Report on Training in Basic Computing for using eSpeak Hindi with NVDA
Participants at the NVDA eSpeak training in Hindi language
The training was held at the Conference Hall and Computer Lab, Dr. Shakuntala Mishra National Rehabilitation University, Lucknow from January 20 to 22, 2015.
Guests who attended the inauguration
Dr. Nishith Rai (Vice Chancellor)
Dr. Akhilendra Kumar (Registrar of the University)
Dr. Avnish Chandra Mishra (HoD, Deptt of Special Education)
Dr. Adya Shakti Rai (Coordinator)
Dr. Vijay Shankar Sharma, Associate Professor
Sri Ashish Gupta
Number of participants: 50 students from various departments on the first day for the Bookshare and Training in Assistive devices and 20 during the eSpeak training.
The session on use of online libraries and use and demonstration of various assistive aids and appliances was done by Nirmal Verma from Perkins Products. This session was attended by the dignitaries, as it followed the inauguration.
Training in reading and writing using eSpeak Hindi was carried out on the 21st and 22nd of January. These sessions were attended by 20 students of the university. Most of the students were using JAWS as their primary screen reader till date. Hence NVDA was introduced in detail during the first session. All the participants were hand held in the installation and configuration of NVDA during this session.
The 2nd session on day 2 was dedicated to reading Hindi text using Espeak and NVDA. Most of the students were able to understand Espeak very easily, and were able to read and comprehend the given text.
The final day commenced with introduction of Hindi typing. The participants were guided for activating Hindi keyboard on their systems. This was followed by the introduction of the Hindi keyboard layout.
Important Achievements of the Training
A meeting was held with the Registrar and the HOD of Disability Cell of the University on the 2nd day of the training. The following points were agreed upon by the authorities during the meeting:
- Formation of a dedicated Resource / Reading room for the Visually Challenged students of the University.
- Permission was granted to the Visually Challenged students to utilize the main computer lab, till the establishment of the Resource room.
- The University would allow the students to use Laptops for writing their own Exams in the future.
- A 15 day training for new users of computers will be conducted in mid of March, after the semester exams are over.
The 2nd session was dedicated to typing in Hindi. The participants were able to type complex words by the end of the session. The training was concluded by solving queries of the participants and distribution of some softwares and participation certificates.
