Graeme:

You might be able to get some help through Deque Systems:
http://www.deque.com/. Although I am neither student nor faculty of a
university at this point, I have done some reading on this subject,
and it appears that this company Deque Systems has been working in
conjunction with blindness orgs (including the National Federation of
the Blind here in the United States) to make Blackboard products fully
usable by those who are blind.

For what it's worth, the developers of Blackboard have posted the
following statement on their Website:

"Blackboard is fully committed to ensuring that our platform contains
no barriers for users with disabilities and is both usable and
accessible by everyone, regardless of age, ability, or situation. Our
commitment can be evidenced by the following third party evaluations
of the Blackboard Learn platform:

"Conformance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
Priority AA, issued December 2012 by Deque Systems

"Blackboard Learn is the first and only LMS in the world to deliver a
conformance statement by a third-party, demonstrating our focus and
determination to deliver excellence for everyone.

"Gold level certification for non-visual access, issued by The
National Federation of the Blind (NFB)

"Blackboard was the first LMS in the world to achieve this
certification. With valuable input from our clients and a strong set
of development and testing tools, we invest in accessible products and
capabilities that meet the wide range of our client's needs. To
fulfill this promise we are continually partnering with industry
experts to audit our code and user interface design techniques to
ensure the accessibility of the products."

I should think you could contact Blackboard support directly at
http://www.blackboard.com/support/index.aspx. If their commitment to
accessibility is as far-reaching as Blackboard says it is, they ought
to solve whatever problem you are having directly. I would not wait
around for help from your university or from the government of any
nation or state you might happen to live in.

If this does not work, you might want to get plugged into Vision
Australia or affiliate of the Royal Society for the Blind, if
representation in Perth exists.

-Kane