultant from 2000 until I retired in 2012 and during this time she was SAIF’s training adviser. Prior to 2000 Jean worked for Lead (Linking Education and Disability) Scotland for 14 years, latterly as Disability Adviser with the national educational guidance helpline in partnership with Continuing Education Gateway. Jean is a professional librarian and Information specialist.
Amanda was educated at the blind school in Edinburgh for 14 years then studied typing and computers at Aberdeen College before spending a year at Loughborough College where she achieved her RSA 1 and 2 in typing along with a Diploma in general reception.
Amanda currently does a lot of voluntary work. She is involved with an accessible transport group; helps with audio description training for the theatre in Aberdeen; involved in helping in Aberdeen College with trainee social workers; brailling for the library for the society in Aberdeen; a member representative for the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and the Secretary for The Accessible Friends Network (TAFN).
Dyslexia Scotland Board Member
Retired engineer and project manager, with 3 children and 4 grandchildren. Bobby provides access consultancy and disability equality training and coaches disabled kids various sports. Bobby is also involved with the Glasgow Access Panel, the Glasgow Disability Alliance and the National Advisory Panel for campaigning for Leonard Chesire
Information officer at Grapevine, an information and advice service that is part of the Lothian Centre for Inclusive Living (LCiL) .
Head of Adult Speech and Language Therapy at Edenhall Hospital, East Lothian.
Sandra is retired after working for Fife Council in a number of employment related roles. She joined as a mainstream careers adviser, moved to information work for Fife Adult Guidance Service and finally co-ordinated a network of disability agencies which aimed to improve employment opportunities for disabled people.
Sandra is currently a director of Citizens Advice Rights Fife and has a number of roles with Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). She has a keen interest in assistive technology and does some work as a freelance trainer in this field. Sandra joined SAIF in 2005 and until reorganisation chaired its e-communication working group.
Morven is the Information and Communications Officer at Scottish Disability Equality Forum. Her role involves: Capacity Building, Community Engagement, Information Dissemination, Training Delivery, Policy Engagement and Membership Engagement. Across her work Morven strives to ensure all the information SDEF produces is fully inclusive and accessible.
Morven is delighted to be on the Scottish Accessible Information Forum and looking forward to enhancing the great work already started by the forum.
While at University Emma worked at Yellowstone National Park where she learned the important of communication and accessible information in this international and multi-lingual environment, where the simplest of tasks could be fraught with difficulty. This experience served her well as she developed her career working within a dual sensory impairment charity organising events which met the communication and accessibility needs of the charities membership.
Emma has personal experience of the difficulties faced by a stroke victim in relation to communication and accessibility to everyday living. Emma is the Operations Manager with Sign Language Interactions, a Scottish based organisation which provides access to Language Service Professionals.
Julie is a qualified registered British Sign Language/English interpreter and qualified electronic note taker. She is also Deaf Consultant for the Open University and volunteer with LEAD Scotland.
Kathleen’s background is in journalism and PR, in the voluntary and public sectors. She currently works part-time in the voluntary sector in the Scottish Borders, where her role includes working with people with physical and learning disabilities. She also runs a PR consultancy. Kathleen is passionate about inclusion.
Michelle is the Manager at Update Disability Information Scotland where they believe that knowing how to access the information you need, when you need it, helps disabled people to break down the barriers that exclude them.
Update promotes the rights of disabled people, their families, carers and those who work with them to have access to reliable, impartial, accurate and helpful information. They provide information through our telephone helpline, email and SMSS as well as our great range of online resources, including the Scottish Disability Directory, newsletters, bulletins and factsheets.
Accessible website design and development by Jim Byrne. Copyright SAIF 2013
