Centre for Internet and Society

‘Right to read’ campaign launched (The Hindu)

radha — 2011-04-02T14:52:56Z

An article in The Hindu, 29th September, on the 'Right to Read' campaign, launched on 26th Sept, in Loyola College, Chennai

CHENNAI: About 100 National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers from various colleges in the State kick-started a ‘right to read’ campaign at Loyola College recently. The aim of the campaign is to make books accessible to persons with disabilities.

The speakers, who included the visually challenged, persons with low vision and dyslexia, said the Copyright Act did not allow persons with print impairments to convert reading matter using assistive technologies to accessible formats. Dipendra Manocha, executive committee member of World Blind Union, said: “We need organisations, individuals and volunteers to contribute and create accessible books.”

Nirmitha Narasimhan, programme manager of the Centre for Internet and Society felt access to information would ensure a better contribution by the visually challenged to society. “It is not that we are insensitive. The suggestion for amendments to the Copyright Act has not yet been incorporated,” she said.

Writer Sreekumar Varma, who inaugurated the campaign, recalled his experience as a scribe during his days as a lecturer. C.P. Chandrasekar, treasurer, National Association for the Blind, and Loyola College Principal Albert Muthumalai spoke.

Link to the article in The Hindu

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/2018right-to-read2019-campaign-launched-the-hindu

‘Right to Read’ campaign launched - Fighting against copyright regulations

radha — 2011-04-02T14:54:34Z

To highlight the issues faced by persons with print disability – those deprived of Indian books due to unfriendly copyright regulations – a group of organisations launched the Right To Read (R2R) campaign on September 26 - an article by L Subramani, Sep 28th, Bangalore, Deccan Herald.

The campaign, jointly launched by the Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), Daisy Forum of India (DFI), bookbole.com and Inclusive Planet, kickstarted at Loyola College in Chennai on Saturday.

“This campaign was part of the World Blind Union’s (WBU) global campaign,” said Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, CIS. “We are asking all the organisations to lend their support to our initiative.”

The campaign comes at a time when the Indian government is preparing to consider changes to the copyright law, which it failed to implement two years ago after disability rights campaigners objected to the proposal to make books and other print materials be made in an “exclusive” format.

Nirmita said that this would also be an occasion for activists to urge Government of India to throw its weight behind a WBU treaty tabled at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) asking for a global copyright regulation that takes into account the needs of persons with print disabilities.

“The treaty is coming up for discussion at Geneva (WIPO's head quarters) in December,” Nirmita said and added: “Right now only three Latin American nations are supporting it. Since India has the largest number of persons with print disability, which includes the visually challenged, persons with autism and children with learning difficulties, our support would likely tilt the balance in favour of the treaty.” Now, the campaign will be gradually taken to other parts of the country, said Rahul Cherian from Inclusive Planet. A signature campaign and distribution of a declaration supporting accommodation of persons with print disability in copyright laws will also be held as part of the campaign.

Link to article in Deccan Herald

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/2018right-to-read2019-campaign-launched-fighting-against-copyright-regulations

A fight for the Right to Read

radha — 2011-04-02T14:53:14Z

The copyright Law remains blind to the rights of the Visually Impaired - An article by N T Balanarayan, DNA Bangalore - 24th September, 2009

As Indians we enjoy our right to education and to read, but should learning be restricted to books provided in school? What if, some wish to broaden their horizon and learn more, only to realise there are no books available? That’s the situation the visually impaired in India face now. But Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society (CIS)* is out to change it. They’re starting a new campaign – demanding changes in the copyright law so that books can be converted into a medium with which the visually impaired will feel more comfortable.

According to the group, only 0.5 percent of the books available in India can be accessed in Braille or audio format. Further, the World Blind Union estimates that only five percent of the total books that get published in developed countries are converted into accessible formats.

According to Nirmita Narasimhan who works with CIS, it’s not a question of just making the books available in particular formats. “If people can read books, it will help literacy, education, employment and promote independent living. A majority of the visually impaired population don’t pursue courses because they don’t have study materials in accessible formats. This is substantiated by looking at the statistics of Delhi University – they have about 1,500 seats reserved for the handicapped. Despite that, in 2008, only 270 students applied and in 2009, only 350 came forward. This just goes to show that in addition to making reservations, it is also necessary to provide an enabling reading framework to persons with disabilities by providing materials in accessible formats and a good support system,” she says.

“Further, it is not necessarily any particular format – with technologies and the prolific use of computers; accessible electronic formats (not being jpeg images which screen readers can’t make sense of) are most appreciated. One will find that blind persons are always reaching out to each other for study materials in accessible formats – this varies from materials for board exams to text for competitive exams,” she adds.

Through the campaign, a roadshow scheduled to start on September 26^th at Loyola College, Chennai, the group wants changes to be made in the copyright law. The roadshow will be organised in three other metros as well.

The event will comprise presentations, debates and demonstrations along with book reading sessions and stalls where various accessibility tools will be demonstrated.

Change the Fineprint: Changes in the copyrights law will enable the visually-impaired in India to overcome their handicap and grow with the modern times.
- Indian Copyright Law does not allow persons with print impairments to convert books into accessible formats to read them
- Libraries for the blind like Bookshare, RFB&D, lend books only to print impaired persons living in countries where such a legal provision exists
- Remember that persons with visual disabilities are not the only ones who can’t read printed matter those who are dyslexic and mentally challenged count too

* Name given as Centre for Information and Society in the original article - the same is corrected here.

Here is the link to the Right to Read Campaign
http://cis-india.org/advocacy/accessibility/blog/the-right-to-read-campaign

Here is the link to the original article in DNA -
http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_cis-campaign-to-alter-copyright-law-to-favour-visually-imapired_1292662

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/a-fight-for-the-right-to-read

The Right to Read Campaign

radha — 2011-08-17T08:45:02Z

The nationwide Right to Read campaign will begin with road shows in four metros and will then be taken up in different cities. There will be half day events with publicity. Events shall comprise presentations, debates and demonstrations, book reading sessions and stalls where various accessibility tools will be demonstrated. The first roadshow is to be held at Loyola College on 26th September.

Problem Statement

Millions of Indians are unable to read printed material due to disabilities. There are technologies available which can help them read print if the material is converted into an alternate format such as large print, audio, Braille or any electronic format. While the Indian constitution guarantees the “right to read” as a fundamental right, the copyright regime does not permit the conversion of books into accessible formats for the benefit of persons with print impairment, as a result of which a “book famine” is created. International conventions that India is a party to specifically require India to amend its copyright laws for the benefit of persons with disabilities and to make available information and material to persons with disabilities on an equal basis as others. Publishers also do not make books available in accessible formats as a result of which less than 0.5% of books are available in accessible formats in India. As a result persons with print impairments get excluded from the education system and it impacts their career choices.
In addition to this, there are no national Policies or action plan to ensure that publications in accessible formats in all Indian languages are available to persons with print disabilities all over the country.

Objectives of the Right to Read Campaign

To accelerate change in copyright law
To raise public awareness on the issue
To gather Indian support for the Treaty for the Blind proposed by the World Blind Union at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
Your Support:

No campaign is complete without the endorsement of leaders in the field. We invite you to lend your name and support to this campaign in large numbers and help us make this campaign a success. If you wish to do so, please e-mail Nirmita Narasimhan: nirmita@cis-india.org.

Declaration on the Right to Read

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-right-to-read-campaign

National Workshop on Web Accessibility

radha — 2011-08-31T10:46:56Z

The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) and Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment (SPACE) are organizing a workshop on web accessibility for web developers from the public and private sector from September 25th to 26th, 2009.

The workshop seeks to bring together practitioners from Government Departments, as well as from small and medium enterprises across the country. The primary aim of this workshop is to demonstrate the importance of creating accessible web sites and to educate the developers of government and private web sites on how to incorporate accessibility features into new as well as existing web sites.

The training comprises both theory-oriented and practical sessions. The trainers are specialists in various aspects of web accessibility. The main focus will be on WCAG 2.0 guidelines. The workshop is for persons already involved in developing web sites with good knowledge of HTML, XML, CSS, etc. In addition to training web developers in accessibility, the workshop will also serve as a platform for capacity building by training potential accessibility trainers.

The programme is supported by Kerala State IT Mission, which runs INSIGHT - ICT Centre for the differently abled in association with SPACE.

The workshop will take place at Christ Nagar International School, Kowdiar, Thiruvananthapuram, between 09:30-17:30 hours each day.

Hurry! Interested persons are requested to register immediately as seats are limited.

Candidates may register directly on the website at http://c11.space-kerala.org/webw/ OR fill the application form attached and post/ submit to SPACE office (contact@space-kerala.org, thomas@space-kerala.org)

SPACE Office Address
Society for Promotion of Alternative Computing and Employment
C-11, Elankom Gardens,
Vellayambalam, Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala, India

To download the registeration form, please click here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/announcement-of-national-workshop-on-web-accessibility

Now, online books for disabled persons

radha — 2011-04-02T14:58:42Z

An article by L Subramani – Deccan Herald (6th Sept, 2009)

Bangalore: DAISY Forum of India (DFI), who promote talking books in DAISY (Digitally Accessible Information System) format for persons with disability, has provided an accessible consolidated list of DAISY books online for disabled persons across the country to browse.
“At the moment, we have catalogues from Saksham Trust (Delhi), NAB, Mitra Jyoti (Bangalore), BPA (Ahmedabad), Blind Persons Association (Calcutta) and Discipleship Centre. We would get more catalogues in the near future,” said Dipendra Manocha, President DSI, in an email announcement.
Bookbole.com, an online portal designed for persons with disability, is hosting the catalogue. “We have about 600 books in total,” said Nirmita Narasimhan, Project Manager with city-based Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), who have partnered in creating bookbole.
“Accessibility, especially books and printed materials has been a problem for persons with vision challenge. Daisy Talking Books (DTB) have been created to address the dearth of information in accessible format,” Nirmita said. Persons who access the catalogue at bookbole.com can contact the concerned organisation directly and get the book from them.
“On receiving the request for books, we would burn it on a CD (in DAISY format) and post it to the concerned individual. This is the first time we have a consolidated list of DAISY books in the country, which is good for both people looking for books and organisations like us who have been developing them,” Madhu Singhal, Managing Trustee of Bangalore-based Mitra Jyothi.
DAISY format allows readers to access the books both in text and audio format. It is also easier for the readers to understand certain finer aspects of the book such as page numbers. “If someone wants to re-read a particular page in a book, it is entirely not possible in traditional audio format. Whereas, DAISY format lets them know exactly the place they are reading and let them go back and forth quite the same way as an able-bodied person would do with the printed page,” Madhu said.

-DH News Service

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/now-online-books-for-disabled-persons

Asia-Pacific Regional Forum on Mainstreaming ICT Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities

radha — 2011-04-02T15:16:04Z

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) jointly with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and in partnerships with the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict), the National Telecommunications Commission of Thailand (NTC), the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy (DBCDE), Australian Government, and National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) Thailand are organising the "Asia-Pacific Regional Forum on Mainstreaming ICT Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities" to be held in Bangkok, Thailand from 25 to 27 August 2009. The Forum is hosted by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) Thailand, Government of Kingdom of Thailand. Ms. Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, Centre for Internet and Society, India will be giving a presentation on Policy Formulation for Internet and Electronic Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities.

With 139 countries having signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ("CRPD"), and 51 having ratified it as of October 2008, legislative and regulatory activities related to the implementation of its digital accessibility agenda will be a priority among ITU Member States. Yet, few references and guidelines are available for country regulatorys and legislators to implement such measures or foster national programmes supporting the digital accessibility agenda of the CRPD.

In order to address this challenge, G3ict and ITU organised a joint global forum on 21 April 2008 on Digital Accessibility standards in relation to the CRPD. At this occasion, ITU-D and G3ict launched a "Toolkit for Policy Makers", an online tool designed to provide practical references and case studies to support implementation of the digital accessibility agenda of the CRPD at country level. G3ict also released Version 1 of its self-evaluation methodology and is currently collecting country data for is benchmarking programme, the "Digital Accessibility Index" in cooperation with Disabled People's International and the support of the law firm Powers, Pyle, Sutter and Veryille.

The upcoming Asia-Pacific Regional Forum aims to:

Bring together policy makers, regulators, operators, industry, NGOs and international organisations involved with persons with disabilities, as well as experts and ICT professionals including disabled persons from across the region and beyond;
Discuss the global online "Toolkit for Policy Makers" that will support stakeholders in developing policies and strategies to address ICT accessibility and service needs from persons with disabilities to meet the dispositions of the CRPD;
Ensure proper publicity and generate momentum in support of the implementation of the Digital Accessibility Agenda of the CRPD focusing on practical implementation at country level; and,
Exchange country experiences and case studies among participants as well as learn about innovations of accessibility and assistive technologies and applications.

URL: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/asp/CMS/Events/2009/PwDs/programme.asp

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/asia-pacific-regional-forum-on-mainstreaming-ict-accessibility-for-persons-with-disabilities-1

Copyright v. Exercise of Fundamental rights

Rahul Cherian — 2013-02-20T11:07:02Z

In this article, Rahul Cherian analyzes the legal and ethical framework around the issue of copyright in relation to converting materials into accessible formats for the print impaired.

Copyright Infringement v. Exercise of Fundamental Rights

India has about 70 million persons who cannot access printed material due to various disabilities, including visual impairment, learning disabilities and physical disabilities that prevent them from holding books or turning pages (“Print Impaired Persons”). The Copyright Act, 1957, does not provide exceptions and limitations for the benefit of Print Impaired Persons as a result of which any conversion of material into accessible formats would require permission of copyright owners. It is noted that publishers do not sell/make available books in accessible formats and are often unwilling to give the necessary permissions required for conversion of books to accessible formats and distribution of the same to Print Impaired Persons. As a result, Print Impaired Persons cannot enjoy printed material without infringement of copyright.

The Constitution to the rescue

The Indian Constitution expressly provides for “equality” (Article 14), “non-discrimination” (Article 15), “freedom of speech and expression” (Article 19) and “right to life” (Article 21). Indian courts have not yet had the opportunity to pronounce any judgment on whether the Constitution requires that copyright law provide exceptions and limitations to the rights of copyright owners for the benefit of Print Impaired Persons. However, Indian courts have routinely upheld the rights of persons with disability and the Supreme Court has specifically recognized that the “right to life” as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution includes right to dignity including basic necessities such as reading and writing[1]. The right to education has also been recognised as a fundamental right. For print impaired persons to enjoy their fundamental rights, it is essential that they have access to material, including but not limited to educational material, in accessible formats. In this context it can be argued that the fundamental rights of Print Impaired Persons are being infringed because the Copyright Act, 1957, does not provide exceptions and limitations for the benefit of Print Impaired Persons.

“Reading in” of provisions in the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities

India has also signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities[2] (the “Convention”). The Convention aims to support the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in social life and development; and to advance the rights and protect the dignity of persons with disabilities and to promote equal access to employment, education, information, goods and services[3].

Ensuring accessibility for persons with disabilities is one of the guiding principles of the Convention[4]. The preamble of the convention recognizes the importance of information in transforming the life of persons with disabilities. Article 4 (General Obligations) of the convention mandates state parties to provide accessible technology for persons with disabilities at affordable costs. Article 9 of the convention further mandates state parties to take appropriate measures to ensure the availability of information to persons with disabilities, at par with the general population[5]. Article 9 also mandates state parties to endeavor to ensure the easy availability of communication and information technology to persons with disabilities at affordable costs. Article 21 of the convention cast an affirmative obligation on the state parties to effectuate the freedom of speech and expression, (including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information). The provision calls for parity between persons with disabilities and others insofar as the freedom of speech and expression are concerned. The convention recognizes the right to receive information as a facet of free speech[6].

In this regard the Convention obligates state parties to;

Provide information intended for the general public to persons with disabilities in accessible formats and technologies appropriate to different kinds of disabilities in a timely manner and without additional cost;[7]
Accept and facilitate the use of Braille, augmentative and alternative communication, and all other accessible means, modes and formats of communication of their choice by persons with disabilities in official interactions;[8]
Ensuring that private entities which provide services to the general public, including through the Internet, provide information and services in accessible and usable formats for persons with disabilities;[9]
Encourage mass media, including providers of information through the Internet, to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities[10].

Article 30 (3) of the Convention also states that “States Parties shall take all appropriate steps, in accordance with international law, to ensure that laws protecting intellectual property rights do not constitute an unreasonable or discriminatory barrier to access by persons with disabilities to cultural materials”.

After the decision of the Supreme Court in Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan[11] it has become a settled position of law that international conventions and norms are to be read into domestic laws in the absence of enacted domestic law, to the extent that there is no inconsistency between them.[12] It is now an accepted rule of judicial construction that regard must be had to international conventions and norms for construing domestic law when there is no inconsistency between them.[13] The Bombay High Court has in May 2009, “read in” provisions of the Convention into India law in Ranjit Kumar Rajak Vs State Bank of India[14]

The Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights & Full Participation) Act 1995 (the “PD Act”), was enacted with the objective of ensuring equal opportunities for people with disabilities and their full participation in the nation building. The PD Act provides for both preventive and promotional aspects of rehabilitation like education, employment and vocational training, job reservation, research and manpower development, creation of barrier-free environment, rehabilitation of persons with disability, unemployment allowance for the disabled, special insurance scheme for the disabled employees and establishment of homes for persons with severe disability etc. In Javed Abidi v Union of India[15] the Supreme Court observed that the object of the PD Act was to create a barrier-free environment for persons with disability and to make special provisions for the integration of persons with disabilities into the social mainstream apart from the protection of rights, provision of medical care, education, training, employment and rehabilitation. However, an appraisal of the provisions of the PD Act would show that the PD Act does not have provisions regarding the right of the visually challenged to access information. The only provision in this regard in the PD Act concerns the duty of the state to provide text books in special formats for students with disabilities.[16] Hence there is no domestic law as regards the rights of persons with disabilities to access information and provisions of the Convention have to be read into the Copyright Act, 1957.

It is observed that visually impaired persons routinely convert books into accessible formats such as Braille. Without the amendment of the Copyright Act, such conversion would strictly speaking be an infringement of copyright. However, the issue at hand is whether such conversion is the exercise by the visually impaired person of his fundamental rights, and if so, whether the exercise of fundamental rights will override any copyright infringement. The government apparently understands this contradiction and is proposing to amend the Copyright Act to provide for appropriate exceptions and limitations. However till such time as the amendment comes through should visually impaired persons sit around and fail to exercise their fundamental rights? Interesting question, that!

[1] Francis Coralie Mullin v. The Administrator, Union Territory of Delhi (1981) 2 SCR 516.

[2] India signed the convention on 30th March 2007 and ratified it on 1st October 2007. See United Nations Convention on Persons with Disabilities [entered into force on 3rd May 2008] GA/RES/62/170; See http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=17

[3] Id.

[4] See Guiding Principles of the Convention at; http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?navid=14&pid=156

[5] See Art. 9 (2)(f)

[6] See Art. 21 of the Convention.

[7] See Art. 21 (a)

[8] See Art. 21 (b)

[9] See Art. 21 (c)

[10] See Art. 21 (d)

[11] AIR 1997 SC 3011

[12] Apparel Export Promotion Council v. A.K. Chopra (1999) 1 SCC 759; Aban Loyd Chiles Offshore Ltd & Ors. v. Union of India 2008 (227) ELT 24; Chairman School Managing Commitee & Ors. v. Vimmi Joshi & Ors. 2008 INDLAW SC 2009 Civil Appeal No. 7355/2008; Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India (2005) 10 SCC 481

[13] Id

[14] Order dated 8th May, 2009 of the Bombay High Court in WP No. 576 or 2009

[15] 1999 AIR(SC) 512

[16] See Sec. 27(f) of The Persons with Disabilities Act 1995.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/copyright-v-exercise-of-fundamental-rights

Copyright Challenges for Print Impaired Persons in India

nirmita — 2011-08-17T08:51:33Z

Print impaired persons in India face several hurdles in accessing reading materials- the biggest one being the Indian Copyright Act 1957

Background

The Indian Constitution guarantees citizens fundamental rights to dignity, to read, to education, to information and to expression.
India has approximately 70 million disabled persons who are unable to participate in the social, cultural and political life of the country because they cannot access materials in the printed form. These include persons with visual disabilities, persons whose physical impairments prevent them from holding or turning pages of a book and persons who have a learning disability like dyslexia. These groups can access reading materials if they are converted into formats which can be accessed by them in an alternate manner using assistive technologies.
Recent developments in technologies such as screen reading and OCR technology, electronic tactile devices, evolution of multiple audio, audio-video and electronic formats, DAISY etc which can be adapted for use in a multiplicity of platforms have opened up innumerable possibilities for persons with different abilities to access information independently and participate in society.
The process of conversion of a printed book into an alternate accessible format such as large print, audio, Braille and electronic formats involves special effort in terms of obtaining permissions from copyright holders, possessing manpower, infrastructure and monitory resources, concerted involvement of intermediary agencies undertaking conversion and the presence of an effective distribution model.

Challenges in India

Today, print impaired persons in India are faced with several problems that hamper their participation in society-

Lack of availability of affordable technological solutions in English as well as local languages
Lack of availability of printed materials in formats that can be accessed using these technologies
Failure on the part of technology and web developers to adhere to principles of universal design which ensure that web sites are accessible to persons with disabilities
Lack of accessible or compatible mainstream technologies to work with special technologies
Lack of an enabling legal regime.

Disability Awareness around the world

The United Nations declared the decade of 1983-1992 as the decade of Persons with Disabilities and the decade of 1993-2002 as the Asian and Pacific decade of persons with disabilities. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities came into force from 2008.
International bodies like the World Wide Consortium (W3C) and the Daisy Consortium have come out with standards and guidelines which will make the web and publications on the web universally accessible.
The World Blind Union (WBU) has recently proposed a Treaty for the Blind, Visually Impaired and other Reading Disabled, (referred to as the “VIP initiative”) which seeks to harmonise limitations and exceptions at a global level so that countries around the world can freely share knowledge in accessible formats for print impaired persons. This Treaty is now being proposed by three Latin American countries and is presently tabled before the WIPO and is under discussion.

Position in India

The Indian Copyright Act 1957 does not make any provision for the conversion and distribution of books in accessible formats for print impaired persons. Hence organisations serving the print impaired have to get permissions from copyright holders to undertake conversions. Further, Indian organisations are not able to borrow accessible materials from libraries in other countries since the absence of such a provision in our fair dealing clause prevents countries from lending books to print impaired persons in India.
In the case of books published in India, there are no accessible copies readily available in the market and while many publishers in principle are not averse to giving permission, the unwanted fear of piracy and lack of awareness prevents them from allowing organisations to undertake conversions. Consequently print impaired persons are denied the freedom to choose and read any book which is freely available to the public.
In the light of increasing global attention in this matter and in the interests of the large print impaired community in India, we need to have a clear position in our law with regard to converting materials into accessible formats for print challenged persons. It is important to understand this as not merely a legal issue, but also as a social and economic cause. We need to work at various levels to solve this problem:

We need to work towards legally binding norms both at a national as well as international level. We can achieve this by supporting the proposed treaty for improved access for the visually impaired at the WIPO, and by ensuring that necessary amendments are immediately incorporated into the Copyright Act, which afford flexibilities for conversion into accessible formats for print Impaired person.
Publishers, copyright holders, organisations and print impaired persons should work collaboratively towards conversion and distribution of published works in accessible formats. Publishers should give digitised copies of books in an accessible format to recognised organisations serving the print Impaired and in return these organisations should set up a distribution mechanism which will ensure that these accessible books get circulated only within the print impaired community and do not find their way into the mainstream market.
Publishers should explore the large market in India for selling books in electronic, audio and other accessible formats along with the print copy. These copies should be available in the market at the same time and at the same price that the print copy becomes available. In the case of electronic copies, publishers may also consider selling the books at a price which is lesser than the price of the print version since this will not involve cost of paper publication.
Publishers should adopt a standard format for creating digital masters of their publications so that all distribution formats including hard copy print, braille, talking book and digital publications can be derived out of it without wastage of resources on conversions and reproduction of books in accessible formats.
The government should frame incentive schemes for publishers and other persons developing technologies to encourage them to create accessible versions of their content and technologies.
We need to work towards ensuring at least the minimum basic study and reference materials which are required for children with print disabilities to complete their school and college level education in all subjects and languages.
We need to encourage peer to peer models amongst disabled persons and organisations for sharing and generating more accessible content.
We need to work towards establishing public libraries and repositories of accessible content with a healthy system of exchange amongst them.
Work towards generating more Indian language content and developing technologies such as text to speech synthesisers which support regional Indian language content.
We need to work towards facilitating cross-border exchange of books so that persons in India get exposure to foreign authors and also ensure that persons abroad are able to read Indian literature. Libraries in India should be able to freely exchange books with libraries in other countries.
We need to spread awareness about the importance of building in accessibility right at the start so that not much time, effort and money is wasted at a later stage in converting materials into accessible formats.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/copyright-challenges-for-print-impaired-persons-in-india

Response to the Call from Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry for Review of the Copyright Act

sachia — 2011-08-17T08:51:23Z

This blog entry contains a letter sent by Rahul Cherian of Indojuris and Nirmita Narsimhan of the Centre for Internet and Society in response to a call from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry for review of the Copyright Act.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) has recently constituted a Consultative Working Group to analyse various issues in the Copyright Act. This has been approved by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The group is to be chaired by Shri Amit Khare, Joint Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. The purpose of the Consultative Working Group would be to look into the existing provisions of the copyright law and the proposed amendments, as well as into the international arrangements and suggestions. The Consultative Working Group is expected to submit its report along with amendments or suggestion, as required.

Rahul Cherian of Indojuris and Nirmita Narasimhan of CIS have submitted a report on the provisions of the Copyright Act with respect to the limitations for print disabled persons. This has been submitted in the form of a letter to Sheetal Chopra of FICCI; the letter is reproduced below.

-----

Sheetal Chopra

Senior Assistant Director and Head

IPR Division

FICCI

Dear Madam:

Subject: Consultative Working Group on Copyright Issues – issues to be addressed by the Consultative Working Group.

As required by you we give below the issues to be addressed by the Consultative Working Group. This document is prepared by Nirmita Narasimhan of the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, and Rahul Cherian Jacob of IndoJuris Law Offices, Chennai.

Scope - Exceptions and Limitations for Print Impaired Persons

The scope of the issues raised here are limited to the exceptions and limitations under the Copyright Act that are required to facilitate access of books by the visually impaired and other print impaired persons.

Problem faced by Print Impaired Persons

India has approximately 70 million Print Impaired Persons (loosely defined as persons who are unable to access print as a result of disability and include persons who are visually impaired, persons who have learning disabilities such as dyslexia and persons who due to physical disability are unable to hold a book or turn pages) who do not have access to knowledge due to a lack of reading material in accessible formats. It is estimated that even in developed countries not more than 5% of publications get converted into accessible formats for the benefit of Print Impaired Persons. As a result, Print Impaired Persons are excluded from the education system, are unable to seek meaningful employment and are on the whole excluded from all aspects of civil society.

It is observed that publishers do not make available books in formats accessible by Print Impaired Persons and the Copyright Act does not provide exceptions and limitations to the rights of the copyright owner for third parties to convert and make available books in accessible formats for Print Impaired Persons. This has lead to a “book famine” from the perspective of Print Impaired Persons.

Technological Advances and Accessible Formats

Till a few years ago, Print Impaired Persons had to rely on audio files and Braille (in the case of the persons who became visually impaired at a young age) to enjoy printed matter. Each of these formats have severe limitations. For example audio files have to be played serially and navigation is severely limited. In the case of Braille, the printing costs are expensive, reading a Braille book is up to 4 times slower than a normal book, Braille is extremely difficult to learn if you loose sight at a later age, and persons using Braille can communicate only with others who know Braille. However with the information technology revolution and the creation of text-to-speech screen readers that read out documents in electronic formats to Print Impaired Persons there are now countless ways in which Print Impaired Persons can access books in any easy and simple manner. Specialized electronic formats such as the DAISY Format not only permit the visually impaired to “read” the material using screen readers but also permit a digital file to be printed in Braille for the blind, in large print for the partially sighted and also provide audio with inbuilt search and indexation features for those Print Impaired Persons who have computers. The key is that technological innovation now provides the much-needed flexibility required by Print Impaired Persons to access material in formats they are most comfortable with. However the availability of these technology solutions alone does not solve the problem of dearth of books in formats that can be enjoyed by Print Impaired Persons.

Legal compulsions for providing exceptions and limitations for the benefit of Print Impaired Persons

At present Indian copyright law does not provide exceptions and limitations to the rights of copyright owners for the benefit of Print Impaired Persons. The Indian Constitution expressly provides for “equality” (Article 14), “non-discrimination” (Article 15), “freedom of speech and expression” (Article 19), and “right to life” (Article 21). Indian courts have not yet had the opportunity to pronounce any judgment on whether the Constitution requires copyright law to provide exceptions and limitations for the benefit of Print Impaired Persons. However, Indian courts have routinely upheld the rights of persons with disability and the Supreme Court has specifically recognized that the “right to life” as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution includes right to dignity including basic necessities such as reading and writing. Right to education has also been recognized as a fundamental right. For Print Impaired Persons to enjoy their fundamental rights it is essential that they have access to material, including but not limited to educational material, in accessible formats. As present, 70 million Indians cannot enjoy their fundamental rights due to the fact that the Copyright Act does not provide exemptions and limitations for Print Impaired Persons. It is to be noted that about 50 countries around the world already provide copyright exceptions and limitations for the benefit of the visually impaired/printed impaired.

India has also ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the objects of the aforesaid convention include providing persons with disability, access, on an equal basis with others, to information and communication. Indian courts have read into Indian law provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is also to be noted that the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights of the World Intellectual Property Organisation is currently discussing the proposed WIPO Treaty for Blind, Visually Impaired and Other Reading Disabled Persons.

India has also recognized the requirements of Print Impaired Persons and had circulated draft amendments to the Copyright Act in _________ for feedback and comments from the public. All the leading organisations representing visually impaired persons has submitted their responses stating that the proposed amendments did not adequately meet the requirements of visually impaired persons.

In light of the above the question is not whether exceptions and limitations for the benefit of Print Impaired Persons must be provided (they must), but what form these exceptions and limitations must take.

Exceptions and Limitations – Issues to be considered

Given below are the issues that must be considered when providing exceptions and limitations for the benefit of Print Impaired Persons.

Beneficiaries – The beneficiaries of any amendment should include all persons with disability who, due to that disability, need an accessible format to access a book to substantially the same degree as a person without a disability. This definition should be functional and not medical since medical definitions cannot be exhaustive.

Formats – Print Impaired Persons should be able to enjoy the benefits of the information technology revolution in the same way that non-disabled persons have been able to. Any amendment should therefore take into account technological developments and should be format neutral to give full flexibility and utility to Print Impaired Persons. As mentioned above Braille as a format has limited application and a majority of visually impaired persons are not able to use Braille. Moreover, Braille cannot be used by persons with other print impairments such as dyslexia or persons with physical disabilities.

Permitted Activities – The activities permitted by any amendment should include the making of accessible formats of a work, supplying that accessible format, or copies of that format, to Print Impaired Persons by any means, including by lending or by electronic communication by wire or wireless means, and undertaking any intermediate steps to achieve these objectives.

Who can conduct the Permitted Activities – It is noted that the cost of making an accessible copy of a book is far higher than the cost of the book itself. It is observed that non-profit organisations have been able to convert only a few thousands books till date due to lack of funds. Print Impaired Persons, their families and other members of their support group also convert books into accessible formats at very high cost. The number of books converted by these persons is also minimal. Keeping in mind the fact that publishers are not selling books in accessible formats there appears to be complete market failure in this area. The solution for this problem appears to be that, apart from non-profit organisations, Print Impaired Persons and their support group being permitted to conduct the Permitted Activities, volunteers and for-profit organisations should also be able to conduct the Permitted Activities. If any of the Permitted Activity is undertaken for profit, then the entity carrying out the Permitted Activity must give notice to, and pay prescribed royalty to the copyright owner. The quantum of royalty payable should be determined keeping in mind the fact that the average income of Print Impaired Persons is far lower than the income of non disabled persons. The possibility of creating a collecting society for this purpose can also be explored.

Conclusion

“Inclusiveness” is the underlying theme of the Indian Constitution and “Inclusion” is a word used liberally by the courts and politicians alike. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. The United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons of Disabilities aims to support the full and effective participation of persons with disabilities in social life and development; and to advance the rights and protect the dignity of persons with disabilities and to promote equal access to employment, education, information, goods and services.

However, these concepts mean nothing to Print Impaired Persons as long as their most basic fundamental rights continue to be denied due to the fact that Indian copyright law does not provide exceptions and limitations for the benefit of Print Impaired Persons.

In light of the above, appropriate amendments must be made to the Copyright Act as soon as possible to remove the barriers placed before Print Impaired Persons that prevent their exercise of fundamental rights.

If you require any additional information or any clarification regarding the above please let us know. Thank you and best regards,

Nirmita Narasimhan and Rahul Cherian

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/response-to-ficcis-call-for-review-of-the-copyright-act

N.C.P.E.D.P. and BarrierBreak Technologies put forward National Policy on Electronic Accessibility

sachia — 2011-04-02T15:43:42Z

Article in Disability News and Information Service, 15 July 2009

D.N.I.S. News Network: National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People (N.C.P.E.D.P.) in association with BarrierBreak Technologies has come up with a draft for a National Policy on Electronic Accessibility. The objective of the policy is to provide persons with disabilities equal access to electronic and information and communication technology and services. This policy expands on the United Nations Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which India has ratified.

Shilpi Kapoor, Managing Director, BarrierBreak Technologies says, “Technology today is there in all aspects of life. Using electronic and information and communication technology, we can bridge the barriers that exist for persons with disabilities. Such a policy needs to be applicable across different ministries and departments.”

The National Policy on Electronic Accessibility emphasizes the importance of creating awareness on accessibility and universal design and creating and implementing standards and guidelines. It also aims at promoting research and development in the area of universal design and assistive technology and independent living aids and schemes in the area of accessible electronic and information and communication technology.

The policy also emphasizes the importance of building capacity to ensure that accessible products and services can be developed in India.

Nirmita Narasimhan, Programme Manager, Centre for Internet and Society, feels positive about the draft. "Having a National Electronic Accessibility Policy would be an extremely positive move for India towards bridging the digital divide; it will serve as a leading example to other developing countries to take similar initiatives and create a truly inclusive and accessible world," she said.

The draft will be placed before N.C.P.E.D.P.’s Core Group on Communication and Information Technology in its meeting on July 23 and the National Committee on the Rights of People with Disabilities on July 24. Once the policy is approved at these two forums, it will be placed before the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology for their consideration.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/n.c.p.e.d.p.-and-barrierbreak-technologies-put-forward-national-policy-on-electronic-accessibility

Bookshare.org Seminar

sachia — 2011-08-31T10:49:34Z

A demonstration of Bookshare.org, an online digital library for people with print disabilities

Books without Barriers

Bookshare.org is an online digital library with over 7,500 books in English in accessible formats for people with print disabilities. Members can read books using any assistive technology such as DAISY, BRF and text file for only Rs. 400 per year.

Publishers and Authors in our Collection:

We have books from East West publications, Seasons Publishing, Orient Blackswan and authors such as Charles Dickens, Shakespeare, Ashokamitran and many more.

Watch a Demonstration and Try Bookshare!

If you have a visual impairment, physical disability, such as cerebral palsy, or a learning disability, such as dyslexia, you can become a member and access our library! Come and see the many books available for you on 1 July 2009 at the CIS office.

Time and Date

Wednesday, 1 July, 2009; 11.00 am-1.00 pm

Venue

Centre for Internet and Society, No. D2, 3rd Floor, Shariff Chambers (Wockhardt Hospital building), 14, Cunningham Road, Bangalore - 560052

Map

For a map, please click here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/bookshare.org-seminar

Report on Second National Workshop on Web Accessibility, 5-7 June 2009

sachia — 2013-02-04T05:52:05Z

Nirmita Narsimhan reports on the second National Workshop on Web Accessibility for web developers, hosted by CIS in Bangalore from 5 to 7 June 2009, and attended by 15 participants.

The second National Workshop on Web Accessibility for web developers was held at the CIS office in Bangalore, 5-7 June 2009. Although this was intended to be more a city-based workshop, we still got participants from other states such as Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. There were in all 15 participants predominantly from the web development and web designing backgrounds, college students and even a person from the academic field and 3 trainers. There were also some who had already prior knowledge of accessibility and this helped to raise the level of issues which were being discussed from a basic level to a more advanced level. Overall, the workshop was extremely well received and many of the participants expressed their willingness to participate in more such workshops in the future.

The workshop was structured differently from the last one--the sessions were more practical-oriented and the trainers stressed a lot on group work. There were sessions on understanding disability, WCAG 2.0 principles and group exercises of designing accessible pages. This workshop featured some additional topics such as Flash accessibility, accessibility in documents and role play exercises for problem solving for different disabilities. For instance, in one of the sessions, the participants were asked to prepare a caption for a one minute video. One of the participants, already working on accessibility, demonstrated Orca for Linux.

Specific Outcomes

1. The participants understood the importance of creating accessible web pages and learnt about various techniques, tools and resources for accessibility.
2. All the presentations and lectures were video documented.
3. The participants filled up feed back forms and action points to be undertaken after the workshop. CIS distributed T-Shirts and certificates to all the participants.

To download a complete report on the workshop in pdf format, please click here.

Video

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/second-national-workshop

Follow-up Letter in Support of WIPO Treaty for Reading Disabled

sachia — 2011-08-25T08:43:42Z

CIS has sent another letter to the Department of Higher Education, Ministry for Human Resource Development, petitioning it to support the WIPO Treaty for the reading disabled.

In November last year, CIS launched a nation wide signature campaign to support the treaty for the blind, visually impaired and other reading disabled proposed by the World Blind Union to the WIPO. Since then, the list of signatories was updated. In May 2009, WIPO's Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) held another meeting, and in light of this, the endorsement of the treaty and appeal to the government to support it was resubmitted, by an increased number of signatories, including members of the DAISY Forum of India.

The letter and list of signatories is available below.

Mr. R. P. Aggarwal
Secretary

Department of Higher Education
Ministry of Human Resource Development
‘C’ Wing, Shastri Bhavan
New Delhi-110001

Dear Sir,

Re: Letter of support for the proposed Treaty for the blind and visually impaired submitted by the World Blind Union.

We were extremely gratified that the Government took note of our letter in November, 2008, containing endorsements of 16 organisations urging the government to support the Treaty for the Blind, which was proposed by the World Blind Union in the WIPO SCCR meeting from Nov 1^st-6^th,2008. In light of the fact that there is another SCCR meeting scheduled from May 25^th-29^th, where this issue is to be taken up, we are resubmitting our endorsement and urgent plea to the Government to actively support this treaty, since it will be extremely beneficial to all blind, visually challenged and print disabled persons in India. The list of endorsers has expanded to include about 50 more organizations. There are many more who have verbally expressed support. We look forward to an active response from the Government on this. Thanking you,

Yours Faithfully,

Nirmita Narasimhan
Programme Manager
(Centre for Internet and Society)

Sr. No	Name of Organization	Contact Person
1	Akhil Bharatiya Drishtiheen Kalyan Sangh,	Mr. Ajay M. Joshi
2	Amulya Sahara	Sh. Ashok Kumar Goyal
3	Andhjan Kalyan Trust,	Mr. Praful N. Vyas
4	Arushi	Sh. Anil Mudgal
5	Astha	Ms Radhika M. Alkazi,
6	Atmajyoti Vikas Samitee	Mrs. Priti Yadav
7	Blind People's Association (Ahmedabad)	Mr. R.P. Soni
8	Blind Person's Association (Kolkata)	Mr. Amiyo Biswas
9	Blind Welfare Council	Sh. Yusuf Kapadiya
10	Centre For Internet And Society	Sunil Abraham,
11	Devnar Foundation for the Blind	Dr. A. Saibaba Goud
12	Discipleship Centre	Mr. John A
13	Farook College	Prof. K. Kuttialikutty
14	Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya	Ms. Prabha Puran Sharma
15	Human Development Institute	Ms. R.C. Meena
16	Indian Association for the Blind	Mr. S.M.A. Jinnah,
17	Indira Mahila Mandal Hudco New Nandeds	Sh. Nagnath Ramji Kadam
18	Jamia Millia Islamia	Prof. Zubair Meenal,
19	Janta Adarsh Andh Vidyalaya	Mrs. Kalpana Sharma
20	Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya	Rajesh Gupta
21	Jyoti Sroat School	Bertha G. Dkhar
22	L.V. Prasad Eye Institute	Mr./Ms. Beula Christy
23	Lakshmi Bai College	Dr. Nalini Govind
24	Maulana AzadLibrary(AligarhMuslim Universit)	Mr. Shakeel Ahmad Khan Mr. Shakeel Ahmad Khan
25	Mitra Jyothi	Ms. Madhu Singhal
26	Montfort Centre For Education	Mr. Michael Mathew
27	National Association for the Blind, Delhi
28	NAB-Phiroze &NoshirMerwanjiRehabilitationCentre for the Blind (Mount Abu)	Sh. Vimal Kumar Dengla
29	National Association for the Blind (Uttarakhand)	Mr. Shyam Dhanak,
30	National Association for the Blind (Chandigarh)	Sh. Vinod Chadha
31	National Association for the Blind (H.)	Ms. Shalini Vats Kimta
32	National Association for the Blind (India)	Sh. Suhas V. Karnik
33	National Association for the Blind(Jharkhand)	Sh. Ar. Sahay
34	National Association for the Blind(Junagad)	Ms. Rinaben V. Jasani
35	National Association for the Blind (Karnataka),	(Mrs.) Saroja Ramachandra
36	National Association for the Blind (Kerala)	Sh. Manoj Kurian
37	National Association for the Blind (Sikkim Branch)	Mr. Rajesh Verma
38	National Association for the Blind(West Bengal)	Sh. Arup Chakroborty
39	National Federation of the Blind (Guwahati)	Mohd. Imran Ali
40	North Ex. Blind Welfare & Educational Society	Sh. Subhash Garg
41	Orissa Association for the Blind	Sh. Bihari Nayak
42	Rajasthan Netraheen Kalyan Sangh	Sh. Jitendra Bhargava
43	Ramakrishna Mission Blind Boys' Academy	Sh. Sunilbaran Pattanayak
44	Saksham	Ms. Deepika Sood,
45	Salwan Public School	Mrs. Vandana Puri
46	Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled	Sh. Ganesh
47	Samrita Trust	Sh. Seetarama Sastry Nori
48	School for the Deaf Mutes Society	Dr. Homiyar Mobedji
49	Score Foundation,	George Abraham
50	Shikshit Yuva Sewa Samiti Basti	Mr. Gopal Krishna Agarwal
51	Shree Andhjan Vividhlaxi Talim Kendra,	Sh. Prakash Mankodi
52	Shri Navchetan Andhjan Mandal,	Sh. Himanshu Sampura
53	Shri Venkateswara College	Ayesha Maliwal
54	Shri Vrajlal Durlabhji Parekh Andh Mahila Vikas Grah,	Sh. P.J. Mankodi
55	Shruti Information Centre of Yashoda Charitable Trust	Ms. Sonal Sena
56	Shubham	Dr. Sangeeta Agarwal
57	Springdales School	Ms. Sonali Bose
58	St. Mary's School
59	Tagore International School,	Ms. Aparna Sharma
60	The Blind Relief Association (Delhi)	Sh. Kailash Chandra Pande
61	University of Hyderabad	Dr. Madhireddy Anjaneyulu
62	Venu Eye Institute & Research Centre	Ms. Tanuja Joshi
63	Victoria Memorial School for the Blind	Mrs. Radha Subrahmanian
64	Welfare Centre For Visually Handicapped,	Mr. Profulla Kumar Rout
65	Welfare Society for the Blind,	Smt. Jharna Sur
66	Xavier's Resource Centre for the Visually Challenged (XRCVC)	Dr. Sam Taraporevala
67	Sense International (India)	Akhil Paul
68	N. Krishnaswamy Barrier Break Technologies (Mumbai)	Shilpi Kapoor
69	National Association for the Blind (NAB) Bangalore	Mr. Pruthviraj
70	National Federation for the Blind (Delhi)	S.K.Rungta
71	Mitrajyoti (Bangalore)	Madhu Singhal
72	Accessability (New Delhi)	Vikas Sharma
73	Alternative Law Forum (Bangalore)	Lawrence Liang
74	Acrodelon Technologies Pvt Ltd(Chennai)	Rahul Cherian
75	Enable India	Shanthi Raghavan
76	College Students and Graduates Association of the Blind(Chennai)	Ponmudi
77	Indian Association for the Blind(Chennai)	S.M.A. Jinnah
78	Prayatna(Chennai & Bangalore)	Aruna Sankaranarayanan
79	Worth Trust, Katpadi (TN)	Venki/Mike

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/follow-up-letter-in-support-of-wipo-treaty-for-reading-disabled

National Workshop on Web Accessibility, June 2009

sachia — 2011-08-31T10:51:12Z

A workshop on web accessibility (for web developers only) in Bangalore

The Centre for Internet and Society (www.cis-india.org) and Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled (www.samarthanam.org) are organizing a workshop on web accessibility for web developers from the public and private sector from June 5 to 7, 2009. The workshop will take place at the Centre for Internet and Society office on Cunningham Road, Bangalore, between 09:30-17:30 hours each day.

The workshop seeks to bring together practitioners from the private and public sector from all across the country. The primary aim of this workshop is to demonstrate the importance of creating accessible web sites and to educate the developers of government and private web sites on how to incorporate accessibility features into new as well as existing web sites.

The training will comprise both theory-oriented and practical sessions. The trainers will be specialists in various aspects of web accessibility. The main focus will be on WCAG 2.0 guidelines. The participants will be persons already involved in developing web sites with good knowledge of HTML, XML, CSS, etc.

In addition to training web developers in accessibility, the workshop will also serve as a platform for capacity building by training potential accessibility trainers. Many of the sessions will be documented as lessons on accessibility and put up on the CIS web site. As part of one of the outcomes of the workshop, five inaccessible government web sites will be identified and taken up for retrofitting with accessibility features within the next few months.

Registration

To register, please email Nirmita Narsimhan at nirmita@cis-india.org or call 080-4092-6283. There is no registration fee.

National Policy on Electronic Accessibility

One of the primary endeavors of several disability organizations around the country is to have a national policy which governs electronic accessibility in India. CIS has been a forerunner in advocating for the policy and is actively working with the government in formulating the policy. As part of its advocacy efforts, CIS is also involved in capacity building through organizing workshops and awareness spreading in the private and public sectors.

Trainers

Rahul Gonsalves

Rahul has been building accessible websites since 2005 (sample work at http://rahulgonsalves.com/projects/). He has been actively involved in promoting web and accessibility standards. He spoke at the first international accessibility and technology conference in India, Techshare 2008, where he made a case for accessibility and conducted a workshop on retrofitting accessibility to existing websites, a concern for most large institutions with an existing online presence (slides available at http://www.barrierbreak.com/events-conference/techshare_presentations2008.php#track3)

In September 2008, he presented a paper examining ways in which people with various impairments - both physical and mental – engage with online content, and demonstrated practical ways in which authors can make online content accessible at the National Conference on ICT for Differently Abled People. He is a supporter of the push for having a national policy for governing electronic accessibility in India.

Dinesh Kaushal

Dinesh has been involved in the area of accessibility, specifically product development throughout his career. He started with developing SAFA (Screen Access for All), which is the first Indian language screen reader. He worked independently on this for a year, during which time he got a good understanding of the complete software development life cycle. SAFA was envisioned to facilitate reading and writing in Indian languages at affordable cost, with a view to enabling better jobs and education for persons with blindness and low vision. SAFA is a unique software as it has to interact with other applications to get information and present this information to the users in the format convenient for them. SAFA is currently being used by blind persons in their jobs, for their studies, and even for their exams and is available in 11 iIdian languages for which text to speech synthesizers are available. His subsequent work involved leading a team to develop a Daisy book player. Daisy books are xml based marked-up digital books which provide efficient access to the information for persons with blindness. His responsibilities were team coordination, software requirement specification, design specification, and monitoring testing. He is presently working with Code Factory as Lead Developer (Braille) for screen readers for the windows mobile platform. This software enables persons with blindness to get access to mobile phones and PDAs, making it possible to access information at par with their sighted colleagues. His role is to provide this information via Braille displays. The Braille display allows blind persons to read SMS, work with contacts and documents, navigate with the help of GPS, etc using electronic Braille. This product is available for more than 20 languages and is available all over the world.

Ajay Kolhatkar

Dr. Ajay Kolhatkar co-leads the web usability and accessibility research at the Web 2.0 Research Labs at SETLabs. Presently he manages the evangelization of Web Accessibility Assessment and Remediation product called Infosys iProwe developed by their lab. Ajay has a PhD in technology marketing from IIT Bombay. His research there focused on Consumer's Acceptance of Technology Based Services. The key research problem was modeling the attitude-behaviour linkage for technology acceptance and the critical role played by personality factors and situational factors. The context for the study was Automated Teller Machines. Presently his research interests include usability of self-service channels; technology adoption; consumer behaviour in technology interfaces etc. An electrical engineer from the College of Engineering, Pune and an MBA in Marketing from Symbiosis Institute, Pune, Ajay has over 16 years of industry experience. He can be contacted at Ajay_Kolhatkar@infosys.com

Proposed Sessions

Day 1

09:00-10:00: Introduction of participants, trainers and organisers
10:00-11:30: Session 1

Understanding disability;
Working with disabilities -- The need for an accessible web

This session will familiarise the participants with different types of disabilities and the work arounds, in terms of assistive technologies or simple modifications which will enable them to work effectively using computers.

11:30-11:45: Tea Break
11:45-13:00: Session 2 - Building an Accessible Website

Laying Accessible Foundations
Table-less layouts
Well-structured markup
Valid code

13:00-14:00: Lunch
14:00-15:30: Session 3--Group exercise
Participants will have to identify and use semantic markup to describe different parts of a given layout. They will then have to write basic HTML/CSS code to present the website and validate it using online/desktop tools.
15:30-15:45: Tea break
15:45-17:15: Session 4 - Building an Accessible Website
Participants will have a chance to use a variety of assistive technologies (screen readers/braille displays) and there will be an exercise followed be a group discussion. Sequential Access/Role play will be conducted which will help them understand some of the problems related to electronic accessibility.
17:15-17:30: Summary and winding up

Day 2
09:15-11:00: Session 5 - Building an Accessible Website

Removing Barriers
Principle 1 - Perception
Non-text content
Audio/Visual content
Adaptability
Contrast

11:00-11:15: Tea break

11:15-13:00: Session 6 - Principle 2 - Operable

Keyboard Access
Enough Time
Seizures
Navigable

13:00-14:00: Lunch

14:00-15:30: Group Exercise

Participants will be given online tools to evaluate colour contrast. They will have to evaluate and correct a layout for adequate contrast.
Participants will have to prepare a transcript of a one-minute film.

15:30-15:45: Tea break

15:45:16:15: Session 7 - Accessibility in documents
16:15-17:30: Session 8 - Principle 3 - Understandable, and Principle 4 - Robust

Natural Language
Predictable
Input Assistance
Compatible

Winding up, feedback and clarification

Day 3

09:15 -9:45: Flash accessibility

9:45-11:15: Group Exercise - Putting it all together
Participants will complete building the website(s)

11:15-11:30: Tea Break

11:30-12:45: Accessibility testing

Group Exercise - Testing + Validating using automated testing tools as well as manual testing

The website that has been built will be validated to HTML, CSS and WCAG standards.
All errors identified will have to be corrected in a participatory fashion.

12:45-13:00: Wrapping up

Action points -- The road ahead

13:15- 14:00: Lunch

Videos

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/national-workshop-on-web-accessibility-june-2009