Centre for Internet and Society

January 2018 Newsletter

praskrishna — 2018-03-01T01:35:56Z

January 2018 Newsletter

Dear readers,

Previous issues of the newsletters can be accessed here.

Highlights
The paper titled "Patent Working Requirements and Complex Products" has been published in the latest issue of the NYU Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law. It is one of the outputs of the Pervasive Technology project and has been authored by Prof. Jorge L. Contreras, Paxton M. Lewis, and Rohini Lakshané. CIS made a submission to the Department of Industrial Planning and Promotion on mobile patents. CIS offered its assistance on matters aimed at developing a suitable policy framework for SEPs and FRAND in India, and, working towards sustained innovation, manufacture and availability of mobile technologies in India The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare in India is increasing with new startups and large ICT companies offering AI solutions for healthcare challenges in the country. The report by by Yesha Paul, Elonnai Hickok, Amber Sinha and Udbhav Tiwari seeks to map the present state of AI in the healthcare sector in India. About 27% of India's population is still illiterate or barely literate. Most privacy policies and terms of services for web and mobile applications are in English and therefore it is only 10% of us who can actually read them before we provide our consent. The article by Sunil Abraham was published in Deccan Herald on January 20, 2018. CIS made a submission to TRAI Consultation on inputs to the National Telecom Policy. CIS in its submission also recommended what all should be the main objectives of TRAI while drafting the next edition of National Telecom Policy. Under a research grant from the Azim Premji University CIS has initiated a study of the ongoing updation process of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and the resultant reform of citizen identification infrastructure in India. The 2G judgment of December 2017 provides a critique of how no proper evidence was presented on existence of an FCFS policy and its improper implementation, wrote Shyam Ponappa in his article in the Business Standard which was published on January 3, 2018.

Highlights

The paper titled "Patent Working Requirements and Complex Products" has been published in the latest issue of the NYU Journal of Intellectual Property and Entertainment Law. It is one of the outputs of the Pervasive Technology project and has been authored by Prof. Jorge L. Contreras, Paxton M. Lewis, and Rohini Lakshané.
CIS made a submission to the Department of Industrial Planning and Promotion on mobile patents. CIS offered its assistance on matters aimed at developing a suitable policy framework for SEPs and FRAND in India, and, working towards sustained innovation, manufacture and availability of mobile technologies in India
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare in India is increasing with new startups and large ICT companies offering AI solutions for healthcare challenges in the country. The report by by Yesha Paul, Elonnai Hickok, Amber Sinha and Udbhav Tiwari seeks to map the present state of AI in the healthcare sector in India.
About 27% of India's population is still illiterate or barely literate. Most privacy policies and terms of services for web and mobile applications are in English and therefore it is only 10% of us who can actually read them before we provide our consent. The article by Sunil Abraham was published in Deccan Herald on January 20, 2018.
CIS made a submission to TRAI Consultation on inputs to the National Telecom Policy. CIS in its submission also recommended what all should be the main objectives of TRAI while drafting the next edition of National Telecom Policy.
Under a research grant from the Azim Premji University CIS has initiated a study of the ongoing updation process of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam and the resultant reform of citizen identification infrastructure in India.
The 2G judgment of December 2017 provides a critique of how no proper evidence was presented on existence of an FCFS policy and its improper implementation, wrote Shyam Ponappa in his article in the Business Standard which was published on January 3, 2018.

The following articles were written by CIS members:

Digital native: Memory card is full (Nishant Shah; Indian Express; January 3, 2018).
The 2G Judgment of December 2017: What Was It About? (Shyam Ponappa; Business Standard; January 3, 2018).
Fixing Aadhaar: Security developers' task is to trim chances of data breach (Sunil Abraham; Business Standard; January 10, 2018).
Another Step towards Privacy Law (Elonnai Hickok; Governance Now; January 15, 2018).

Data Protection: We can innovate, leapfrog (Sunil Abraham; Deccan Herald; January 20, 2018).

CIS in the News:

From net neutrality to IBC & Aadhaar, how Vidhi is framing key government legislation (Surabhi Agarwal and Samanwaya Rautray; Economic Times; January 4, 2018).
UIDAI denies any breach of Aadhaar database (Komal Gupta; Livemint; January 7, 2018).
Token security or tokenized security? (Manasa Venkataraman and Ajay Patri; Livemint; January 9, 2018).
UIDAI introduces new two-layer security system to improve Aadhaar privacy (Economic Times; January 11, 2018).
Hammered government offers Virtual ID firewall to protect your Aadhaar (New Indian Express; January 11, 2018).
Virtual Aadhaar ID: too little, too late? (Yuthika Bhargava; Hindu; January 11, 2018).
India To Introduce Virtual ID For Aadhaar To Strengthen Privacy (Bloomberg Quint; January 11, 2018).
UIDAI's Virtual ID, limited KYC does little to protect Aadhaar data already collected, say critics (Business Today; January 12, 2018).
Aadhaar Body Talked About Virtual ID 7 Years Ago, Put It Off: UIDAI Chief (Sukriti Dwivedi; NDTV; January 13, 2018).
Bengaluru gives data safety tips to panel (Deccan Herald; January 14, 2018).
Is your personal information under lock and key? (Sravanthi Challapalli; Hindu Businessline; January 16, 2018).
Aadhaar-privacy debate: How the 12-digit number went from personal identifier to all pervasive transaction tool (First Post; January 18, 2018).
Paytm Payments Bank woos corporates with digital incentives (Komal Gupta and Remya Nair; Livemint; January 24, 2018).
Aadhaar's new security measures are good, it is still work in progress (Alnoor Peermohamed; Business Standard; January 25, 2018).

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Access to Knowledge
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Our Access to Knowledge programme currently consists of two projects. The Pervasive Technologies project, conducted under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), aims to conduct research on the complex interplay between low-cost pervasive technologies and intellectual property, in order to encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The Wikipedia project, which is under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation, is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.

►Wikipedia

Blog Entries

Government of Odisha adopting Creative Commons License to Promote Transparency and Access to Knowledge (Sailesh Patnaik; January 17, 2018).
Experience and Learning outcome from Wikipedia Education Program (Lakshmi Karlekar; January 30, 2018).

Events Organized

Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Dept. of Mass Communication, Solapur University (Organized by CIS-A2K and Dept of Mass Communication, Solapur University; Solapur; January 2, 2018).
Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Dayanand College, Solapur (Organized by CIS-A2K and Dayanand College, Solapur; Solapur; January 3, 2018).
Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Willingdon College, Sangli (Organized by CIS-A2K and Willingdon College; Sangli; January 5, 2018).
Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Govt.Science & Arts College, Aurangabad (Organized by CIS-A2K and Govt.Science & Arts College; Aurangabad; January 9, 2018).
Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada Vidyapeeth (Organized by CIS-A2K and Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University; Aurangabad; January 10, 2018).
Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Shivaji University, Kolhapur (Organized by CIS-A2K and Shivaji University; Kolhapur; January 15, 2018).
Wikidata Workshop (Organized by CIS-A2K and Andhra Loyola College; Vijaywada; January 20 - 21, 2018).
Train the Trainer 2018 (Organized by CIS-A2K; Mysore; January 26 - 28, 2018).

►Pervasive Technologies

Research Paper

Patent Working Requirements and Complex Products (Jorge L. Contreras, Rohini Lakshané and Paxton M. Lewis; JIPEL NYU Journal of Intellectual Property & Entertainment Law, Vol. 7 - No.1 on January 16, 2018).

Submission

Submission to DIPP at Meeting with IP Stakeholders (Anubha Sinha; January 1, 2018). The submission was made in December 2017 but it was published on the website in January 2018.

►Openness

Our work in the Openness programme focuses on open data, especially open government data, open access, open education resources, open knowledge in Indic languages, open media, and open technologies and standards - hardware and software. We approach openness as a cross-cutting principle for knowledge production and distribution, and not as a thing-in-itself.

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Internet Governance
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As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and IDRC) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on restrictions that the Indian government has placed on freedom of expression online.

►Privacy

Blog Entry

Artificial Intelligence and the Healthcare Industry in India (Yesha Paul, Elonnai Hickok, Amber Sinha and Udbhav Tiwari (Ecosystem mapping by Shweta Mohandas, Sidharth Ray and Elonnai Hickok. Designed by Saumyaa Naidu under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License; January 26, 2018).

Events Organized

Roundtable on A.I. and Manufacturing and Services (TERI, Bengaluru; January 19, 2018).

null Bangalore Meet: Special Session on Digital Identity and Privacy (CIS, Bengaluru; January 19, 2018). Sunil Abraham gave a talk.

►Free Speech and Expression

Blog Entries

Internet Governance Forum Report 2017 (Shweta Mohandas; January 11, 2018).

Mobile net ban during peaceful protest leaves farmers confused (Shruti Jain; January 19, 2018).

‘Hurt sentiments’ cost Udaipur internet access for four days (Shruti Jain; January 19, 2018).

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Telecom
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CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources, and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:

Article

Submission to TRAI Consultation on "Inputs for Formulation of National Telecom Policy - 2018" (Pranesh Prakash; January 25, 2018).

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Researchers at Work
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The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by an emerging need to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It aims to produce local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:

Blog Entry

Life of a Tuple: National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Reform of Citizen Identification Infrastructure in Assam (Sumandro Chattapadhyay; January 22, 2018). All posts related to the study can be found here.

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About CIS
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The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.

► Follow us elsewhere

Twitter: http://twitter.com/cis_india
Twitter - Access to Knowledge: https://twitter.com/CISA2K
Twitter - Information Policy: https://twitter.com/CIS_InfoPolicy
Facebook - Access to Knowledge: https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k
E-Mail - Access to Knowledge: a2k@cis-india.org
E-Mail - Researchers at Work: raw@cis-india.org
List - Researchers at Work: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers

► Support Us

Please help us defend consumer and citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 5600 71.

► Request for Collaboration

We invite researchers, practitioners, artists, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to engage with us on topics related internet and society, and improve our collective understanding of this field. To discuss such possibilities, please write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at sunil@cis-india.org (for policy research), or Sumandro Chattapadhyay, Research Director, at sumandro@cis-india.org (for academic research), with an indication of the form and the content of the collaboration you might be interested in. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia projects, write to Tanveer Hasan, Programme Officer, at tanveer@cis-india.org.

CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/Qjanuary-2018-newsletter

The Legal Framework for Enforcement of Rights of Persons with Disabilities

CLPR — 2014-11-06T15:56:46Z

In order to get a complete understanding of the legal framework governing the rights of persons with disabilities, we need to understand the several legislations that cover the field. The Constitution of India is the founding legal document guaranteeing fundamental rights to all persons which includes persons with disabilities. The main legislation on disability rights is the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995 ("PWD Act") which this chapter will be providing a detailed overview of.

Other legislations which also cover some specialized aspects of disability issues are the National Trusts Act, the Rehabilitiation Council of India Act and the Mental Health Act 1987. This chapter will not be dealing with these legislations and will focus mainly on the PWD Act as this is the main legislation covering all rights of perosns with disabilities in the country.

The Constitution of India
The Constitution of India under Chapter III guarantees fundamental human rights to all persons. The right to equality is enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution and recognizes that all persons are equal before the law. Persons with disabilities are entitled to this guarantee to not be discriminated against in any manner and to be treated equally, which includes the requirement for special treatment where required. Similarly, Article 15 and 16 prohibits discrimination on the grounds of "religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them and guarantees equal opportunity in matters of public employment. Article 16 (3) & (4) provides that the State can make provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services. It is on the basis of Article 16, that the guarantees to reservation and equal opportunity in public employment are made under the PWD Act. The right to equality has been upheld for persons with disabilities not to be discriminated and to be provided equal opportunity in recruitment to the civil services.[1] Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees the right to life to all persons, which has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to include the right to live with dignity,[2] , the right to livelihood,[3] and the right to education.[4] Article 21A guarantees the right to fre and compulsoy education for all children between the ages of 6-14 years.

Chapter IV of the constitution contains the Directive Principles of State Policy, which are also aims for the State to comply with. The DPSPs provide in Article 38 that the State Policy has to be directed to minimize inequalities, secure right to an adequate means of livelihood and also secure that the operation of legal system promotes justice. Under Article 41, the State shall make provisions for ensuring the right to work, education and public assistance in case of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases of undeserved want. The State shall endeavour to provide for free and compulsory education for all children until they complete the age of 14 years and under Article 46 the State has also the responsibility of promoting with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people. All these provisions are equally applicable to the persons with disabilities.

The denial or violation of any of these rights would entitle any person to approach the High Courts or the Supreme Court in their writ jurisdictions under Articles 226 and 32, respectively, if there is no other alternative or equally efficacious remedy available.

The PWD Act
The PWD Act came into force on 1^st January 1996, and was enacted in pursuance of India's obligation under the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region, which it adopted in December 1992. The Act provides for various measures for persons with disabilities to facilitate their access to education, employment, basic infrastructure and social welfare measures.

Under the PWD Act, a 'person with disability' has been defined as any person having 40% or more of any of the following disabilities: (i) Blindness; (ii) Low vision; (iii) Leprosy cured; (iv) Hearing impairment; (v) Locomotor disability; (vi) Mental retardation; and (vii) Mental illness. This is a limited definition, as only perosns who fall within this definition as having 40% or more of the above 7 disabilities would be categorized as perosns with disabiltiies and would be entitled to get the benefits of the rights and schemes under the PWD Act.

The main rights available to persons with disabiltiies are in the field of education in public schools, public employment, infrastructure on the roads and in public transport and access to public buildings and a greiavance redressal procedure for protection of their rights.

Education
Under the PWD Act, all children with disabilities below the age of 18 have the riht to free and compulsory eduication that is accessible. This goes even beyond the mandate of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 that calls for free education to be provided to children up to the age of 14. The further obligations placed on the government by the PWD Act with respect to formal education are that efforts must be made to see that these children with disabilities are integrated into regular schools that they attend, and that the setting up of special schools with vocational training facilities should be encouraged at the local level in the Government and private sectors, so that children across the country who require special education have access to such schools in their areas. Section 39 of the PWD Act also requires that 3% of all seats in Government and Government-aided educational institutions be earmarked for children or students with disabilities. The PWD Act also requires that the government formulate and implement schemes pertaining to non-formal, functional education, in respect of the following matters:

(a) Conducting part-time classes in respect of children with disabilities who have completed the fifth grade and could not continue full-time studies thereafter;

(b) Conducting special part-time classes to provide functional literacy for children with disabilities in the age group of sixteen and above;

(d) Imparting education through open schools or open universities;

(e) Conducting class and discussions through interactive electronic or other media; and

(f) Providing every child with disability the requisite books and equipments, at no cost.

Additionally, to facilitate equal opportunities in education for children with disabilities, the government is obligated to promote research on assistive devices, teaching aids and special teaching materials, and establish and assist special teachers' training institutions. Educational institutions are required to ensure that children with visual disabilities are provided with scribes when required. To further facilitate the mainstreaming of children with disabilities, the government is required to prepare a comprehensive scheme providing for facilities or financial support for transport to and from school, making school supplies available, scholarships, grievance redressal fora, modification of examinations and restructuring of the curriculum.

Employment
Chapter VI of the PWD Act, containing Sections 32 to 40, addresses the affirmative action measures with respect to the employment of persons with disabilities. It requires that at least 3% of all posts in all jobs under the government are required to be reserved for persons with disabilities, with 1% each being reserved for persons with blindness / low vision, persons with hearing disabilities and persons with locomotor disabilities / cerebral palsy.

To ensure that reservations have meaning, the government is required to identify posts in all public establishments that shall be reserved for persons with disability, based on the suitability of such posts to each category of disability. The list of identified posts so prepared is required to be revised in light of technological developments, at regular intervals of a maximum of 3 years.

Under Section 34, vacancies are required to be advertised, with the details of the reservations for the persons with disabilities, in the Special Employment Exchange and, if not filled, shall be carried forward to the next recruitment year.

There are also many requirements of reasonable accommodations to be provided by the Government uder Article 38 of the PWD Act and to formulate schemes for the following:

(a) relaxations of age limit,

(b) training,

(d) The government is also required to frame an insurance scheme for its employees with disabilities, and is expressly prohibited from discriminating against employees who acquire disabilities over the course of their employment as well as employees with disabilities in the matter of promotions.

(e) Finally, for those persons with disabilities who are registered with the Special Employment Exchange and have not been able to find gainful employment for over 2 years, the government is required to frame a reasonable scheme for unemployment allowance.

Accessibility
Accessing public spaces and infrastructure are addressed in Sections 44 to 47 of the PWD Act. Such measures include adapting public transport facilities for easy access to persons with disabilities, installing auditory and tactile indicators on public roads and pavements to aid those with auditory and visual disabilities, and installing ramps, Braille symbols and auditory signals in facilities in public buildings and medical institutions.

Statutory Authorities and Grievance Redressal
The PWD Act provides for the appointment of a Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities at the central level under section 57 and Commissioners for Persons with Disabilities at the state level under Section 60 of the PWD Act. The Commissioners have the powers to

(i) Co-ordinate with the departments of the State Government for the programmes and schemes for the benefit of persons with disabilities;

(ii) Monitor the utilization of funds disbursed by the State Government;

(iii) Take steps to safeguard the rights and facilities made available to persons with disabilities;

(iv) Submit reports to the State Government on the implementation of the Act at such intervals as that Government may prescribe and forward a copy thereof to the Chief Commissioner.

In addition to these powers, the Chief Commissioner and Commissioners may of their own motion or on the application of any aggrieved person or otherwise look into complaints relating to deprivation of rights of persons with disabilities or the non-implementation of laws, rules, bye-laws, regulations, executive orders, guidelines or instructions made or issued by the appropriate Governments and the local authorities for the welfare and protection of rights of persons with disabilities, and take up the matter with the appropriate authorities. In order to enquire and adjudicate into these complaints, the Chief Commissioner and the State Commissioners have certain powers of civil court such as summoning of documents, etc.

Thus any matter of discrimination or denial by public authorities in matters of recruitment, promotion, benefits that perosns with disabilities are entitled to may be brought before the Commissioners for adjudication and under Section 62 of the PWD Act, , and they can recommend appropriate action to be taken by the offending body.

The central government and many State governments have enacted rules under the PWD Act which include rules on the procedure for filing complaints before the Commisisoners. The complainants do not require legal representation during the proceedings, and generally, they may institute a complaint by submitting complete details of their complaint and facts to the relevant Commissioner. In accordance with the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Rules, 1996, complaints are ideally to be disposed of within 3 months from the date of notifying the opposite party.

In the event that any party is not satusfied with the decision of the Chief Commisisoner or the State Commissioner, the said decision can be challenged in a writ petition in the respective state Hogh Court by the aggrieved party.

[1] NFB vs. UPSC (1993) 2 SCC 411, Amita vs. Union of India (2005) 13 SCC 721

[2] Francis Coralie Mullin vs. Union Territory of Delhi , (1981) 1 SCC 608

[3] Olga Tellis and Ors. vs. Bombay Municipal Corporation and Ors., (1985) 3 SCC 545

[4] Unnikrishnan J.P. and Ors. vs. State of Andhra Pradesh and Ors., (1993) 1 SCC 645

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-legal-framework-for-enforcement-of-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities

Comments and Feedback on the Draft Twelfth Five Year Plan with respect to Persons with Disabilities

Rahul Cherian — 2012-12-28T15:33:02Z

The Centre for Internet & Society was one of the ten organizations representing people with disabilities that sent comments and feedback on the draft twelfth five year plan.

We write to you on behalf of the organizations representing people with disabilities listed at the end of this document. At the outset, we would like to thank you for circulating the Draft Twelfth Five Year Plan with respect to persons with disabilities in advance in order to gain the feedback and the perspective of all interested parties and stakeholders, including persons with disabilities. However, we would like to bring to your attention that while the entire budgetary allocation has been given to us in this draft, the specifics of the allocation i.e. the detailed break up has not been given, and so any input that we may have may be insufficient in the absence of this information.

The World Health Organization estimates that globally about 1 billion people (or 14% of the population) live with some form of disability of who nearly 200 million experience considerable difficulties in functioning.[1] Given the large prevalence of disability of approximately 14% of the population, it is submitted that the statistics of the 2001 census which states that only 2.11 % of the population is disabled is wholly inaccurate. If the financial outlay is based on the flawed assumption that only 2.11% of the population is disabled, we fear that the financial outlay will be substantially less than is necessary to meet the actual needs of people with disabilities. Therefore we recommend that the Twelfth V Year Plan should be based on realistic numbers of the persons with disabilities in the country. It is recommended that at least 5% of the total outlay for the Twelfth Plan should be for disability related projects. It is also recommended that a reality check is done on the benefits available to persons with disabilities such as pensions. Unless this is done, the benefits available to persons with disabilities is wholly inadequate.

We would like to point out that the document you had circulated does not give the status of the implementation of the various schemes that were proposed under the Eleventh V Year. Without the status of implementation of schemes proposed earlier, we are concerned that merely reiterating the same schemes for the upcoming Plan period may lead to suboptimal usage of the allocated funds particularly with respect to those schemes that have not been implemented to the maximum extent possible. We therefore request you to include the status of implementation of the various schemes that were proposed in the earlier Plan period to enable transparency in this exercise.

Before we give specific input and comments on the financial outlay, we would like to point out our grievance in the wording of Sec. 24.218[2] of the draft which states that persons with disabilities have "un-evolved capacities" and we strongly believe that this approach that persons with disabilities will completely obscure the optimistic approaches sought to be achieved by this Plan. While it is appreciated that persons with disabilities need some protection, using terminology like "unevolved capacity" is just reaffirming a protectionist attitude as well as patronizing one. We hope that this terminology will be removed from the document. We also point out that in point number 24.227 the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is wrongly mentioned as "United Nations Conference on Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)". This error must be rectified.

Be that as it may, the undersigned would like to place on record our appreciation for the inclusion of many aspects into the above mentioned document. We would also like to bring your attention to several aspects given below which we believe should be covered in the Twelfth V Year Plan (hereinafter referred to as "the Plan").

Specific Input

I. Detection of Disability
Early detection of disabilities in babies and children is critical to determine what types of early intervention and rehabilitation is required to be provided. The Plan must provide financial outlay for the following with respect to detection of disabilities for further action:

At birth screening - Every baby born should be examined in detail using a standard examination checklist, to detect anomalies. The checklist should focus on detecting anomalies so that further follow up on developmental delay could be identified for at risk cases which could further lead to interventions. At birth screening must be made mandatory and the mother and child should not be discharged from hospitals without completing this procedure. Special attention must be taken to screen high risk babies (such as babies born to mothers who have diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid deficiency, pre-term babies, babies with history of perinatal hypoxia, neonatal infections, low birth weight babies, etc.). The screening should be done free of cost and appropriate allocation should be done for the training of medical professionals and soliciting of equipment for this purpose.
Additional Screening In addition, screening by health workers, medical officers and doctors are required at stages like vaccinations, routine check ups, etc. The Plan must include allocation for training programs to be formulated and appropriate training must be given to all health care workers on how to diagnose disabilities and how to determine developmental milestones. Allocation of funds must be made to train doctors at maternity clinics/hospitals on conducting adequate checks/tests for early detection of developmental delays and disabilities If any disability is suspected, the child must be referred to the medical officer. There must be recognition of the fact that failure to detect disabilities at the early stage may lead to secondary disabilities.
Universal screening camps - The Plan itself must provide financial outlay to enable each state to organize bi annual universal screening camps for all school going children in the state to detect disabilities. The screening must be conducted for all disabilities. These camps must include the necessary manpower /specialists (including audiologist /speech therapist, clinical child psychologist, physiotherapist, etc.) and equipment required to detect all types of disabilities in babies. Appropriate budgetary allocations need to be in place. Universal screening camps must be held in conjunction with setting up of early intervention centres failing which the children identified to have disabilities will tend to face social stigma.
Registration of Births of Children with Disabilities: In accordance with the Persons with Disabilities Act, the Registrar General appointed under section 3 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1969 shall whilst carrying out the superintendence duties of registering births and deaths in the country ensure, including by issuing general directions to all Chief Registrars and other concerned officials, that the registration of births and deaths of all children with disabilities is undertaken in accordance with the procedure specified in the Births and Deaths Registration Act of 1969.

II. Early Intervention
Early intervention has been touched upon in the policy document. However, there is not enough emphasis on this area. The importance of early intervention is well established. Early intervention provides support for infants and young children with disabilities, their families and communities, in order to promote the child's development and inclusion. Without early intervention it is extremely difficult for children with disabilities to be integrated into mainstream society. Delay in diagnosis and treatment results in irreversible damage to the child's development. Early intervention could be in the form of medical intervention and/or variety of disability specific rehabilitation intervention like different therapies and specialized training (specialized training or therapy). Early intervention would also include:

Counseling and training of parents of children with disability.
Early stimulation for High risk babies
Early Intervention for Developmental Delay, Speech & Hearing Problems, Visual Problems, Autism Intervention etc.
Parental guidance for supporting activities of daily living.

It is critical that early intervention centres are set up in each district in the country. The State of Kerala has created a blue print for setting up early intervention centres in each district in the State. This document is attached separately for your information. The Plan should incorporate salient features from this document. Point 24.226 must be modified accordingly.

III. Education
While the Plan places emphasis on education in point 24.222 a most critical aspect has been left out. Training of teachers to impart education to children with disabilities in an inclusive school setup is extremely critical if such children are to get a meaningful education. In this connection the Plan should provide financial outlay for ensuring that both mainstream teachers and teachers in special schools are provided the necessary training for imparting education to children with disabilities. The salary of all such teachers should be on par with regular teachers. The Plan should also provide for refresher training to be imparted to teachers in this connection. In addition to the above, the Plan should provide adequate financial outlay to ensure that all educational materials are provided to children with disabilities in the accessible formats they require including in Braille, Daisy, etc. It is also critical to ensure that schools are made accessible such that children with disabilities have equal access to 4 all parts of the school. Moreover, it is imperative that adequate accessible transportation is provided to enable children with disabilities to reach the school. In this connection, point 24.245 is adequately modified. The Plan should also ensure that children with disabilities have access to schools at every taluk.

In point 24.222 there is a mention of setting up a national accessible library. This is an extremely encouraging move. However, the national accessible library is not mentioned in the responsibilities of any of the Ministry. We recommend that the national accessible library is included in the responsibilities of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment. The Plan makes no mention of the HEPSN scheme and capacity building in colleges and universities. This should be addressed explicitly. In addition, the Plan makes no mention of the role of the UGC. Given the fact that the UGC is responsible for higher education in India, it needs to promote inclusive higher education through adequate capacity building through incentivizing the setting up of resource centers and accessible content creation. It could also interface with organizations like the National Assessment Accreditation Council (NAAC) that is responsible for accrediting colleges and universities to ensure that the provision of certain minimum standards / disabled student registration be made compulsory to receive accreditation and consequent larger share of UGC grants. Financial support for college / university professors (human / technological) needs to be specifically mentioned and augmented over the Xlth plan outlays. Several existing plans including the ADIP Scheme and the IEDC Scheme need to be brought in line with practical realities and the amounts payable under such Scheme should be significantly enhanced.

IV. Employment
Point 24.221 rightly highlights reservation as being critical. However, the Plan does not tackle the issue of the huge backlog in this area that has crept in over the year. The Plan must deal with this issue on a priority basis. The Plan should also provide for bridge training to be provided to persons with disabilities to enable them to be equipped to perform their respective roles after they are recruited to mainstream jobs. In this connection it is critical that all government offices must be made accessible (both in terms of physical accessibility and also in terms of accessibility of the electronic infrastructure) failing which disabled employees will not be able work from these offices. Point 24.225 should be therefore adequately modified to reflect this. The Plan should provide for setting up of career guidance cells in every district for persons with disabilities. The Plan should provide financial outlay to ensure that they necessary assistive aids such as computer screen reading software is made available at government offices free of cost for employees with visual impairment. Lastly the Plan should also provide financial outlay to ensure that accessible transport is provided to persons with disabilities to travel to and from the work place. In the alternative the Plan should provide for additional payments to be made to ensure that persons with disabilities can make their own arrangements to take the mode of transport they are most comfortable in to come and go from their workplace.

V. Accessibility
Access to the physical environment as well as to information, technology and communication is an essential requirement for integration of persons with disability into mainstream society. It is critical to recognize that the lack of provision of accessibility is the same as discrimination against persons with disabilities. The provision of accessibility both by the Government and by the private sector is therefore critical and the Plan must make an effective strategy to ensure that both these stakeholders provide the necessary accessibility to persons with disabilities.

While accessibility is tackled in a general manner in point 24.225, this has not been adequately tackled in the responsibilities of the Ministries in the subsequent pages of the document. The responsibilities of each of the Ministries with respect to accessibility must be explicitly specified in the document. While the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has been allotted some responsibilities, this does not cover access to content, access to telecommunication services or access to broadcasting. For further information on access to content, telecommunication services and broadcasting see Annexure A. In addition, point 24.225 mentions that only important government buildings must be made accessible. This approach is fraught with danger and the Plan must provide for all government buildings and buildings accessible to the public in general must be made accessible. The Government must also formulate a set of standards for accessibility.

We would also like to point out that the recommendation under the obligations of the Ministry of Railways to provide one coach for persons with disabilities is blatant discrimination and is "ghettoisation" of persons with disabilities. It is submitted that this is the same as asking any other minority community to use only a particular coach on the train and is in violation of Article 14, Article 15 and Article 21 of the Constitution. This provision will prevent persons with disabilities from having equal access to the air conditioned coaches, first class coaches and will also prevent persons with disabilities from travel on an equal basis with others. The Ministry of Railways should instead be mandated to ensure that every coach is made accessible for persons with disabilities. In addition, the Plan requires the Ministry of Railways only to make multilevel and multiple platform railways stations to be made accessible. This is blatantly discriminatory to rural India. We therefore recommend that all railway stations are made accessible, including toilets, rest rooms etc.

VI. Independent Living
In point 24.226, the Plan does touch upon the subject of Independent Living. However, there needs to be detailed specifications on the manner in which Independent Living for persons with disabilities are provided. The setting up of Independent Living Centres is extremely crucial in light of Article 19 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. While this is not something which can be achieved overnight, the Government can begin by commissioning the setting up of one independent living centres or townships in each State over the next 5 years, which are fully accessible, and thus creating a model which can be replicated easily in the years to come. This would include independent living for persons with physical disability as well as psychosocial disabilities.

It has come to our attention that there has been a report filed by a committee under the Chairmanship of Additional Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development, to make recommendations on the criteria for grant of benefits under the Indira Gandhi National Disability Pension Scheme. While the Scheme already includes "severe" and "multiple" disabilities, the Committee has also recommended the specific inclusion of autism and cerebral palsy. While the committee report itself is not available, this information is available in the press note . Choosing specific categories should not be encouraged whereas disability should be acknowledged based on the definition for persons with disabilities as provided by UNCRPD.

A crucial aspect to a real development of an individual with disability is not just pension but the support and assistance that he or she requires to live independently by effectively functioning and contributing in the family and community. In this respect, there is a huge requirement for personal assistants for persons with severe and profound disabilities. The National Social Assistance program should look at allocating funds to be disbursed for the payment of personal assistants for persons with disabilities rather than mere pension.

VII. Identity Cards and BPL Cards
We urge that the Plan takes all steps to ensure that identity cards are made available to all persons with disabilities in the country to ensure that they can easily access all the benefits available to them. These cards should be recognized throughout the country and accepted by all departments and authorities. We also urge that the Plan redoubles it efforts to ensure that BPL Cards are given to the applicable persons with disabilities.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we appreciate the initiative of the Government to double the financial outlay for persons with disabilities in the Twelfth V Year Plan to Rs. 32684 crores. However, there are significant areas that must be tackled as mentioned above if there has to be meaningful progress of persons with disabilities. We humbly request the Government to consider the points given above when finalizing the Plan.

We are happy to provide you any additional information in this connection.

Thank you and best regards,
Prepared by

Inclusive Planet Centre for Disability Law and Policy
Rahul Cherian and Amba Salelkar

With Input From:

Centre for Internet and Society
Nirmita Narasimhan
nirmita@cis-india.org
Xavier's Resource Center for the Visually Challenged
Sam Taraporevala
sam@xrcvc.org
Daisy Forum of India
Dipendra Manocha
dipendra.manocha@gmail.com
Andhjan Kalyan Trust
Praful Vyas
aktrust.drj@gmail.com
Parivaar
J.P. Gadkari
jpgadkari@gmail.com
Ummeed Child Development Centre
vibha.krishnamurthy@ummeed.org
National Centre for Autism, India
Merry Barua
actionforautism@gmail.com
Network of Persons with disAbility Organisations
Srinivasulu
npdoap@gmail.com
Disabilities Legislative Unit, South
dlu.south@gmail.com
National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled
A. Muralidharan
nprd.in@gmail.com

[1]. http://whqlibdoc.who.int/publications/2011/9789240685215jeng.pdf
[2]. Protection acknowledging that Persons with Disabilities have 'un-evolved' capacities as a consequence of their disabilities and thereby have rights to protection; on the part of parents, community and the State from abuse and from participation in activities likely to cause them harm.

ANNEXURE A - Access to Content, Telecommunication Services and Broadcasting

Access to Content

Objective
All published content, whether printed or electronic, must be made available in accessible formats at the same time as it is first published and with no extra cost or hardship to persons with disabilities.

Strategy/ activities

Books for education- both at the school and university levels, must be made available in accessible electronic formats. This could be a target to be achieved in five years. CBSE and state board syllabi in all languages may be made available in accessible electronic formats.
Funds may be outlayed towards digitizing public libraries.
Government may frame schemes for funding disability organizations which are engaged in converting books into accessible formats, as is done in other countries like USA.
All the public libraries should have the facility to provide books in accessible formats to its disabled readership.
Government may promote open access and open education resources amongst educational, scientific and research organizations and libraries and stress the need for accessibility.
All government information must be available in accessible formats which can be accessed on multiple platforms like computers or mobile phones, including information provided through RTIs, etc.
All archives containing digital copies of books must be able to provide a requested book in an accessible format, even where they have been unable to completely digitize their archives in an accessible manner. However, the long term target must be to have all archives completely accessible.

Access to Telecommunication Services

Objective:
To ensure that every person with a disability has access to basic telephone and broadband services both in rural as well as urban areas.

Strategy/ Activities:

Public Kiosks and Common Service Centres set up by the Government must have at least one machine which is fitted with assistive technology for every ward.
Each school and college with an ICT centre must have at least one computer befitted with assistive technology and should be manned by a trained instructor who can guide students in using them.
Research and development must be funded in open source and cloud based solutions like screen readers and operating systems which will facilitate universal access at no cost to user. These research projects must necessarily have persons with disabilities to advise on the efficacy and design of the product.
Assistive technologies for computers and mobile phones must be developed in local languages and be made available at low cost.
Schemes may be launched to provide funds to persons with disabilities to purchase assistive technologies for their computers or handsets.
Each household with a person with disability must have a broadband connection and telephone connection.
At least 1 public pay phone in each area must be accessible with texting facility.
A national toll free emergency number must be set up like Reach 112 in Europe.
TRAI must include persons with disabilities in its periodic survey to gauge their access to telecommunication services. Similarly the DoT and DIT must make available data on ICT access for persons with disabilities.
A Code of Good practice should be evolved for servicing disabled customers which contains both minimum as well as best practices to be adhered to by service providers.

Service providers/ operators:

Should make their services accessible for persons with disabilities. Information about their accessible services must be available on their web site, which should also adhere to WCAG standards.
Should collect data on the number of their disabled customers and frame at least 1 or 2 schemes for persons with different disabilities and provide basic accommodations like accessible billing and accessible customer care. They could have a public relations officer to service the complaints of disabled customers.

The charter of the Universal Service Obligation Fund must be expanded to include 'persons with disabilities' as an underserved community and all ongoing projects must be made inclusive.
The DoT must make special mention of persons with disabilities in the Telecom Policy and also formulate specific policies to connect them with accessible telecom services.

Access to Broadcasting

Objective
To provide broadcasting access to persons with various disabilities.

Strategy/ Activities:

It must be made mandatory for all television programming to be recorded with clearly legible and appropriate audio descriptions and closed captioning.
All films must have clearly legible and appropriate closed captioning and audio description, and sign language tracks recorded and this must be made a prerequisite for obtaining a censor certificate.
All new theatres must have facilities for patrons to access closed captioning/audio descriptions/sign language, without which they should not be granted licenses. Existing theatres should be granted a period of 1 year within which such facilities should be obtained. These facilities should be available at no extra charge beyond that of the ticket to patrons.
In the ongoing compulsory digitalization of cable television in India, all set top boxes being procured must be made accessible to persons with vision/cognitive disabilities. Optional voice navigation must be made mandatory for all set top boxes being sold/imported into India.
All new television receivers/set top boxes must have built-in decoder circuitry or capability designed to display closed captioned video programming, the transmission and delivery of video description services, and the conveyance of emergency information. Existing patrons should be allowed to exchange their television receivers/set top boxes for accessible ones.
All new television sets sold or imported in India must be equipped with built-in closed caption decoder circuitry or capability designed to display closed-captioned video programming/ audio descriptions, and have the capability to decode and make available the transmission and delivery of video/audio description services, and have the capability to decode and make available emergency information in a manner that is accessible to individuals who are disabled.

Inclusive Planet Centre for Disability Law and Policy
12/21 Custain Beach Road, Santhome,
Chennai - 600 004.
Tel: +91-44-24611313
Fax: +91-44-24617924
www.inclusiveplanet.org.in

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/feedback-on-draft-twelfth-five-year-plan

International Day of People with Disability

praskrishna — 2015-12-16T15:54:46Z

Nirmita Narasimhan was a panelist at this event organized by Capgemini in Bangalore on November 30, 2015.

The theme of the panel discussion was Accessibility. Nirmita Narasimhan was one of the guest speakers. She spoke about the work done on Accessibility at the Centre for Internet & Society.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/news/international-day-of-people-with-disability

Global Charter: Promoting Global Digital Inclusion through ICT Procurement Policies & Accessibility Standards

praskrishna — 2016-01-03T05:26:44Z

The Centre for Internet & Society was a signatory to this initiative.

This was published by G3ict.

Foreword

G3ict, the Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communications Technologies (“ICTs”), whose mission is to promote the full implementation of the dispositions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ("CRPD”) relative to the accessibility of ICTs,

Considering that Accessibility, Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination are among the fundamental principles of the CRPD, the realization of which in the digital age is conditioned by the availability of accessible ICTs,
Taking into account that the CRPD specifically recognizes the accessibility of information and communication technologies (ICTs) both as a right (Article 9) and as an enabler of other human rights as prescribed in other articles of the Convention.
Noting that its articles 4(a) to 4(d) under "General obligations" further require that States Parties adopt appropriate legislative, administrative and other measures to ensure these rights are met and to refrain from any act or practice that is inconsistent with the Convention and that public authorities and institutions are in particular required to act in conformity with the Convention.
Acknowledging that the procurement of ICTs for use by the public that are not usable and accessible by persons with disabilities may be deemed to be in contravention of the Convention.
Recalling that Reporting Guidelines to States Parties should include legislative and other measures taken to ensure access by persons with disabilities, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation and to information and communications; technical standards and guidelines for accessibility, as well as the use of public procurement provisions and other measures that establish compulsory accessibility requirements.

Offers the attached charter for signature by leaders of Civil Society, International Organizations and the Private Sector to further the progress and momentum of international cooperation in establishing public procurement policies and standards in compliance with the CRPD.

Charter

We believe that governments should use their purchasing power to support the innovation of accessible technology and the creation of more robust accessible technology markets in every country.

We encourage governments at all levels and around the world to promote the digital inclusion of persons with disabilities and older persons by adopting effective policies for the public procurement of accessible ICT and an international accessibility standard to support them.

Public Procurement as an Inclusion Strategy

Public procurement processes have gained increased attention as an effective policy tool to promote the accessibility of information and communications (ICT) equipment, software, applications, and services purchased by governments or government-funded programs. Global interest in the positive effect of public procurement is in part the result two well-known accessibility public policy activities; Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in the United States (governing the federal government purchase of accessible electronic and information technology) and in Europe, the Public Procurement Directive of 2014 in combination with EN 301 549 (the European accessibility standard developed to support the public procurement of accessible ICT products and services in Europe). However, G3ict research and analysis show that to date only 33% of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) have enacted some type of policy on the procurement of accessible ICT.

Everyone Benefits from the Procurement of Accessible ICT

Public procurement of accessible ICT can advance equality and non-discrimination for persons with disabilities. Governments that purchase accessible ICT are better able to provide inclusive services to all citizens. Because governments are large employers, their investments in accessible ICT products and services help to create inclusive workplaces and support the employment of people with disabilities. Procurement policies strengthen the local technology industry in a country. They lead to greater innovation, competition, and choice for accessible technology. They drive the creation of new development tools for accessible technology and better accessibility training for technology professionals. Procurement policies create positive ripple effects into the broader consumer ICT marketplace.

The Tools Available for Success

G3ict, working with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and with global experts from civil society and industry has created a model procurement policy as resource for governments wanting to ensure that their technology purchases support digital inclusion. There exists today a comprehensive technical standard, EN 301 549, that was developed by experts specifically for public procurement. It defines accessibility across all types of disability and technology. The ITU has created a training course to support procurement officials as they implement accessibility into their procurement work.

If your organization would like to be part of this Global Charter for Accessible ICT Procurement, please send us an email globalcharter@g3ict.org.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/news/global-charter-promoting-global-digital-inclusion-through-ict-procurement-policies-accessibility-standards

National Compendium of Laws, Policies, Programmes for Persons with Disabilities

nirmita — 2016-02-05T02:16:36Z

This compendium was compiled by the Centre for Internet & Society in collaboration with the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, Department of Disability Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Government of India. Prasanna Kumar Pincha, Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities, has written the Foreword.

Preface

India, one of the longest continuous civilizations in the world is also home to one of the largest populations of persons with disabilities. According to the 2011 census, around 2.21% of its population or around 26.8 million people have disabilities of some form or the other. While the country is developing rapidly, persons with disabilities are often left out of the process. Sometimes they are completely neglected from consideration and measures do not take into account their needs by virtue of being non inclusive. On other occasions, there may be special measures for some disadvantaged groups, but persons with disabilities may not be recognised as a separate group, with distinctive needs.

Overall, there is a clichéd understanding about the needs and abilities of persons with disabilities, limiting efforts made towards their progress. Even in cases where some effort has been made, information about these measures is not available to persons with disabilities and their family members, who are consequently unable to avail of them. Additionally, the insensitivity of rules/ schemes/ procedures/ persons makes it difficult for persons with disabilities to benefit from them. However, regardless of the reason, the fact remains that there is a huge gap in the communication of information from policy makers, administrators and law makers to persons with disabilities as well as their family members, organisations and other concerned groups and institutions.

It is extremely important to bridge this information gap in order to enable persons with disabilities to participate equally in development. Better access to information will enable them to avail of schemes/provisions for their benefit and will consequently enable governments to assess whether they have made adequate provision in various domains as well as identify gaps which need to be addressed.
Finally, accessibility of information will also facilitate the participation of government and persons with disabilities in implementation of measures and increase transparency and accountability

With this aim in mind, The Hans Foundation decided to engage with Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) to put together a comprehensive resource on disability related policies across India. It gives us great pleasure to publish this resource and we hope that it be of great help to the community.

Ms. Sweta Rawat
Chairperson
The Hans Foundation

Click to download the PDF version of the book here. (File size 1.72 Mb approx.)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/national-compendium-of-laws-policies-programmes-for-persons-with-disabilities

December 2015 Bulletin

praskrishna — 2016-01-13T14:07:01Z

Our newsletter for the month of December 2015 is below.

The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is happy to share the twelfth issue of CIS newsletter (December 2015). Previous editions of the newsletter can be accessed at http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters.

Highlights
The 4th edition of the Global Congress themed around "Three Decades of Openness, Two Decades of TRIPS" was organized in New Delhi from December 15 - 17, 2015. The largest ever in Asia, the Congress was jointly organised by CIS, NLU-D, Open A.I.R., CREATe, Columbia University and American University. Nehaa Chaudhari summarized the developments of the 4th Global Congress on IP and the Public Interest in a blog post that was originally published on the Global Congress blog. Sunil Abraham wrote a blog entry stating the institutional position of CIS on the Net Neutrality discussion going on in India. Catch News interviewed Sunil Abraham about the recent advertisement by Facebook titled "What Net Neutrality Activists won't Tell You or, the Top 10 Facts about Free Basics" . Sunil argued against the validity of all the 'top 10 facts'. Odia author and cultural historian Jagannath Prasad Das has recently permitted 30 volumes of his notable works to be re-license under an open license (Creative Commons Share-Alike 4.0 or CC-BY-SA 4.0) . Subhashish Panigrahi wrote a blog post on this in Discover Bhubaneswar, a web portal in Odisha. CIS has established institutional partnerships with University of Mysore and Guru G Learning Labs for furthering Wikipedia growth. Tanveer Hasan analyses the developments and lists out the possible future plans in this regard. CIS along with Observer Research Foundation, Centre for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, and Internet Policy Observatory organized an event in New Delhi on Net Neutrality across South Asia . Today the quantity of data being generated is expanding at an exponential rate. From smartphones and televisions, trains and airplanes, sensor-equipped buildings and even the infrastructures of our cities, data now streams constantly from almost every sector and function of daily life, stated Scott Mason in a blog post. The Government of India is in the process of developing 100 smart cities in India which it sees as the key to the country's economic and social growth. Vanya Rakesh gave an overview of the Smart Cities project currently underway in India in a blog post. For the second part of the Smart City podcast series, Sruthi Krishnan and Harsha K from Fields of View spoke with Sumandro Chattapadhyay on data, people, and smart cities. Fields of View has produced and shared the recording. An extended survey of digital initiatives in arts and humanities practices in India was undertaken last year. The 'mapping digital humanities in India' enquiry began with the term 'digital humanities' itself, as a 'found' name for which one needs to excavate some meaning, context, and location in India at the present moment. P.P Sneha published the third,fourth, and fifth sections of the study this month. The RAW programme has initiated a new annual conference series titled Internet Researchers' Conference (IRC). The first edition of the Conference, organised around the theme of "studying internet in India" will be held in Delhi in February 2016

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Accessibility and Inclusion
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Under a grant from the Hans Foundation we are doing a project on developing text-to-speech software for 15 Indian languages. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed here.

►NVDA and eSpeak

Monthly Updates

● December 2015 Report (Suman Dogra; December 31, 2015).

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Access to Knowledge
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As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.

►Copyright and Patent

Blog Entries

Abuse of Dominant Position in Indian Competition Law: A Brief Guide (Sarthak Sood; December 9, 2015).
GCIP2015: Notes from the Inaugural Session (Spadika Jayaraj; SpicyIP; December 14, 2015).
GCIP Day 1 Session 3: Challenges in Re-Articulating Public Interest (Spadika Jayaraj; SpicyIP; December 17, 2015).
GCIP 15 Day 2: Discussions on Health Technology, Innovation and Access (Spadika Jayaraj; SpicyIP; December 17, 2015).
Guidelines for Examination of Computer Related Inventions in abeyance (Anubha Sinha; Anubha Sinha; December 21, 2015).
4th Global Congress on IP and the Public Interest: Statement of Conclusion for the IP and Development track (Nehaa Chaudhari; December 25, 2015). This was also published on the Global Congress Blog.

Event Organized

Global Congress on Intellectual Property and the Public Interest (Organized by National Law University, Delhi, American Assembly, Columbia University, Open A.I.R., American University, and CIS; New Delhi, December 15 - 17, 2015).

Participation in Event

CODE Session (Organized by IDRC; December 17, 2015; New Delhi). Nehaa Chaudhari and Anubha Sinha participated in the event.

Media Coverage

NLSIU Conference on Access to Copyrighted Works for Persons with Disability: An enriching experience (Abolee Vaidya and Nuhar Bansal; SINAPSE; December 14, 2015). This is an event report on a one-day national conference on the 'Access to Copyrighted Works for Persons with Disability' for which Pranesh Prakash was a speaker .

►Wikipedia

As part of the project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).

Articles

30 Books of Odia Author and Historian Jagannath Prasad Das to Come Online on Odia Wikisource (Subhashish Panigrahi; Discover Bhubaneswar; December 4, 2015).
ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର (Subhashish Panigrahi; Sambad; December 6, 2015).

Blog Entries

Open access in the Marathi language expands by a thousand books (Subhashish Panigrahi and Abhinav Garule; December 3, 2015). This was published on Wikimedia Blog.
Guru-G Learning Labs and CIS A2K Institutional Partnership (Tanveer Hasan; December 3, 2015).
Community Prioritisation of Content Donation: Kannada Wikisource (Tanveer Hasan; December 5, 2015).
Analysis of Institutional Partnerships: University of Mysore and Guru G Learning Labs (Tanveer Hasan; December 5, 2015).
Touch Point Report: Department of Tourism Studies, Christ University and St. Aloysius College, Mangalore (Tanveer Hasan; December 5, 2015).
TTT 2015 (Tanveer Hasan; December 5, 2015).
Kannada Wikipedia Editathon at Mangaluru (Dr. U.B. Pavanaja; December 29, 2015).

Events Organized

Talk on bringing 1000 books about the culture of Maharashtra on Marathi Wikipedia (The Energy and Resources Institute; Bangalore; December 1, 2015). Avinash Chaphekar, Joint Secretary, Maharashtra Granthottejak Sanstha gave a talk.
Odia Wikimedia community meetup (Organized by Odia Wikipedia Community and CIS; Cuttack; December 3, 2015).
Sau Dhuni Teen Project: December Edit-a-thon (Women's Studies Centre, University of Pune; December 3, 2015).

Participation in Events

Telugu Wikipedia Day 2015, Photo Walk (Organized by Telugu Wikipedians; Dr. YSR State Archaeological Museum, Hyderabad; December 13, 2015). Pavan Santhosh attended the event. One of the popular Telugu news channel TV9 covered the event and telecasted the same. Eenadu published a special item on photo walk on December 13, 2015.
English Wikipedia and the Telugu Wikipedia joint meetup and edit-a-thon (Organized by Wikipedia community; Golden Threshold, Hyderabad; December 20, 2015). The event was covered inSakshi and Andhra Jyoti.

Media Coverage

CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

Post More Articles on Kannada Wikipedia (Indian Express; Mangaluru edition; December 12, 2015).

A Kannada Wikipedia Editathon was conducted in Mangalore on December 10, 2015. The following are the media coverage for the same:

Kannada Wikipedia Editathon (Udayavani; December 7, 2015).
Kannada Wikipedia Editathon (Vijayavani; December 11, 2015).
Kannada Wikipedia Editathon (Vijaya Karnataka; December 11, 2015).
Kannada Wikipedia Editathon (Udayavani; December 11, 2015).
Kannada Wikipedia Editathon (Prajavani; December 10, 2015).
Kannada Wikipedia Editathon (Prajavani; December 13, 2015).

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Internet Governance
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As part of its research on privacy and free speech, CIS is engaged with two different projects. The first one (under a grant from Privacy International and International Development Research Centre (IDRC)) is on surveillance and freedom of expression (SAFEGUARDS). The second one (under a grant from MacArthur Foundation) is on studying the restrictions placed on freedom of expression online by the Indian government.

►Free Speech and Expression

Interview

Facebook shares 10 key facts about Free Basics. Here's what's wrong with all 10 of them (Shweta Sengar; Catch News; December 24, 2015).

Blog Entry

CIS's Position on Net Neutrality (Sunil Abraham; December 4, 2015).

Event Organized

Net Neutrality across South Asia (Organized by Observer Research Foundation, Centre for Global Communication Studies, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Internet Policy Observatory and CIS; New Delhi; December 12, 2015).

Participation in Event

Consultation on "Understanding the Freedom of Expression Online and Offline" (Organized by Digital Empowerment Foundation and Association for Progressive Communications; YMCA, New Delhi; December 10, 2015). Jyoti Panday was a speaker at this event.

►Big Data

Blog Entry

Benefits and Harms of "Big Data" (Scott Mason; December 30, 2015).

►Cyber Security

Blog Entry

Ground Zero Summit (Amber Sinha; December 22, 2015).

Participation in Events

Second Regional Conference on Connectivity for All: Future Technologies, Markets and Regulation (Organized by International Telecommunications Society, IIMA IDEA Telecom Centre of Excellence and Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; New Delhi; December 13 - 15, 2015). Sunil Abraham was a panelist.

Event Organized

Bangalore Chapter Meet - DSCI (CIS, Bangalore; December 1, 2015). CIS hosted the Bangalore Chapter Meet of DSCI. Pronab Mohanty, Inspector General of Police gave a talk on Cybercrimes. Sunil Abraham presented the outcome of his study "Anonymity in Cyberspace".

►Privacy

Blog Entries

UID Research (Vanya Rakesh; December 2, 2015).
DNA Research (Vanya Rakesh; December 2, 2015).
Privacy Policy Research (Vanya Rakesh; December 2, 2015).
Sectoral Privacy Research (Vanya Rakesh; December 2, 2015).
Security Research (Vanya Rakesh; December 3, 2015).
Eight Key Privacy Events in India in the Year 2015 (Amber Sinha; December 31, 2015).

Participation in Events

Kick Off Meeting for the Politics of Data Project (Organized by Tactical Tech; Phnom Penh; December 7-8, 2015). Amber Sinha participated in the event.
Unbundling Issues of Privacy, Data Security, Identity Matrics, for Financial Inclusion (Organized by Indicus Foundation and MicroSave; December 10, 2015; Metropolitan Hotel and Spa, New Delhi). Sunil Abraham was a speaker.

►Miscellaneous

Blog Entry

Smart Cities in India: An Overview (Vanya Rakesh; December 21, 2015).

Participation in Event

Elite Capture of Governance (Organized by Forum for Urban Governance and Commons; December 16, 2015; Bangalore). Vanya Rakesh participated in the event.

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Telecom
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CIS is involved in promoting access and accessibility to telecommunications services and resources and has provided inputs to ongoing policy discussions and consultation papers published by TRAI. It has prepared reports on unlicensed spectrum and accessibility of mobile phones for persons with disabilities and also works with the USOF to include funding projects for persons with disabilities in its mandate:

Articles

The Free Basics debate: Trai has a point in imposing temporary ban on net neutrality (Sunil Abraham; FirstPost; December 24, 2015).
Millions of Indians Slam Facebook's 'Free Basics' App (Subhashish Panigrahi; December 29, 2015).

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Researchers at Work
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The Researchers at Work (RAW) programme is an interdisciplinary research initiative driven by contemporary concerns to understand the reconfigurations of social practices and structures through the Internet and digital media technologies, and vice versa. It is interested in producing local and contextual accounts of interactions, negotiations, and resolutions between the Internet, and socio-material and geo-political processes:

Upcoming Events

A.I. Hype Cycles and Artistic Subversions (CIS, Bangalore; January 22, 2016). Gene Kogan will give a talk.
First Edition of Internet Researchers' Conference (IRC) 2016 - Studying Internet in India: Call for Sessions (Organized by CIS; New Delhi; February 25 - 27, 2016).

Blog Entries

RAW Lecture #01: Nishant Shah on 'Stories and Histories of Internet in India' - Video (P.P. Sneha; December 1, 2015).
FOV Podcast - Data, People, and Smart Cities (Sumandro Chattapadhyay; December 2, 2015).
Reading from a Distance - Data as Text (P.P. Sneha; December 7, 2015).
The Infrastructure Turn in the Humanities (P.P. Sneha; December 7, 2015).
Living in the Archival Moment (P.P. Sneha; December 14, 2015).

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News & Media Coverage
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CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

India's net neutrality debate is unique and complex (Pratap Vikram Singh; Governance Now; December 14, 2015).
Start-up India turns the heat on Facebook Free Basics (Anita Babu; Business Standard; December 22, 2015).
A Scam Masquerading as Santa (Apurva Venkat & Vandana Kamath; Bangalore Mirror; December 25, 2015).
Facebook goes out all guns blazing in push for Free Basics, Net neutrality advocates cry foul (IBN Live; December 29, 2015).
Foreign Media on Zuckerberg's India Backlash (Bhuma Shrivastava; NDTV; December 30, 2015).
Mark Zuckerberg's India backlash imperils vision for free global web (Bhuma Shrivastava; Livemint; December 30, 2015).

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About CIS
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The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) is a non-profit organisation that undertakes interdisciplinary research on internet and digital technologies from policy and academic perspectives. The areas of focus include digital accessibility for persons with diverse abilities, access to knowledge, intellectual property rights, openness (including open data, free and open source software, open standards, open access, open educational resources, and open video), internet governance, telecommunication reform, digital privacy, and cyber-security. The academic research at CIS seeks to understand the reconfigurations of social and cultural processes and structures as mediated through the internet and digital media technologies.

► Offices

Bengaluru - No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, 560071. Location on Google Map .

Delhi - First floor, B 1/8, Hauz Khas, near G Block market, after Crunch, New Delhi, 110016. Location on Google Map.

► Follow Us

Twitter: http://twitter.com/cis_india
Twitter - Access to Knowledge: https://twitter.com/CISA2K
Facebook - Access to Knowledge: https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k
E-Mail - Access to Knowledge: a2k@cis-india.org
E-Mail - Researchers at Work: raw@cis-india.org
List - Researchers at Work: https://lists.ghserv.net/mailman/listinfo/researchers

► Support Us

Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, 560 071.

► Request for Collaboration

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/december-2015-bulletin

Accessibility of Government Websites in India

nirmita — 2012-09-25T05:54:58Z

This report summarises the key findings of a test conducted to measure the accessibility of 7800 websites of the Government of India and its affiliated agencies against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, which is the universally accepted standard for web accessibility.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/accessibility-of-govt-websites.pdf

Breaking News on Electronic Accessibility

Rahul Cherian — 2012-09-28T03:57:27Z

The Parliamentary Standing Committee constituted to study the Electronic Delivery of Services Bill has in its report explicitly recognized the concept of electronic accessibility and reasonable accommodation. This is the first time in the country that these two concepts have been reflected at the level of a Parliamentary Standing Committee in relation to a non-disability specific law.

This Bill, which deals with the electronic delivery of public services, had several drawbacks when it came to access of public services by persons with disabilities. Inclusive Planet Centre for Disability Law and Policy (www.inclusiveplanet.org.in) had submitted a note with inputs from 30 organisations, to submit to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Electronic Delivery of Services Bill. The submissions to the Standing Committee included the concerns of persons with disabilities and the possible solutions to address the gaps in the Bill. The submissions are available here (http://tinyurl.com/d79sn7e).

The Report of the Committee has now been made public. The Standing Committee has accepted the points made in the submissions.

The three major changes recommended by the Committee based on the submissions are the given below. The relevant extracts of the Committee’s report have been compiled by Vaishnavi Jayakumar and are available here (http://goo.gl/P3CKX).

a. Recognition of Electronic Accessibility

In response the questions raised by the Committee based on the input that was submitted, it is now proposed to amend the definition of “assisted access” from “assistance to access electronic services” to “assistance to access electronic services by the users including users with special needs” This is the first time that electronic access for persons with disabilities could be recognized by a non-disability specific legislation in India.

b. Recognition of the Necessity of Providing Various Forms of Assistance

The Committee emphasized that the specific needs of the differently-abled persons like providing hard copy documents/forms in Braille and large print or for using thumb impressions instead of signatures while submitting the form or receiving the services/provision for providing intermediaries/professional sign language, interpreters, locations for offices for availing services for the purpose of EDS at the ground floor, etc., should specifically be taken care of while formulating rules.

c. No Removal of Commissioners on the Ground of Disability Without Providing Reasonable Accommodation

The Committee has concluded that in light of India’s obligations under the UNCRPD, though the clauses relating to removal of Commissioners were on par with those in other Statutes, appropriate rules/amendments to the Bill could be moved to mandate reasonable accommodation. This again is potentially the first time that a non-disability specific legislation will include the prerequisite for reasonable accommodation to be provided to a person holding a statutory post who has a disability/becomes disabled during the course of his tenure.

News reports indicate that this Bill will be introduced in the winter session of Parliament. This Bill, if passed, will be a welcome precedent for the disability sector to replicate in other legislations.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/breaking-news-on-electronic-accessibility

Creating a National Resource Kit for Persons with Disabilities: An Introduction

anandi — 2013-03-18T05:58:04Z

The Centre for Internet & Society is engaged in a two-and-a-half year project starting from August 2012 to create a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India. This project is supported by the Hans Foundation. The Resource Kit will be brought out in both English and Hindi and disseminated to policy makers from panchayat to ministry levels throughout India.

CIS hopes that this resource kit will immensely benefit the disabled community in India by providing them with a ready reference on the facilities given by the government.

More often than not a facility isn’t enjoyed by the public as no one knows about its existence. It becomes important then to make it accessible and give it exposure. The National Resource Kit of Laws, Policies and Programmes for Persons with Disabilities will fill this gap of lack of comprehensive information in this field.

The rights of persons with disabilities have for long been a topic of international discussion in various forums. It is essential to not just promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights of persons with disabilities but also promote respect for their dignity. Making legal provisions for the rights of persons with disabilities is not only a mechanism that ensures that they have access to human rights but also a tool that enables them to contribute to the growth of their nation by providing them with the facilities that aid them in overcoming their challenges and enable them to lead fruitful lives.

To provide persons with disabilities in India equal opportunity for liberty, equality and dignity on par with all citizens, India has enacted three disability laws:

Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.
National Trust for Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disability Act, 1999.
Rehabilitation Council of India Act, 1992.

India is now in the process of drafting a new law on the rights of persons with disabilities that aims to fill the gaps in the earlier laws through a deeper understanding of the real issues faced by them and providing solutions and opportunities on par with international standards.

Despite the existing legal provisions, the populace that continues to struggle with consuming issues like overpopulation, poverty, unemployment and lack of resources, often tend to neglect issues which concern persons with disabilities. An overwhelming public opinion that considers persons with disabilities to be incapable of making meaningful contribution to the society due to their disability has led to the exclusion of persons with disabilities from mainstream society.

One of the major reasons for this exclusion and neglect is the lack of awareness about the various facilities being extended by the government to persons with disabilities targeted at enabling them to overcome their challenges. Generating awareness by providing them with information that will help them gain access to education, vocational skills, employment training and opportunities and healthcare is a vital step in ensuring that the legal rights of persons with disabilities are enabled for them.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/creating-a-national-resource-kit-for-persons-with-disabilities

Report on Training in Basic Computing with use of NVDA and eSpeak in Assamese

nirmita — 2015-06-03T02:44:33Z

This training was held at Monfort School in Guwahati on May 9 and 10, 2015. Laishram Lingappa was the trainer. Eleven participants attended the programme.

Situated in the backdrop of steep hills, Monfort school was the perfect location for training in use of eSpeak Assamese. The delegates came from all across Assam, and represented various organizations. The participants were extremely impressed with the quality of the eSpeak Assamese, and were able to follow the text-to-speech (TTS) very fast.

The visit to Gauhati University’s Cell for the Differently Abled was also a grand success. A presentation about the power of NVDA and eSpeak was made in front of the Chairman of Gauhati University, Registrar, Joint Registrar, Head of the Cell for the Differently-abled, Chief Librarian and the Chief of the Computer Section.

At the end of the two hour presentation, it has been decided that the Cell for the Differently-abled will take the lead in the following aspects:

Preparing a complete list of Persons with Blindness studying in various Colleges of Gauhati University

Organizing a Sensatising workshop for the identified Persons with Blindness.

Negociate with the Publishers associated with the Gauhati University, for Accessible Bookks.

Identify staff who could be trained in making books Accessible in both English and Assamese.

NAB – Delhi will provide Technical support to the Cell for the Differently Abled, as and when required.

A visit was also undertaken to the Gauhati Blind school, where in the students were presented with the different accessibility solutions. They were shown the Smart Cane along with the Plextalk Vachak. Most of the students took keen interest in knowing about the various solutions including eSpeak Assamese. Fortunately the school is supported by some very enterprising young Blind persons, who are extremely good in Technology. These volunteers have taken up upon themselves to teach computers to the students of Gauhati Blind School.

A 15 day follow up training will also be organized either at the sister organization of Monfort school in the district of Tora or the Cell for the Differently-abled in Gauhati.

Our thanks to Laishram for organizing the four day trip to Gauhati.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-in-basic-computing-with-use-of-nvda-espeak-assamese

Report on Training in Basic Computing with use of NVDA and eSpeak in Marathi & Konkani

nirmita — 2015-06-03T15:47:18Z

The training programme was organized at International Youth Hostel and Estrila du Mar, sponsored by Rotary Club of Goa and Estrila Du Mar from April 20 to 22, 2015. Seventy-seven delegates attended the training programme.

The Rotary club of Goa organized a RYLA for the visually challenged youth of Goa and Maharashtra. The event was sponsored by Estrila Du Mar. The event had components of career counselling, introduction to assistive technology, demonstration of assistive aids and appliances and reading and writing in Marathi and Konkani. The participants were extremely eager to learn about the different reading and writing solutions. They were given hands on demonstration of all the assistive devices.

The programme was inaugurated by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Goa. This was followed by a session on "Needs Assessment" from the participants. Most of the participants expressed a strong desire to learn "How to Read and Write in Marathi and Konkani". The main sessions were conducted by Taha Haaziq, Resource Centre Coordinator, Central Library, Goa, Miss Zainab, Coordinator, Bookshare India and Dr. Homiyar.

The second day of the programme was dedicated to demonstrations of reading solutions. Participants were encouraged to listen to the eSpeak Synthesiser and understand the comprehension in Marathi. Most were comfortable listening to an e-copy of Sakal, a Marathi daily.

Many participants who had Android phones with them tried to read in Marathi using eSpeak at the end of day 2.

Day 3 was reserved for writing in Marathi. The participants who had basic knowledge of computers were encouraged to practice the in-script keyboard layout. They managed to write simple words at the end of the session.

The three day event was validated by the President of Rotary Club of Goa. The participants expressed about their learnings from the event.Most of them said that they had gained a lot of new knowledge and wanted to attend a short term basic computing workshop, for improving their skills. All the participants received a gift hamper containing CD’s loaded with set up of NVDA along with its tutorials.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-in-basic-computing-with-use-of-nvda-e-speak-marathi-konkani

Report on eSpeak Tamil Computing with NVDA Training Workshop at Tiruchirappalli

nirmita — 2015-07-21T01:32:10Z

The training workshop was held from May 4 to 8, 2015 at Centre for Differently-abled Persons, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli. Seventeen delegates attended the workshop.

Inauguration

The eSpeak Tamil Computing with NVDA Training workshop planned for 5 days (4th May 2015 to 8th May 2015) extensively for visually challenged college students and teachers was inaugurated on 4th May 2015 morning by respected Dr. M. Ravichandran, Registrar (In charge), Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli. Dr. R. Mangaleswaran, Syndicate Member, Bharathidasan University felicitated with august presence and speech. Mr. S. Shankar Subbiah, Assistive Technology Consultant and representative of National Association for Blind, New Delhi and The Centre for Internet & Society, Bangalore, and the sponsors for workshop gave a talk on the purpose of the Workshop and need for Tamil computing among the visually challenged in the present educational and employment context. Dr. M. Prabhavathy, Asst. Professor and Centre Head gave the Welcome address and Vote of thanks, thanking the Guests for their interests on empowerment of visually challenged and the participants for their earnest efforts to get trained on new technologies.

The well-equipped and accessible ICT lab of the Centre for Differently Abled Persons, at Kajamalai Campus, Bharathidasan University served as the venue for training. In order to facilitate the participants with more concentrated and time efforts, High Tea and Lunch were also served for the Training days at the Centre. Volunteers with Computer Science background were there to assist the Trainees and served them enthusiastically. The participant trainees were from Tiruchirappalli district and nearby districts like Karur, Pudukottai and Thanjavur of Tamilnadu state.

The workshop began with Resource persons, Mr. K. Navarasan, Mr. S. Shankar Subbiah and Mr. G. Kumaresan, Assistive Technology Expert continuing with the training activities on their expertise areas. The below were the activities conducted during the training period.

Day 1 - 04/05/2015

Forenoon

The whole group of Trainees were divided into two groups based on their previous knowledge on computer.
The former group consisted of the persons who were beginners to computers and the latter consisted of the trainees who have previous knowledge on computers.
A general overview on keyboard and its layout was introduced to the trainees to ensure readiness among the beginner trainees by the Resource person.
The keyboard layout and key mapping for alphabets, numeric, special keys and functional keys were taught to the trainees.
For those with previous knowledge exercises were given for reading, writing in English using computers with newspaper content, answer to question kind of comprehensive paragraphs with the Resource persons and volunteers coordinating.

Afternoon

The beginner trainees typed the keys that were taught on the previous session and practiced simple words dictated the Resource person and volunteers assisted on difficulties.
For those with previous knowledge, the exercises were elaborated and assessed for their readiness.

Day 2 - 05/05/2015
Forenoon

Tamil keyboard layout of Microsoft Windows for default Unicode Tamil Font typing were introduced to the trainees by the Resource person.
The whole group of Trainees were trained to identify the keys for vowels and consonants of Tamil language, type and practice by themselves with the volunteers supporting them, when they had difficulties.

Afternoon

The Trainees were trained to identify the keys for combinations, type and practice by themselves with the volunteers supporting them, when they had difficulties.
A play and learn session was organized to spell out connected words for typing practice.
To make the training workshop more live, the participants also were requested and exhibited their Tamil native talents and knowledge.

Day 3 - 06/05/2015
Forenoon

The Trainees were trained by giving large sets of two letter, three letter, and four letter units of words to type and practice. The Resource persons and volunteers corrected them when they had difficulties.
It was followed up by smaller sentences to be typed by the Trainees.

Afternoon

The trainees were made to listen to the Tamil text phrases with the help of NVDA screen-reader supported by eSpeak voice
The trainees were suggested to type out the phrases listened on a separate document
The trainees were trained on file operations like folder creation, saving to required folder and retrieval of the particular file. Similarly, for navigating, opening the file saved and continuing editing

Day 4 - 07/05/2015
Forenoon

Introduction on DAISY books and knowledge sharing on the available resources to read a DAISY book was done.
Demonstration on using Android based tablets and mobile phones to access the Tamil DAISY books given to the Trainees using Bookshare.org. The Trainees were also given information to subscribe for Bookshare membership and Book search and retrieval.

Afternoon

As a reinforcement on the learning process, a Quiz Programme was conducted to the Trainees on Microsoft Tamil layout and key strokes required for different Tamil words, phrases.
Usage of Tamil in Internet, and the browsers supporting the Unicode formatted content and the NVDA development efforts to support Internet browsing was discussed.

Day 5 - 07/05/2015
Forenoon

The Trainees were provided with Tamil HTML content to use the NVDA navigation commands to read the content and practice.
Reading content received in Email, Copying content from Browsers and pasting on Word document were taught and practiced.

Afternoon

Oral as well as Typing Assessment for Tamil keyboard layout, key strokes, words and phrases typing, file and folder operations of a document were conducted for the Trainees to ensure the training and learning process have helped them.
The Resource persons and volunteers ensured that they have learned the intended content and were confident to move ahead in Tamil computing using NVDA and eSpeak

The Valedictory Function

The eSpeak Tamil Computing with NVDA Training workshop conducted for 5 days (4th May 2015 to 8th May 2015) had the Valedictory function presided by Prof. V.M. Muthukumar, Hon. Vice Chancellor, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli who delivered the valedictory address and got the feedback from the participants in the presence of Dr. D. Muthuramakrishnan,, Syndicate Member, Bharathidasan University who felicitated the gathering. Vote of thanks to CIS, NAB and the organizers was given by Dr. M. Prabhavathy, Asst. Professor and Centre Head and the training felt much useful ended up with the National Anthem.

Feedback
Mr. K. Nallusami, Government School Teacher, and Mr. R. Jeyaraj, Student from Bishop College gave the feedback, how the training was helpful and would be useful by implementing Tamil computing in their daily occupation. They also highlighted on the materials and useful tips by Resource persons while working with NVDA in MS Word, Internet using Tamil computing given and learned in the training workshop.

Mrs. J. Sumathi, a Teacher who was not knowing Computer previously explained how the Volunteers and Resource persons helped learn from basic Keyboard mapping to Tamil Typing and it was a kind of magic happening to her and sister. They both came 100 miles away from Tiruchirappalli and stayed with their relatives for training. But, really happy to spent these days’ worth getting trained and requested the Organizers to conduct more such trainings for other Teachers of their District too.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-espeak-tamil-computing-with-nvda-at-tiruchirappalli

Report on One day Workshop on Use of eSpeak Hindi with NVDA

nirmita — 2015-06-04T15:43:22Z

This workshop was organized on April 11, 2015 at All India Confederation of the Blind (AICB) and was attended by 19 participants

AICB conducts one year, Advanced courses for Computing for the Blind and Stenography in Hindi and English. The participants of this workshop were the students of this courses.

The workshop began with introduction to NVDA, as most of the participants were new to it. The important configuration’s of NVDA were explained to the participants, who later installed NVDA on their desk tops and selected their preferred settings.

The participants were than given a text in Hindi for comprehension, and a small quiz was conducted on the understanding of the E-speak synthesizer.

This was followed by introduction to the Hindi inscript Keyboard. The students were also taught how to configure the Hindi Keyboard.

This was followed by typing practice. The students were well versed in Godrej and Remington formats, so they were made to understand the advantages of Inscript typing.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-one-day-workshop-on-use-of-espeak-hindi-with-nvda

Report on 30 Days Summer Course on Basic Computer Competencies and Language Proficiency

nirmita — 2015-07-12T13:55:05Z

The month long summer course was held at Karna Vidya Technology Centre, Thiru-Vi-Ka, Industrial Estate, Chennai and was attended by 20 delegates.

With the support of Centre for Internet Society (CIS), Karna Vidya Technology Centre (KVTC) has conducted 30 days Summer Course on Basic Computer Competencies and Language Proficiency to introduce, strengthen and enhance the students on Computer Operations and language proficiency.

Inauguration

On the first of May 2015, the Summer course was inaugurated by Mrs. Sumathi, a Tamil poet cum volunteer. The function started off with a melodious invocation by KVTC trainee. The manager, KVTC, welcomed the invitees and participants. The course trainers outsketched the details of the course. It was followed by the chief guest’s address. The guest emphasized on the the need for professionalism and commitment. She inaugurated the course and conveyed her best wishes to all the trainees. With the vote of Thanks by one of the trainers from KVTC, the function came to an end.

Sessions:
The sessions are designed as:
02 00 pm – 04 00 pm Computers
04 10 pm – 06 00 pm English communication Skills.
Between 04 00 pm – 04 10 pm Tea Break

Session on Computers with NVDA

The trainees are given a thorough understanding of NVDA, it’s installation process, commands, Typing Speed and Accuracy, Desktop orientation, Menu Bars, Dialogue boxes, editing and alignment in MS. Word. They were also given training on Tamil Typing using NVDA. Online Bookshare Library was also introduced to them and some have got registered in the Library.

English Language proficiency :

Students had a valuable training on English Communication Skills. They were taught basic grammar and given various practical exercises on Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. Home assignments are also given and assessed.

Evaluation: The students were assessed at regular intervals and guided for their betterment. Special focus was given to slow learners.

Benefits:
This Summer Course was very benefitial, Since it focused and enabled three different categories of students namely:
Students pursuing Secondary (10th Std),
Higher Secondary (12th Std) and
Higher education (Graduates)
All the 20 students learnt the basics of NVDA and English only from KVTC. At the end of the course, they felt happy, as they were able to breathe the air of independent learning using screen readers. They have assured us that they would minimize their visit to reading centres and make use of E texts, Audio books and Online Bookshare Library for their studies. The trainees were given a folder comprising:

Certificate
A Book on English communications both in print and audio CD.

Valedictory Function

The valedictory function was graced by Mr. Pankesh and Ms. Abhirami from Paypal. We also had a special invitee Mr. Ramakrishnan Accessibility Consultant, IBM, Bangalore. The function began with the invocation and the manager, KVTC, welcomed the gathering. Then, Mr. Ramakrishnan highlighted on the various avenues available for the visually impaired candidates. The guests congratulated every trainee and wished them the best for their future endeavours. They also handed over the Study Kit for every trainee. The function ended with National anthem.

Thanks to Supporters

Karna Vidya Technology Centre would like to submit it’s sincere gratitude to all it’s supporters for being with all the endeavours of the centre at all stages. Especially, The Summer Course on Basic Computer Competencies and Language Proficiency, conducted from 1st May 2015 to 31st May 2015 had seen best outcome from the student participants. The support and guidance of DR. Homiyar Ji, CEO, NAB Delhi, The cooperation of centre for Internet Society, Bangalore - our funding partner for this course and our parent club Rotary club of Madras Coromandel enabled us to conduct the course smoothly and effectively.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-30-days-summer-course-on-basic-computer-competencies-and-language-proficiency