Centre for Internet and Society

The ICT Opportunity for a Disability-Inclusive Development Framework

nirmita — 2013-09-30T07:25:26Z

This report has been prepared by the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, G3ict, International Disability Alliance, International Telecommunication Union, Microsoft, Telecentre.org Foundation, and UNESCO.

Click to read the original published by ITU here.

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) was one of the organizations whose experiences, views, recommendations and proposals went into the making of this report. CIS name is mentioned in Annex 1 on page 57.

The report demonstrates how Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), have become a positive force of transformation and a crucial element of any personal development, empowerment and institutional framework for inclusive development.

While the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) represent a concerted effort to address global poverty, there is a striking gap in the current MDGs and their inclusion of persons with disabilities. The estimated 1 billion persons with disabilities are still excluded from equitable access to resources (education, healthcare, etc.) and as a result persons with disabilities experience disproportionately high rates of poverty. In spite of the conclusion of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2006, disability remains largely invisible in most mainstream development processes.

Click to download the full report here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/ict-opportunity-for-disability-inclusive-development-framework

The Business Case for Web Accessibility

nirmita — 2011-12-07T09:56:47Z

NASSCOM Foundation has published a handbook on web accessibility titled "Understanding WebAccessibility — A Guide to create Accessible Work Environments". Nirmita Narasimhan authored a chapter "The Business Case for Web Accessibility".

The Internet is perhaps one of the most revolutionary things that happened for persons with disabilities. It has transformed their lives from one of ignorance and dependence to one of inclusion and participation. Using assistive technologies, blind persons can now read newspapers and information on websites, deaf persons can understand video content through captioning and persons with different disabilities can access computers in a variety of ways. However, despite these exciting developments in assistive technologies, the relative inaccessi-bility of websites remains a severe impediment to disability access to the internet.

There may be several reasons for complying with web accessibility. These may be:

Social (i.e. acknowledging the right of persons with disabilities to have equal access to information and opportunities offered by the internet);
Legal reasons (i.e. complying with national guidelines, policies or laws);
Technical (i.e. ensuring increased interoperability, reducing server load, time taken in website maintenance and better quality websites); and
Business (i.e. realizing that having an accessible website makes good business sense).

This article focuses on the last reason, i.e. business drivers for web accessibility.

Web accessibility means that a website can be accessed completely by all users, regardless of disability or any disabling factor such as illiteracy, old age or limited bandwidth. Compliance with the Web Content Access Guidelines (WCAG) will ensure that a website will be equally accessible to all disabled users, irrespective of the type of disability (visual, motor, auditory, cognitive or persons who are prone to seizures). Contrary to common belief, an accessible website is not necessarily a boring one. In fact, often times, the difference between an accessible and an inaccessible website may not be evident visually, but only upon use.

It is important for business houses to bear in mind that making websites accessible not only benefits persons with disabilities, but is helpful to every user. For instance, captioning of videos for the deaf will also benefit illiterate persons and persons having limited bandwidth, who constitute a sizeable percentage of the Indian population. Furthermore, nearly everyone benefits from clearly structured content, easy navigation and illustrated graphics. There are over a billion persons with disabilities living around the world, over 70 million in India alone and some surveys also estimate that one fifth of internet users have some form of disability or disabling condition. Hence companies which ensure that their web sites are accessible will be assured of a much wider reach than companies whose websites are not accessible.

An important aspect of creating an accessible website is that if a website is designed and developed in an accessible manner from the very beginning, its cost would exceed the cost of creating an inaccessible web site by perhaps merely 2%. However, on the other hand, if one were to have to retrofit accessibility features into a website, the cost and effort would be the same as that of creating an entirely new site. Furthermore, while the website would become accessible, the maintenance and day to day activities on it would also need to continue to be accessible. An accessible web site enhances ease of maintenance and scalability. Companies must also ensure that the developers maintaining the website must have a good understanding of WCAG.

Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of having an accessible web site is that it also increases its chances of ranking and visibility amongst search engines. There is a significant overlap between guidelines for accessibility and SEO. For instance, both of them require alternative text for graphics, clearly defined heading structures, identification of language of pages and page content, descriptive links etc. Having an accessible website will ensure that it can be accessed on new browsing technologies and platforms, like mobile phones and PDAs. Not only is navigation and usability enhanced, but the separation of content from presentation drastically reduces the download time of accessible web sites, rendering it a pleasurable experience for users to visit the web site.

There is a clear business case in creating products and web sites which are accessible. This is evident in the fact that some of the largest and most successful companies in the world have incorporated accessibility and universal design in their products and services. For instance,

Apple has been committed to accessibility since 1985 and its accessibility website3 features all its accessibility technologies for persons with disabilities as well as other third party products. Apple has integrated universal access into its operating system so that they are usable with Apple and other products.

The accessibility statement on the web site of General Electric4 gives details of its ongoing work on the accessibility of its website and a disabled user can track the company's progress by reading this page. It also provides a help facility for persons who are unable to use the site due to access problems.

A stunning example of a company which has made huge business profits through application of universal design principles in its products is that of NTT DoCoMo which came out with its accessible line of mobile phones called the “Raku-Raku” phone and rapidly captured the majority market share of mobile phones in Japan. The company has sold up to 20 million5 handsets as of July 2011 since its inception and released 18 models.

Some further examples of companies which are committed to accessibility are Cisco Systems Inc.6, AT&T Services Inc.7, France Telecom8, Google9, Hewlett-Packard10, IBM11, Microsoft Corporation12, Nokia13 and Vodafone14. The web sites of these companies have detailed information on the key areas of their accessibility work.

It is therefore clear that companies are increasingly recognizing the wisdom of unlocking their content to a larger audience. Not only do they increase their customer base, but also are able to garner loyalty from their customers as well as bolster their image by showing consideration towards customers with different needs.

The publicity that can be leveraged by business houses on account of their commitment to accessibility and inclusion will go a long way in building a good and lasting relationship with their customers. Hence, companies are strongly urged to make a concerted effort to promote web accessibility through awareness, internal policies and providing requisite training and support. In a world where policy makers are also increasingly becoming aware of the need for web accessibility and mandating it through policies, it will become inevitable for both public and private organizations to have websites which are universally accessible.

Read the original published by NASSCOM Foundation here

Download the entire book here (PDF, 1570 kb)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/business-case-for-web-accessibility

The Accessibility Campaign--Intervention Where and How?

nirmita — 2011-08-17T08:50:07Z

As a follow up to our first meeting on a national policy for accessibility, this blog entry looks at some of the important international and national provisions that deal specifically with accessibility over the internet.

Context

The Asian Decade for Promotion of Disability Rights brought with it some awareness and the beginnings of a movement for disability rights in India. The first comprehensive national effort in India towards formulating a law for the recognition, protection and promotion of the rights of disabled persons came with the enactment of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act 1995 (the “PWD Act”). The Act sought to introduce several measures to ensure access for disabled persons in the fields of education, employment and so on and called for the setting up of a national and several state focal points (in the form of the Central and State Co-ordination Committees) to look into matters relating to disabled persons. The coming into force of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“UNCRPD”) triggered off a fresh wave of campaigns for the rights of persons with disabilities in countries around the globe. The UNCRPD makes an express reference to the protection of the rights of disabled persons as being vital to preserving their human dignity and worth. The Convention calls for the protection of civil, political, social, economic and cultural rights of disabled persons and enunciates the principles of equality, human rights and fundamental freedoms. India is a signatory to the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asia Pacific Region, the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific and the UNCRPD.

Having ratified the UNCRPD, it is obligatory for India to put into effect the principles in the Convention by amending, modifying and deleting (wherever relevant) her national laws for disabled persons.However, although India has had three legislations specifically dealing with disabled persons, the PWD Act (1995), the National Trust for Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disability Act (1999) and the Rehabilitation Council of India Act (1992), for about a decade now, many of the principles laid down in the UNCRPD do not find any place in the current Indian law. One of the fundamental points of difference between the PWD Act and the UNCRPD, for instance, is the approach each of them takes towards understanding the notion of 'disability'; while India has adopted a narrow medical model of defining disability, the UNCRPD adopts the social model which is more inclusive and comprehensive.

Further, the PWD Act is primarily concerned with the social and economic rights of persons with disabilities and hardly takes into account their civil and political rights as well. The Act itself devotes an entire chapter to affirmative action on the part of the government, which deals with concessions in different areas such as employment, transportation, housing, social security and so on.

The UNCRPD on the other hand takes a more positive approach towards working with disability by embodying the principles of equality and the fulfillment of basic and fundamental human rights and freedoms. It calls for governments to ensure that reasonable accommodations are made for persons with disabilities to carry on their activities on par with others. The Convention also encourages governments to oblige private parties and organisations to ensure that their services are accessible to all. It further recognizes the importance of all round development of disabled individuals and calls for accommodations and accessibility in areas like recreation and sports as well in addition to the general ones like education, employment, etc.

Article 9 is of special importance for this campaign since it obligates States to ensure that PWDs have access to information and information technologies and to develop minimum standards of accessibility. Article 9.2 (g) especially lays down that states should facilitate access for PWDs to new information and communication technologies, especially the internet. Article 21 of the Convention deals with the fundamental right of PWDs to opinion and expression; this includes their right to seek, receive and impart information. It mandates states to make all information which is made available to the general public available to PWDs in accessible formats, including electronic formats, within reasonable time and at no extra cost. It also asks state parties to encourage all private persons, organisations and the media, who provide services to the public on the internet to make them accessible to PWDs. The Convention also calls for states to ensure that all educational, cultural, recreational and official materials are available to PWDs in accessible formats.

In India, while legislations broadly recognize that PWDs should have access to materials, there is nothing specifically mandating states to ensure accessibility in all official and private transactions. Article 19 of our constitution enumerates the right to the freedom of speech and expression as a fundamental right. Section 3 of the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005 lays down that every citizen has the right to information and the Act confers citizens with the right to require the government to make such information available to him/her by filing an application to the government department concerned. Section 4 lays down that the Government should make all information available to the public in accessible form and should, as soon as possible, computerise all information which is capable of being computerised, in order to facilitate greater access amongst citizens. Section 8 and 9 of the Act list out some of the cases in which the State is not bound to disclose information to citizens. The Information and Technology Act 2000 is entirely silent on the subject of web accessibility. Similarly, while there are fragmented pieces of legislation which vaguely address the questions of availability and accessibility of public information and cultural and educational materials, there are no explicit Acts or Guidelines or provisions which recognize the right of disabled persons to accessible information on an equal basis with others. Given the expanding scope of technologies, it is of immediate urgency that the Government addresses this issue and makes the necessary additions and modifications in the PWD Act and the RTI Act to make it obligatory for states to provide all information in accessible formats as well as seriously consider coming out with a comprehensive policy and guidelines for accessibility of information for persons with disabilities.

The government over the past decade has addressed certain issues regarding disabled persons in its ninth and ten five year plans. The recognition that disabled persons have a right to information and an accessible web was expressed in the ninth five year plan. This was subsequently reaffirmed by the tenth plan which went further to allocate a component in the budget of each government department for implementing provisions relating to PWDs. The National Policy for Persons with Disabilities was adopted in 2006. It recognized that disabled people are valuable human resources for the country. The policy focuses primarily on prevention of disability, early detection and appropriate intervention, physical and economic rehabilitation measures, inclusive education, employment in the public as well as the private sector and self–employment, creation of a barrier-free environment and development of rehabilitation professionals.

It is, however, disappointing to note that while the National Policy for Disabled Persons had a laudable objective insofar as it was intended to formulate more clearly the government’s roadmap for securing an enabling environment for disabled persons, the policy document itself fell short of its intended purpose; it does not clearly set out any schemes, strategies and plans for achieving these objectives. Hence it ends up merely being a revised version of the PWD Act itself. In the eleventh five year plan the government has yet again come out with positive measures for disabled persons. The plan calls for the setting up of a National Institute of Universal Design to promote greater accessibility and a barrier free environment. The eleventh plan emphasizes the need to carry out all the objectives set out in the tenth plan.

The National Policy of 2006 does talk about securing primary and secondary education to every child by 2020 and also about making educational materials available in accessible formats to children with different disabilities, as well as creating a barrier free physical environment. Hence there is no dearth of areas where interventions need to be and can be made. We need to take a twin pronged approach to bring about desired action. Making provisions in the RTI and PWD Act more specific to include provision of materials and information in accessible formats in a timely fashion at no extra cost (ii) to formulate definite schemes under the national policy or other documents and (iii) to ensure that these, are implemented properly.

We need to ensure that Article 9 of the UNCRPD is clearly reflected in our laws. Section 4 of the RTI Act with regard to information needs to be worded more specifically. Provisions in our legislations which call for a barrier free environment should be expanded to include a “digital as well as physical barrier free environment”. Apart from that, the Government might consider coming out with guidelines for accessibility, which lays down minimum standards of accessibility for creating and maintaining electronic content. Most importantly, it would be very useful if the government began by ensuring that all the sites of government departments and public listed companies were made accessible.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-accessibility-campaign-intervention-where-and-how

Telugu eSpeak Training with NVDA

nirmita — 2015-07-20T14:59:38Z

NVDA team conducted a two-day workshop at the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) for lecturers and students for reading and writing in Telugu using eSpeak with NVDA on December 1 and 2, 2014.

A total of 27 participants attended the programme, which was organized by Anavaram, AP – HCU and member of Empowerment Cell of HCU.
The event was inaugurated by the Pro. VC of HCU Haribabu and Dr. Rajgopal Chairman, Empowerment Cell, HCU.

The event focused on the following points:

Introduction to NVDA as a Screen Reader.
Advantages of Espeak.
Use of Espeak to access various content in regional languages.
Installation of NVDA.
Configuration of NVDA.
Installation of Espeak.
Reading in Telugu.
Writing in Telugu using Phonetic and Inscript keyboards.
Writing in Hindi using Phonetic and Inscript keyboards.
Demonstration of various aids and appliances.

The Telugu reading and writing sessions were conducted by Hanardhan Naidu, Telugu Espeak Tester. His contribution was acknowledged by one and all present.

Further sessions for eSpeak Telugu will be planned for Vijaywada in January 2015, by Janardhan Naidu.

The sessions were welcome by the participants, stating that eSpeak Telugu and Hindi will help them in their studies as many students were pursuing their graduation and post graduation in Telugu and Hindi. Till date they did not have any other source of reading or writing in the stated languages and hence had to depend upon readers for their studies. They also appreciated the fact that by reading and writing in Telugu and Hindi, it will enhance their chances for government and PSU employment.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/telugu-e-speak-training-with-nvda-december-2014

Technology for Accessibility in Higher Education

nirmita — 2012-01-31T06:29:03Z

Education for students with disabilities has long been a serious cause of concern in India, as also in other countries around the world. A person with a disability studying in mainstream educational institutions in India experiences many difficulties in navigating through the obstacle course of the Indian educational system, writes Nirmita Narasimhan in this IIMB Journal brought out on the occasion of the conference 'never-the-less - Enabling Access for Persons with Disabilities to Higher Education and Workplace - Role of ICT and Assistive Technologies.

Problems exist in many areas – course content, staff, facilities, resources as well as the educational and examination process. The relative physical inaccessibility of educational institutions, unavailability of accessible content in different languages, lack of trained and sensitive teachers, and the lack of awareness about developments in enabling technologies have hitherto rendered the educational environment itself rather difficult to access. In addition to the long waiting periods in getting the course materials digitized into accessible formats, as well as the assignment of scribes unfamiliar with subject topics for students to write the examinations put students with print disabilities at additional disadvantage – as if there weren’t enough problems already! Thus the educational experience often becomes a nightmare for a student who is disabled. However, compared with the situation from a decade earlier, the education scenario for persons with disabilities has, thanks to the sustained advocacy and interventions of disability organizations, gradually improved and promises to get better in the years to come.

Today, technology has made it possible for persons with disabilities to read and work independently. Some institutions for higher learning around the country, like St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, Delhi University and Loyola College in Chennai have already set up ICT centres which facilitate reading and working students who are print impaired. They offer support through digitization, training, and facilities. Organisations like National Association for the Blind and other Daisy organizations convert study materials for blind students and make them available in formats and media of the students’ choice. Students themselves, through peer to peer networks and mailing lists are able to collaboratively produce and share accessible study materials on a variety of subjects ranging from graduation to competitive exams. Another really big boon is the advent of the mobile phone as a suitable platform for listening to books. Today, two international mobile screen reader software - Nuance Talks and Mobile Speak - are available in the Indian market at competitive prices and this has led to an increase in the incidence of mobile adoption amongst persons with print disabilities, at least in the metropolitan cities.

There are many areas of improvement, which institutions of higher education can adopt for enhancing the education experience for students. For instance, the provision of digitized reading materials, access to computers with assistive devices, choice of examination methods, maintaining accessible web sites, promoting open access and open educational resources will go a long way in furthering education amongst students who have disabilities. Institutions could explore new models of imparting education which are proving successful in other parts of the world. Furthermore, existing sources of information and knowledge, such as information in the public domain and knowledge imparted through distance education should be made accessible to a wider audience.

Click here for the conference details held in IIM, Bangalore on 20 and 21 January 2012.
Download the original published in the Journal: Enabling Access for Persons with Disabilities to Higher Education and Workplace [PDF, 1422 KB]

Nirmita Narasimhan is a Programme Manager with the Centre for Internet and Society and works on policy research and advocacy related to IP reform and technology access for persons with disabilities. She received a National Award from the President of India in 2010 recognizing her contribution to the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/accessibility-in-higher-education

Statement of CIS on the Work of the Committee in the 21st SCCR

nirmita — 2014-05-29T06:57:29Z

The twenty-first session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights was held in Geneva from 8 to 12 November 2010. Nirmita Narasimhan attended the conference and represented the Centre for Internet and Society.

The Centre for Internet and Society is pleased to note the collective intent on the part of member states to find a solution to the lack of accessible reading materials for persons with print disabilities around the world, as evidenced by the number of proposals which have been put forward since the past SCCR. It is clear that member states have been applying their minds to this problem and have presented us with several possible options, which they believe would adequately address this issue. We would however like to take this opportunity to remind them, that disability groups, from both developed and developing countries, who have been grappling with this issue for decades, have been unitedly stressing the urgent need for a legally binding international instrument as the only effective solution to achieve results at a global level.

I would like to very quickly put forward a few thoughts for the consideration of this committee:

We believe, that there should be an international treaty harmonising exceptions and limitations for access to reading materials for persons with print disabilities, and that achieving this should be the first priority for work in this committee
Limitations and exceptions are important for promoting access to knowledge, encouraging creativity and furthering the overall development of humankind and hence, should be the subject matter of serious discussions at WIPO; WIPO should play an important role in the development of international copyright law to facilitate greater access to knowledge and information, especially in the context of digital technologies

Limitations and exceptions on all issues which further the development Agenda of WIPO, including exceptions for the print disabled, education, libraries and other issues, must be discussed amongst member states without delay in the forthcoming meetings of this committee
We feel that there may be some merit in reserving separate sessions for discussing each issue, since this would facilitate more focused and comprehensive deliberations in an expeditious manner

Hence, we would like to urge member states to begin work on all these issues, ordering them on the basis of their maturity, with a view to achieving concrete outcomes, which should be informed by the collective wisdom of stakeholders affected by these instruments as to what are the ground realities prevailing in their countries.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/sccr-cis-statement

Statement of CIS on the Matter of the Treaty for the Blind

nirmita — 2013-01-28T11:14:23Z

Presented by Nirmita Narasimhan at the 19th WIPO Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights in Geneva on 18th December 2009.

Mr. Chairman, distinguished delegates of member states and friends, at the outset I would like to thank the WIPO Secretariat for processing our accreditation to the WIPO as an observer at an early juncture of the SCCR, thereby affording us an opportunity to present brief remarks on the issues being discussed here, which are of great importance to us.

My organisation, the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS), is a non-profit organisation based in Bangalore, India and looks into, amongst other things, issues of copyrights and related developments and traditional knowledge as far as they affect consumer interests, especially in developing countries, in the field of Internet and society.

CIS is actively engaged in policy reform at a national level including conducting research and advocacy through national campaigns and trainings. CIS strives to work closely with the Government and other organisations in its goal towards creating an inclusive and barrier free world for persons with disabilities. In fact, it has submitted a detailed paper on the legality and need for exceptions and limitations for the blind and other print impaired persons to the Government of India to aid it in its decision making.

CIS is also engaged in a nationwide Right to Read campaign and is trying to bring together stakeholders at various levels to try and work out solutions for meeting the needs of persons with print impairments with regard to availability of reading materials.

Mr. Chairman, you may be aware that the visually impaired community of India presented a paper to the Director General in November this year setting out its needs and concerns on the issue and stated in no uncertain terms its unequivocal support for the Treaty. The same is available on http://vision.ip.org.

Today, I would like to reiterate this support by putting forward a few considerations, which I feel would be applicable to several of the developing countries around the world:

India has approximately 70-100 million persons with physical, sensory and cognitive impairments who cannot access printed materials. There are hardly any books available in accessible formats for these people.
The few accessible books which are available are being converted and distributed by non profit organisations serving the blind around the country. These organisations have very few financial, infrastructural and human resources to carry out this work and hence, are able to convert only the bare minimum of study materials such as school textbooks for children.
Persons with disabilities are hence, unable to participate as creative and productive individuals of society and are excluded from important activities of life such as education and employment. In the few cases where they are employed, the average income of a person with disability in India would not exceed 50-100 dollars per month. Hence, they are hardly in any position to buy accessible books at market rates from other countries.
India’s Copyright Act provisions do not permit conversion and sharing of books for print disabled persons. Hence, we are neither able to create our own books nor able to borrow from libraries abroad like Bookshare, which have a lot of resources that would be useful to us.

Consequently, we spend a lot of time in duplicating efforts undertaken in other countries and channelling scarce resources into work which has already been done globally.

Mr. Chairman, for us the Treaty will be most beneficial for the following reasons:

It will help to create an enabling international legal framework for cross-border sharing of accessible works. Developing countries will be able to concentrate their efforts on creating new and indigenous content, which will be beneficial to print impaired persons around the world.
The Treaty recognises the needs of persons with different kinds of print disabilities and by facilitating access to published works, will enable millions of persons to participate in social life and contribute to society.
The Treaty recognises the disparities of income of persons with disabilities in developing countries.
The Treaty will oblige countries to give operational effect to the provisions under the UNCRPD.
The Treaty recognises that there is a big market for accessible books in developing countries.

Finally, Mr. Chairman, I would like to also highlight that this Treaty seeks to preserve a balance between the rights of users and the copyright holders. By opening up the markets for accessible books and facilitating cross-border exchange, the Treaty would help reduce the burden on non-profit organisations and reduce instances of piracy.

Hence, Mr. Chairman, CIS would once again strongly urge member states to recognise the merit and need for this Treaty and proceed with setting in place this international framework as soon as possible.

Download the pdf.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/CIS-Statement-on-Treaty

Right to Knowledge for Persons with Print Impairment: A Proposal to Amend the Indian Copyright Regime

praskrishna — 2011-08-22T13:17:33Z

This research paper argues the need for amending the Indian Copyright provisions for enabling the print impaired to gain access to published works. The paper was submitted to the Ministry of Human Resource and Development in November to appraise it of the needs of the print disabled community. The paper is up for public comments and we welcome your feedback for this ongoing campaign.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/publications/Case%20for%20Amendment%20of%20Copyright%20Regime%20in%20India%20November%2022-%202009.pdf

Right to Knowledge for Persons with Print Impairment: A Proposal to Amend the Indian Copyright Regime

praskrishna — 2009-12-04T10:18:45Z

This research paper details the need for an amendment of the present provisions of Copyright laws and help enable the print impaired gain access to published works. The paper was submitted to the Ministry of Human Resource and Development in November to appraise it of the needs of the print disabled community. The paper is up for public comments and we welcome your feedback for this ongoing campaign.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/publications/uploads/Case%20for%20Amendment%20of%20Copyright%20Regime%20in%20India%20November%2022-%202009.pdf

Report on use of eSpeak Bengali with NVDA

nirmita — 2015-11-09T15:57:18Z

NVDA team conducted a training programme at Turnstone Matruchaya, Siligudi, West Bengal from September 7 to 9, 2015. Fourteen delegates attended. Nirmal Verma was the language trainer.

Day 1

Turnstone Matruchaya is an NGO working for the upliftment of Blind and other under privileged sections of the society. Located in midst of tea gardens, Turnstone Matruchaya had a perfect location for conducting a traning session.

The workshop was attended by 14 computer teachers and special educators for the blind. The participants came from Sikkim, Darjeling, various districts of West Bengal etc. The participants had some idea about NVDA, though support for indian languages was a new concept for them. There was a lot of excitement and enthusiasm for learning to read and write in Bengali and Hindi.

The workshop started with a round of introductions, where in each participant also spelt out his or her needs and expectations from the workshop. Most of them expressed the need for learning about an alternative screen reader, which would help them read and write in their vernacular language.

This was followed by understanding the benefits of NVDA in comparision to other screen readers. The participants were taken for a brief tour of the NVDA home page and explained the process of downloading the installer for NVDA.

A hands on demonstration was given about installation of NVDA, followed by the participants installing NVDA on their systems.

This was followed by introduction to the menus of NVDA, and their utility. Each participant was instructed to configure NVDA, as per their requirements. They were instructed to select a suitable voice variant and rate, and also make certain changes in the keyboard and mouce settings.

They were than given Bengali text to read. This text was taken from a Bengali daily newspaper. All the participants were very comfortable with the Espeak TTS, and were able to comprehend the text.

Day 2

Day 2 started with introduction to the Bengali keyboard, followed by practice of typing words and sentences. The afternoon session was dedicated to writing practice, which was followed by a session on Bookshare as a source of accessible reading material.

Day 3

Day 3 began with a revision session for Bengali keystrokes. This was followed by a session on using Espeak on Android. Various other features of the Android platform were also demonstrated during the session.

The afternoon session was dedicated to giving information about different schemes for the benefit of the Blind. The participants were informed about the ADIP scheme, Loan scheme of Saksham, E-card scheme of Railways etc.

The workshop ended with a feed back session. All the participants expressed their deep gratitude for the workshop and have promised to send their feedback on a regular basis.

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

Report on training workshop at NAB Delhi R K Puram

nirmita — 2015-07-20T14:53:03Z

The workshop was held at the National Association for the Blind, Sector 5 R. K. Puram, New Delhi on December 17, 2014. The objective of the workshop was to help the staff members understand NVDA and its functioning with the Indian languages so that they efficiently attend to the queries of the visitors and the callers at helpdesk.

Five staff members lead by Mr. Ajay Sharma, Project Manager of the technical unit at NAB R.K Puram Delhi had attended aa training workshop. Concepts related to the NVDA were discussed in the workshop. It was an interactive workshop. Ms. Suman Dogra had conducted the workshop. The staff members had certain doubts with NVDA, that were cleared. Some new information was imparted to the staff members. The helpdesk was made to understand the functioning of the language section of NVDA. This will help callers to configure their native language on their machines.

Some tips were given to the staff members on imparting training in NVDA in coming training modules at NAB. Object navigation was explained to the computer instructors. The team at NAB is informed that they can inform about any of the problem in NVDA to the Indian development team.

The following individuals attended the workshop:

Ms. Bharti
Mr. Yogesh Chhabra
Mr. Rajesh
Mr. Rajneesh
Mr. Ajay Sharma

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-workshop-at-nab-delhi-rk-puram

Report on Training on the Use of eSpeak Hindi on Windows and Android Platforms

nirmita — 2015-07-21T14:30:54Z

Indian Association for the Blind conducted a one day workshop on the use of eSpeak for Windows and Android platforms on May 28, 2015. Twenty-seven delegates attended the training programme held at Indian Association for the Blind, Delhi. Kaifee Asami was the trainer. The programme introduced eSpeak for reading and writing in Hindi on both computers and mobiles.

The session started with introduction to NVDA and its advantages as a screen reader. This was followed by demonstration of reading Hindi text using eSpeak. Different variants of eSpeak were also demonstrated.

A hands on session was conducted following the comprehension, where in the participants were made to type the Hindi characters and a few simple words. This was followed by demonstration of the Android platform and its versatility. The participants were shown how to download eSpeak from the Google Play store and how to configure eSpeak in the keyboard and language settings.

A few of the participants who had internet connectivity on their android devices were then able to read Hindi newspapers on the internet. The overall satisfaction of the students was appreciable. Most of them expressed deep satisfaction on the day's event.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-in-use-of-espeak-hindi-on-windows-and-android-platforms

Report on Training of the use of eSpeak Punjabi with NVDA

nirmita — 2015-03-10T02:12:55Z

NVDA team organized a workshop for training participants on using eSpeak Punjabi with NVDA software. The workshop was held at Asha Kiran Training Institute on February 20 and 21, 2015. Twenty-three delegates attended the workshop. NAB, Chandigarh was the training partner.

The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. Tilak Raj, Director, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of Punjab. The salient feature of this programme was that except for one all the participants were connected in the use of Punjabi in their academics, and hence the enthusiasm for learning the use of Espeak with NVDA was noticeable.

The Punjabi typing session was conducted by the developer of eSpeak Punjabi, Mahesh Inder. The workshop also introduced the participants to use of assistive devices and the advantages of technology in a professional’s life.


Pictured above: Faculty imparting training on laptop to use the NVDA software as delegates listen keenly.


Pictured above: One of the delegates is seen asking questions to the faculty during the training session

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-of-use-of-e-speak-punjabi-nvda

Report on Training in the use of eSpeak Oriya with NVDA

nirmita — 2015-03-18T17:05:46Z

NVDA team from the Centre for Internet and Society conducted this workshop at Orrisa Association for the Blind, Bhubaneswar from February 8 to 10, 2015. Thirty six individuals attended the training.

The workshop received an overwhelming response from participants. The participants acknowledged the importance of Oriya support for their career growth. This was evident from the excitement and curiosity of the participants to read and type in Oriya language.

The eSpeak training was preceded by a Career Counselling Workshop, which highlighted the importance of reading and writing in the local vernacular language for a career growth.

The main challenge faced during the training was that there was virtually no material available in Oriya on the internet in Unicode font, for the participants to practice reading. Hence, the participants had to first learn typing and then create their own sentences to read.

The training was conducted by Ganshyam Mohante, who also was the tester for Oriya language.

The inauguration was attended by the whole managing committee of Orrisa Association for the Blind.

Orrisa Association for the Blind is also very keen on organizing a 15 day follow up programme, where more delegates could be trained in reading and writing in Oriya, along with the knowledge of using computers.

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

Report on Training in the Use of eSpeak Gujarati with NVDA

nirmita — 2015-07-20T14:30:24Z

The training was imparted at Blind Peoples Association, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad on November 17 and 18, 2014. Thirteen delegates underwent the training. R.P.Soni was the local coordinator.

The participants were teachers for the blind, teaching various subjects like Computers, History, Languages, etc., representing 5 organizations.

Training Objectives

To identify at least two individuals who are conversant with typing in the local language and are also screen reader users; for conducting this training under supervision and then conduct similar trainings across the State of Gujarat.
To train the teachers of the blind in the use of reading and writing in the local language, with the help of eSpeak and NVDA.
To create awareness about the aids and appliances available for Persons with Blindness.
To share information about different resources for gaining knowledge.

Need for Training

The participants expressed the following reasons for attending the training:

Wanting to compose their own question papers for the subjects that they taught.
To read the newspapers in the local language for updating themselves in about current affairs.
To be able to write letters and communicate with the State machinery in the local language.
To scan and read material in local language.

Training Sessions

The following sessions were conducted during the 2 days of training:

Introduction of Participants.
Introduction of CIS and DFI.
Introduction to NVDA and Espeak.
Advantages of NVDA.
The Regional Language development programme in local language’s supported by CIS.
Gujarati Commprehension using Espeak
Interaction over phone with Mr. Praful Vyas [Tester for Gujarati Espeak]
How to configure NVDA, Language options in Windows, Selection of Keyboards etc.
Typping using Phonetic keyboard.
Typing using Traditional Keyboard.
Hands on demonstration of Aids and Appliances such as Smart Cane, Plextalk Vachak, HV Pro, Sonic Labeller, Liquid Level Indicator, Nexus 7 Tablet, Android phone, etc.
Information about the ADIP scheme and how to obtain the above mentioned devices.
Information about Bookshare and other sources of resource materials.

Future Trainers

The 2 individuals who were identified during the training as future trainers were:

Gignesh Pokar.
Mahendra Chudasma.

The following feedback was received from the participants on completion of the 2 day training:

Training was found to be very helpful.
The training met their expectations.
They were satisfied with the training content and style.
The inclusion of hands on demonstration of Aids and Appliances was appreciated.
They did not have complete information about the ADIP scheme and the participants found it to be useful.
The duration of the training was found to be adequate.
Only 2 of the participants were Bookshare members. The rest have shown a desire to join and 4 have already submitted their applications.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/report-on-training-in-e-speak-gujarati-with-nvda