Table of Contents

XVI. Placing the Blind on the Right Side of the Digital Divide

A. Nature of the problem

Access to information is a major concern area for persons with sensory impairment such as vision or hearing impairment. Until now, the primary mode of accessing information has been through print – a medium inaccessible for persons with vision impairment. Traditionally for the visually impaired there have been two alternatives to deal with this problem – Braille and/or talking books. Materials in both these media have to be specially prepared. Thus, the materials available in these media are extremely limited and, in the less developed countries of the world, virtually non-existent.

The advent and use of ICT, however, as a medium for creation, dissemination and accessing information brought about a revolution. ICT and its tools are highly flexible and provide great scope for usage by persons with vision impairment. Information available to the seeing world is now available in its entirety to the persons with vision impairment.

Globally, the educational and vocational environment went through a sea change in the 1990s. The age of the digital divide had come about. Persons who could use computers had a certain added advantage over others. It became necessary to be computer literate to obtain gainful employment.

The technology developed has revolutionized the lives of people with vision impairment in the developed world. In developing countries, the situation was less encouraging. The cost of this technology remains high. Availability of hardware and software is also limited. While persons with vision impairment in developing countries had heard about the wonders of this new technology, only a very few, more privileged, had access to either the tools or the training to make the most of this IT revolution.

Not only is ICT expensive for the individual, there is little government support given to make it more accessible to people with disabilities. In developing countries, only about 5 per cent of the blind are able to take up or access primary education. Therefore, the priority of many governments in developing countries has been on providing basic education to persons with vision impairment. Providing expensive ICT technology to the few with the skills to use it, or making existing technology more accessible at great cost, does not make good economic sense. Despite this, placing the persons with blindness on the right side of the digital divide is an important priority, and one that will in the long run enhance their chances of economic independence and provide benefits to their communities and to national development.

B. Main features of the organization

The New Delhi office of the National Association for the Blind (NAB) took up the challenge of providing accessible and affordable ICT to blind users by establishing a computer training and technology centre.

The unit started in 1993, after NAB participated as field tester in two research and development projects aimed at developing an accessible computerized information system for blind persons.

These projects were:

• BARC (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre) speech system: This system allowed inputs into a computer using a special six-key keyboard which enabled blind persons to type Braille codes. It had speech output, which was possible when combined with a special word processing package, which was a part of this package.
• Computer Assistance for the Blind (CAB): Developed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, this system used an external speech synthesizer in conjunction with screen reading software. This system added speech output to general purpose application programmes.

When NAB first took part in this training project, it was thought that a blind person would use a computer just for word processing activities. But as a result of participating in these trials, regular computer training was started at NAB using the system developed by IISc. Since then, the computer unit of NAB has undertaken various related activities to harness the potential of this revolutionary technology, including developing a special one-year foundation course for the blind.

NAB began collaborated with the Department of Electronics in 1994 to explore the possibilities of developing a curriculum for the one-year foundation course. The Department of Electronics is a government education board which sets the syllabus for computer education programmes and oversees exams for the students of institutes which are accredited by the board. NAB was granted this accreditation in 1995. As the majority of students with vision impairment in India take up humanities rather than sciences, most did not have the pre-requisites required to pursue computer programming as a profession. Therefore, the objective of the one-year training programme was to lay the foundation for a career in computer programming. Through the course, not only did students have the opportunity to enhance their employment potential, it was also realized that at a more elementary level computers are very effective as a tool for reading and writing. Computers have the potential to enable a person with vision impairment to be independent in his educational, vocational, recreational and day-to-day activities, no matter which profession he or she chooses.

As the needs of potential students of the course varied, alternate short-term training modules were also developed. Training modules differing in duration, contents covered, courseware and so on, were designed in accordance with the needs of the different categories which included:

(a) Children attending mainstream schools with a majority of students with vision who had computer studies as a subject.
(b) Children or young adults who wanted to use computers as a tool for reading and writing for continuation of education at schools and universities for academic and professional courses.
(c) Youth looking for employment on the basis of computer operation skills.
(d) Persons who were already employed in the government or private sector and wished to take computer training to keep pace with the computerization of their workplace.
(e) Persons whose vision was impaired due to age and wished to continue reading for recreational or professional purposes.

Each of these categories had different requirements. The content and accessibility requirements differed both in terms of equipment and class times and locations. Classes were put on after office hours on a weekly basis, in addition to normal classes held on a daily basis during working hours. A distance training module was also developed.
Another important feature of the training at NAB was that it was a special computer training institute which provided only training which was already in existing mainstream computer training programmes. It was decided to provide preparatory training to the vision impaired persons to ready them to graduate to mainstream professional courses and training programmes. It was considered better to be awarded a degree in computer programming from a well-reputed open computer training institute than a special training programme for the blind.

The use of computers as assistive technology is not just opening up opportunities for employment in the IT sector. It has made it possible for blind students to study accountancy, mathematics, etc. In 2000, the efforts of NAB received a major boost when it entering into a collaboration with INTEL. Prior to the collaboration, Intel was already running an innovative global computer education programme with several partners. However, this initiative with NAB was unique as for the first time the target group was persons with disability. The features of the initiative undertaken at the NAB-INTEL Computer Training and Technology centre are listed below.

1. Training

In all societies, the incidence of disability and poverty has a strong correlation. Therefore, the training offered at NAB is totally free of cost. In addition, outstation students are given free board and lodging in a hostel provided by the Centre.
To ensure sustainability of the learning and enhanced community-based capacity developed through the course, special emphasis is given to including trainees who have the potential to become trainers themselves back in their own communities. Special training modules are also designed to provide in-depth knowledge about assistive technology such as screen reading. Software is also provided to the prospective trainers and other organizations who are otherwise already trained in the use of the computer.

2. Customized and sharing resources

The books and training materials used in the course are freely downloadable. It was essential to develop special courseware which could be used through keyboard application and was based on audio clues provided by the screen reading software. The courseware is produced in Braille, audio, large print and electronic text formats to cater to the needs of persons with vision impairment.
In order to provide support to other organizations which provide computer training, NAB provides courseware at the cost of paper and printing. E-copy versions are provided free of charge to non-profit organizations providing computer training to blind persons.

3. Locally applicable, affordable technology

An important role of the Technology Unit is to ensure local, affordable technology. The NAB-INTEL Computer Technology Training Centre has undertaken and/or supported several research and development projects for the development of specific software and hardware applicable to the Indian situation. This includes developing Braille transcription software in Hindi. Previously, Braille transcription software was available for English text only. NAB developed Braille transcription software for Hindi language, which has resulted in easy production of books in Indian languages in Braille format.
NAB has also assisted in the development of a Hindi language text and speech engine with the Speech Lab at the Central Electrical and Engineering Research Institute (CEERI). Before the collaborative efforts of NAB and CEERI, there was no comprehensive Text To Speech (TTS) software for any Indian language. NAB together with CEERI, developed TTS for Hindi which is compatible with screen reading software.
In addition to the lack of locally applicable software, the cost of assistive computer technology is perhaps the single, biggest hurdle needed to be overcome by persons with blindness or low-vision. The high cost of this technology is a barrier to accessibility – as is the case for the new digital talking books. The talking books themselves are easy and cost effective to produce and distribute. The problem is the cost of purchasing the digital talking book player. The players are too expensive not just for many individuals but also many organizations and training institutions. To overcome this barrier, the NAB Technology Unit in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) developed a low-cost digital talking book player (DAISY). The DAISY system provides excellent navigation and random access features not available in the analogue talking books, and is set to become the next generation in digital talking books. Now the new, low-cost version developed by NAB and IIT makes these benefits more widely available.

Wide and affordable availability of assistive devices such as DAISY can facilitate learning and employment opportunities for many. To further support as extensive as possible access and usage of the DAISY, software for the cataloging and maintenance of talking book libraries has also been developed. This software is aimed at the preparation and regular updating of common catalogues containing information about talking books available at talking book libraries around the country. The catalogue can be posted on the web, making the information easily available to the end user.
Finally, the NAB-INTEL Technology Unit has established an interest-free loan scheme for the trainees. This scheme was started with the help of HPS Social Welfare Foundation. A loan of up to Rs. 50,000 can be taken under this scheme, which is to be returned in a maximum of 18 equal instalments. Preference is given to those wishing to start up their own small business or who may receive employment as a result of having their own assistive technology tools.

C. Achievements

The NAB Computer Training Technology Centre was the first Computer Training Unit for the blind in India. Prior to the establishment of the Centre very few organizations believed in the potential of this technology. By establishing this Centre, and developing various training programmes and exploring the applicability ICT, a resource has been developed which can now be replicated anywhere in the country.
In the developing countries even the most basic of textbooks are often not available in Braille or audio format. The amount of material available for university students is negligible. NAB’s computer education training has helped many blind or low-vision students overcome this barrier and take advantage of the new developments in ICT. Most importantly, it has assisted them in making the most of their right to accessible information. The large store of information and publications available through resources such as the Internet can now be read directly using a scanner. The biggest advantage is that a newspaper which is posted on a website can be accessible to a blind person without any conversion or reproduction. This has bridged the gap between the information available to the seeing and non-seeing world.

Perhaps the key feature and achievement of the programme has been the development of a strong effective collaboration between civil society and the corporate world. NAB’s involvement in the programme ensured the participation of the user group in the development and conducting of the training course. INTEL provided economic stability to the programme and professional management systems, as well as ensuring the benefit reached a much larger group, especially the less privileged sections of society.
The partnership between NAB and INTEL has demonstrated the potential ICT has to transform the lives of people with disability and also their communities and workplaces. It has increased both potential employment opportunities and productivity of existing workers and workplaces.

One example of how this potential was capitalized on by NAB was its success in lobbying a major multinational company to take on blind staff members. Among its many operations, the company runs a call centre in India employing thousands of people. The operations could easily be managed by properly trained blind people. NAB successfully partnered with fellow NGO, Arushi, to lobby the Human Resources Department of the company to try employing persons with blindness and low-vision. The company agreed and a pilot project was started with two trainees. Within two months of their placement the trainees had achieved maximum levels of productivity, matching those of other employees, and convincing the company of the potential of non-seeing staff.

D. Key lessons learned

ICT is revolutionary technology for persons with blindness. To harness the potential of this technology, training is essential. It is necessary to have specialized training centres for the initiation process whilst advanced computer training is best in a non-specialized training environment.

E. Sustainability

ICT has had revolutionary consequences in enhancing the abilities and skills of persons with blindness. It is essential to create awareness of the opportunities provided by ICT. Many vision impaired persons are not able to make the most of this opportunity, however, because they are not aware of the latest assistive technology. The NAB-INTEL Technology Training Centre has undertaken many steps to raise awareness about this technology.

In addition, NAB has set up a second Centre with a wide range of assistive technologies. This Centre enables persons with vision impairment to have hands-on experience in the use of this technology. This assists in the correct identification of proper tools for them, and lessens the financial risk to users of buying costly equipment that is ill-matched to their needs.

Mastering computers and technology is a never-ending process. Sharing problems, finding more convenient ways of performing tasks etc., are things which can only be learned through discussions among peers in a cooperative learning environment. To this end the NAB Computer Training Centre initiated regular meetings of vision impaired computer users. This group has become a strong resource on how ICT can be used most effectively by persons with blindness or low-vision. The group provides support to each other and support and guidance to other blind users. Many important decisions on the future directions of the Computer Training and Technology Unit were taken in these group meetings.