HC Deb 26 January 1999 vol 324 cc229-30W
Mr. Michael J. Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment 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. [67838]

Mr. Mudie

As the Department responsible for disability issues, we aim to make our most important documents available to the widest possible audiences including the visually impaired.

Summaries of recent Green and White Papers have been made available free in Braille and on audio cassette. The texts are also available on the Department's website, which many people with less severe visual impairments find very convenient, since they can adjust their own browser software to as large a type size as they require.

It has not been our usual practice to offer texts on floppy disk simply because there has not been significant 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.