Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired

Jump to page contentJump to Student Resources
CAVI is a project of the
Curtin University Centre for Accessible Technology Curtin University Centre for Accessible Technology

Welcome to the Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired


Current Announcements

The Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired 2011 Anzia Award Winner

Award Anzia-Logo

We are Excited to have won the 2011 ANZIA award in the category of Internet access & digital skills. This category is for an organization that take part in Initiatives that bring information, knowledge and materials online. The judges felt that the CAVI project was an absolute stand out – not only in this category, but across all of the applications received for the award program this year.

The judges agreed that this project has the potential to make a huge amount of difference to its target group.

The Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired equips vision impaired people for jobs and raises their self-esteem. Because the needs of this group are substantial, the impact of the project is all-the-greater.

The judges agree this project already has a significant international dimension, and there is no reason why it should not develop as an essentially borderless program. The concept of developing new learning styles is exciting and has application beyond this target group. To assist these lofty goals, the project has strong support and involvement from a major IT company.

CAVI has shown that it is possible to successfully teach blind students remotely using today’s technology and the concept of the "virtual classroom", even in areas with limited access to the Internet. It currently has 18 students in Australia and New Zealand with a total of just under 100 students globally.

Enrollments for 2012 Semester 1 Now Open!

Currently, the academy offers IT Essentials (I T E), which is a course that teaches maintenance and troubleshooting of computer hardware and software, CCNA Discovery and Exploration,
which teach networking, with an emphasis on Cisco products, and our brand new Linux Administration course.

Inquiries can be made to: caviinfo@ciscovision.org
and Brochures and Application Forms can be downloaded from our Intake 2012 Page.

What is CAVI?

If you ever thought blind people couldn't fix computers, build networks and teach others to do the same, then please think again!  Read on...

Image of blind Instructor Showing Blind Student a Motherboard and CAVI Logo

Welcome to the Cisco Academy for the Vision Impaired, (CAVI)

CAVI provides accredited Cisco Academy courses and employment opportunities for people who are totally or partially blind

Courses on offer

  • Cisco - ITE1
  • Cisco - ITE2, (under review)
  • CCNA Discovery 1
  • CCNA Discovery 2
  • CCNA Discovery 3 (coming soon)
  • CCNA Discovery 4 (coming soon)
  • CCNA Exploration1
  • CCNA Exploration2 (coming soon)

All of these go towards full Cisco Certification, which some of our students have accomplished.

Employment

In our first year of intake, 23 of 24 students achieved gainful employment.

Course Delivery

Our courses are delivered to local students who are present at the Association for the Blind Western Australia and to remote students via the internet.

Remote students can log on to a lecture live where they can participate as if they were in the class room.   Please see: Remote Laboratories Virtual Classroom & Tactile Tools for more information.

Both local and remote students are required to complete all work sheets and labs by submitting them to their lecturers via E-mail for marking.  They then log on to the Netacad web site to sit each module exam and the final exam at the completion of their course.

The only modifications of the courses are those necessary to make the content accessible to those using screenreading or magnification programs. These include accessible flash content & diagram descriptions.

On completion of the program the participants will be able to move into IT positions in industry or embark on further education.

CAVI relies on an army of volunteers to create diagram descriptions, provide information in a form better suited to being read with adaptive technologies and to record, edit and present lectures on both the CUCAT web site and this web site for later download and listening.

Donations & Support

The CAVI project is in need of donations and financial support, for more information, please contact us on caviinfo@gmail.com