Ability Forum

[srividyaa]

Can you imagine a life without Internet, Google, mobile phones, ATM and other comfort-goods?

Well, 60 million differently-abled people in India can! And with a little extra care this could be made accessible to them soon. Almost all the products in India, be it technology or consumer goods, are targeted mainly at the 'normal' people. India churns out millions of technocrats every year. Among those, how many are differently abled? Very few! How can technology aid the 60 million differently abled people in India? This could be done mainly by creating awareness about the needs and the potential of the people with disabilities, which was the main objective of Techshare India 2010, held at India Habitat Centre on 15 and 16 th of February.

Many tools that could bring a significant difference int the lives of disabled Indians were showcased at the event. Here are a few!

PC navigation
Computers have become an inevitable part of technology . So the first step in connecting to the world technically would mean getting acquainted with the system. There are many factors that could improve the accesibility options during PC navigation.

Operating systems act as an interface between computer and its users and hence play an important role in accessibility. Some of the operating systems nowadays like Windows 7, come with options such as touch screen monitor, on-screen keyboard (allows easy key-in using mouse or any other pointing device), narrator ( reads aloud on-screen text and notify alerts during errors), speech recognition ( dictate documents and e-mail), visual notification ( replace alert sounds with visual cues such as a flash on the screen), etc.

Software packages such as QualiWORLD provides users with the flexibility to use different software that could replace a physical mouse and keyboard. There are devices like Big Red that has as single button access to computer that aids someone with severe mobility or dexterity difficulties to interact with a computer.

Devices such as Tactile mouse makes graphical information on the computer screen available to the visually impaired.

Web navigation
Screen Readers that help the visually impaired work with computers are now available widely from many companies that reads out what is being displayed on the screen. JAWS, NVDA (Non Visual Desktop Access --is an open source screen reader) are some of the most popular screen readers in the market right now.

Many of the websites that provide valuable information to its users are not disabled-friendly. Software that enable companies to manage contents catering to Web Governance standards are available nowadays. The developers of websites should take care to check the accessibility of their sites using such software so that they could reach out even more. For example, Yahoo! mail, cricket, search , etc have been made disabled friendly. Yahoo R&D's Accessibility Check list determines whether a website is easy for use for differently-abled people.

Cost-effective web browsers such as Shruti Drishti , provide Text-to-Speech and Text-to-Braille access for the visually impaired. According to MediaLabAsia, Shruti Drishti is already deployed in 24 schools across India.

Software that caters to different Indian languages are also available now. Vaachak is one such Web based reader for Indian Languages .

Communication enablers
Communication is the only way to express your thoughts and feelings to others. Many tools are available in the market that augment the communication abilities of the disabled.

Communication products, such as Super Talker, BIGmack, etc. help users to record and store messages and reach out to others . Products such as AVAZ can be easily mounted on a wheelchair.

Digital readers
For those who love stories , various talking books are available in the market right now. Talking Books read out texts of a digital book.


Buddy player is one such device developed in India that helps navigate through pages and topics easily. Buddy is scheduled for release in March and will cost around Rs 4,000. For those with low vision, several kind of magnifiers are also available. Magnifiers could help in reading books, bus-boards, price tags, etc.

Learning Tools
A child should not be deprived of proper education because he is disabled. Nowadays several tools are available in the market that aid learning.


Classmate reader is one such reader used for dyslexia where one can listen to audio version of text books while the text will be highlighted in the large LCD screen.For college students, devices such as Book Scanners might be of use which converts papers into digital files. Programmes such as SAFA are available now that converts text into audio format for visually impaired (local Indian languages also).

Tools Aiding Mobile Phone Usage
Nowadays connectivity means mobile phones. People like to reach out and be reachable all the time.And this should not be denied to the disabled lot.


For those who are visually impaired, tools that enable easy navigation on their mobile phones, such as Mobile Screen Reader, Mobile Screen Magnifier, etc are also available now. Software such as Code Factory's Mobile Screen Reader provides intuitive speech feedback in several languages and also provide Braille support for the visually impaired.


An interactive portal by Media Lab Asia and Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) provides more information regarding disability issues . [http://punarbhava.in/]

-- Sherin Noordheen
Source: http://www.efytimes.com/e1/creativenews.asp?edid=41572

Can you imagine a life without Internet, Google, mobile phones, ATM and other comfort-goods?

Well, 60 million differently-abled people in India can! And with a little extra care this could be made accessible to them soon. Almost all the products in India, be it technology or consumer goods, are targeted mainly at the 'normal' people. India churns out millions of technocrats every year. Among those, how many are differently abled? Very few! How can technology aid the 60 million differently abled people in India? This could be done mainly by creating awareness about the needs and the potential of the people with disabilities, which was the main objective of Techshare India 2010, held at India Habitat Centre on 15 and 16 th of February.

Many tools that could bring a significant difference int the lives of disabled Indians were showcased at the event. Here are a few!

PC navigation
Computers have become an inevitable part of technology . So the first step in connecting to the world technically would mean getting acquainted with the system. There are many factors that could improve the accesibility options during PC navigation.

Operating systems act as an interface between computer and its users and hence play an important role in accessibility. Some of the operating systems nowadays like Windows 7, come with options such as touch screen monitor, on-screen keyboard (allows easy key-in using mouse or any other pointing device), narrator ( reads aloud on-screen text and notify alerts during errors), speech recognition ( dictate documents and e-mail), visual notification ( replace alert sounds with visual cues such as a flash on the screen), etc.

Software packages such as QualiWORLD provides users with the flexibility to use different software that could replace a physical mouse and keyboard. There are devices like Big Red that has as single button access to computer that aids someone with severe mobility or dexterity difficulties to interact with a computer.

Devices such as Tactile mouse makes graphical information on the computer screen available to the visually impaired.

Web navigation
Screen Readers that help the visually impaired work with computers are now available widely from many companies that reads out what is being displayed on the screen. JAWS, NVDA (Non Visual Desktop Access --is an open source screen reader) are some of the most popular screen readers in the market right now.

Many of the websites that provide valuable information to its users are not disabled-friendly. Software that enable companies to manage contents catering to Web Governance standards are available nowadays. The developers of websites should take care to check the accessibility of their sites using such software so that they could reach out even more. For example, Yahoo! mail, cricket, search , etc have been made disabled friendly. Yahoo R&D's Accessibility Check list determines whether a website is easy for use for differently-abled people.

Cost-effective web browsers such as Shruti Drishti , provide Text-to-Speech and Text-to-Braille access for the visually impaired. According to MediaLabAsia, Shruti Drishti is already deployed in 24 schools across India.

Software that caters to different Indian languages are also available now. Vaachak is one such Web based reader for Indian Languages .

Communication enablers
Communication is the only way to express your thoughts and feelings to others. Many tools are available in the market that augment the communication abilities of the disabled.

Communication products, such as Super Talker, BIGmack, etc. help users to record and store messages and reach out to others . Products such as AVAZ can be easily mounted on a wheelchair.

Digital readers
For those who love stories , various talking books are available in the market right now. Talking Books read out texts of a digital book.


Buddy player is one such device developed in India that helps navigate through pages and topics easily. Buddy is scheduled for release in March and will cost around Rs 4,000. For those with low vision, several kind of magnifiers are also available. Magnifiers could help in reading books, bus-boards, price tags, etc.

Learning Tools
A child should not be deprived of proper education because he is disabled. Nowadays several tools are available in the market that aid learning.


Classmate reader is one such reader used for dyslexia where one can listen to audio version of text books while the text will be highlighted in the large LCD screen.For college students, devices such as Book Scanners might be of use which converts papers into digital files. Programmes such as SAFA are available now that converts text into audio format for visually impaired (local Indian languages also).

Tools Aiding Mobile Phone Usage
Nowadays connectivity means mobile phones. People like to reach out and be reachable all the time.And this should not be denied to the disabled lot.


For those who are visually impaired, tools that enable easy navigation on their mobile phones, such as Mobile Screen Reader, Mobile Screen Magnifier, etc are also available now. Software such as Code Factory's Mobile Screen Reader provides intuitive speech feedback in several languages and also provide Braille support for the visually impaired.


An interactive portal by Media Lab Asia and Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI) provides more information regarding disability issues . [http://punarbhava.in/]

-- Sherin Noordheen
Source: http://www.efytimes.com/e1/creativenews.asp?edid=41572

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