Centre for Internet and Society

Why GST Is A Step Backward For The Disabled

nirmita — 2017-07-03T02:39:18Z

Imposing taxes on assistive devices is unfair. The countdown has begun to the implementation of the GST in India. Over the past month, discussions about the GST have dominated the scene with several groups protesting in strong measure about the impact on their business.

The article by Nirmita Narasimhan was published by Huffington Post on July 1, 2017.

This post is concerned with the impact of an underrepresented group—that of persons with disabilities, who are facing severe impediments to their rights to independent living, mobility and participation if the GST is implemented as proposed in the present notification.

It is unconscionable that disability aids and assistive technology are considered a luxury and taxed at a higher rate than rough semi-precious stones or cashew nuts.

The new GST rules seek to impose tax on assistive technologies and goods and services which are essential for the advancement of persons with disabilities and will consequently, hamper their mobility as well as ability to participate in education and employment.

Some noteworthy points are:

5% GST on Braille typewriters, Braille paper, Braille watches and Braillers (originally set to 18% for typewriters and 12% for Braille paper and watches and reduced after protests from organisations like the National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Disabled People (NCPEDP), the Disability Rights Organisations Forum (DROF), and various regional groups. Only Braille books are exempt from the tax.

12% GST on orthopaedic appliances, including crutches, surgical belts and trusses; splints and other fracture appliances; artificial parts of the body; hearing aids and other appliances which are worn or carried, or implanted in the body, to compensate for a defect or disability. Hearing aids have also been listed under the list of goods with nil taxes, which is contradictory.

18% GST on motor vehicles for persons with disabilities.

IT software, consulting and support services, online text, audio and video, software downloads etc. have all been classified but no GST rate has been quoted, which implies that they are taxed at 18%. This means software like screen readers, assistive software for persons with cognitive disabilities, online text etc. which are essential aspects of communications and information access for persons with disabilities will also be taxed at 18%, which will severely hamper their ability to communicate and even carry out daily tasks.

It is incomprehensible that the government should choose to impose a tax on the ability to walk, talk and deliberate using crutches, prosthetic limbs, hearing aids and communicating using assistive reading software for persons who have disabilities. It is unconscionable that disability aids and assistive technology are considered a luxury and taxed at a higher rate than rough semi-precious stones or cashew nuts. On the other hand, items such as kajal and glass bangles are not being taxed at all. Is ornamentation more important than the ability of persons with disabilities to lead their lives with dignity and independence? The current GST structure is discriminatory, making it even more difficult for persons with disabilities to participate in society, and contradicts the vision of an Accessible India.

Until we are able to assure the level of independence, accessibility and resources to the disabled to live a life of dignity like other countries do, we should not levy tax like them.

India is measuring herself against other developed countries where a reduced percentage of tax is levied on goods and services for persons with disabilities. Unfortunately however, the comparison ends there and does not extend to providing world-class services and facilities for the disabled, such as accessible roads, transportation, information. It would be wiser to follow our own lead from the past decade when we had not levied any tax on such items. The progress of this group has been painfully slow thus far anyway, so what will happen if GST rates up to 18% are levied?

As a country, we are not yet ready for this. We are still in a state where thousands of children with disabilities drop out of school even at the pre-primary level because they do not have the resources—technology, books, training and help—to pursue education. We still have a long way to go in terms of achieving basic rights for persons with disabilities, which is no longer the case in the developed countries that we seek to follow. The argument is hence not a blanket opposition to tax for persons with disabilities, just because they are disabled, but on the basis that until and unless we are able to assure the level of independence, accessibility and resources to the disabled to live a life of dignity and inclusion like other countries do, we should not consider levying tax like them. A person using a wheelchair in Germany can travel using public transport, but the same is impossible in India.

Once we are able to achieve the level of inclusion and accessibility of developed countries, we may consider taxing for certain items, although perhaps still not for all on the list. However, that time is not now. To build an inclusive society, we need to support persons with disabilities in all possible ways and imposing taxes on assistive devices will take us many steps backward.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/why-gst-is-a-step-backward-for-the-disabled

Where Are There So Few Books For The Print-Impaired?

nirmita — 2016-11-04T01:20:57Z

India publishes approximately 90,000 books each year in 24 different languages. We have over 16,000 publishers, and are one of the top nations for English book publishing in the world. Clearly we are a nation which values and fosters a culture of reading and passing on knowledge in different domains ranging from literature, to yoga, language, education, science, fiction and many others.

This article was published in the Huffington Post on November 3, 2016.

We are also the world's second most populous nation with an extremely large population with disabilities, including persons with print impairments. However, the total number of books accessible to the print impaired in India is only 19,000, a fraction of what is available yearly to the general public. How is it that despite our prowess in publishing and technology, persons with print impairments in India remain deprived of access to books and other forms of information which are key to an inclusive and fulfilling life?

There are presently approximately 19,000 books converted till date, a pathetic contrast to the 90,000 books published just in India every year.

Before going further into this question, let us understand the term "print disability". Very broadly, print-impaired persons are those who cannot access printed material due to some form of disability, such as blindness or low vision, dyslexia, autism etc. For these persons to be able to read, the material needs to be converted into some other format such as Braille or accessible electronic formats which can be read using some assistive device like a screen reader or e-book reader, fitted in a laptop, mobile or stand alone device. For assistive technology to be able to read the content, it needs to conform to universal standards such as Unicode for Indic font or EPUB 3.0.

The challenges

Until 2012, one of the biggest hurdles to access printed content for the print-disabled was the fact that they had to obtain permission from the copyright holder of the work, every time they wanted to convert a book into audio/ Braille/ other formats. This was often unsuccessful, time consuming and required resources beyond the means of most blindness organizations, who could convert only a bare minimum of books, mostly excerpts from school text books for their readers. After over a decade of sustained advocacy, the Government included section 52 (1)(zb) in the Indian Copyright Act, a fair use exception which permitted conversion of copyrighted works into any accessible format for the benefit of a person with a disability on a non-profit basis. For profit, conversion is permitted on certain terms. This considerably opened up the world of books for persons with print impairments in India. In September 2016, the Marrakesh Treaty for the Visually Impaired also came into force, which means that cross-border sharing of accessible books can happen between countries which have ratified the Treaty.

However, despite these measures, the availability of books remains abysmal. While the legal issues have been sorted out to a large extent, the practical situation is harder to deal with and there are significant hurdles in creation and dissemination as well as equipping users to read accessible books.

Firstly, organizations serving the print-impaired do not have the bandwidth to undertake large scale conversions of each and every book that gets published. At present, organizations have to spend considerable time and resources converting content into an accessible electronic format before they can make it available to end users. Consider this, the cost of typing out one page of a regional language like Telugu is approximately ₹30 So it would cost ₹3000 to type out a 100-page Telugu book, in addition to the price already paid to purchase the book. Apart from the unaffordability, the lack of equipment and personnel necessitates conversion being carried out in a very limited manner and mostly for books which are critical for studies and in high demand, since state boards do not provide accessible versions of school text books.

The simplest way to address accessible book creation would be for publishers to adopt EPUB 3.0 and ensure that books are "born accessible"...

While the Daisy Forum of India, along with the Government of India recently opened an online accessible digital library called the Sugamya Pustakalaya, it needs to be populated with accessible content. There are presently approximately 19,000 books converted till date, a pathetic contrast to the 90,000 books published just in India every year. Even international organizations such as Bookshare which have been expending millions to convert books in different countries have only succeeded in making 500,000 accessible books available in all, and these too are not equally available to persons in every country due to copyright issues.

The other challenge is to equip each and every print-impaired person with a device such as a laptop or mobile phone on which he/ she can read and work with the book. Of course, merely providing devices is pointless—appropriate training in how to use them is essential.

There are also issues of inadequate distribution networks to reach out to print impaired persons in urban and remote parts of India, which still need to be addressed.

Apart from the challenges specific to creating and disseminating accessible books, other digitization activities can also add to the problem. For instance, the Digital Library of India project, a spectacular effort to digitize books of all genres, is said to have a library of 550,603 books including several really old manuscripts and historical books. However, all of these are scanned and saved as inaccessible image files, rendering them of no use to the print-impaired.

Another problem is in the case of Indian language content which is often created in a nonUnicode font, making it unreadable for persons using screen readers.

How can we improve the situation?

The simplest way to address accessible book creation would be for publishers to adopt EPUB 3.0 and ensure that books are "born accessible" since they anyway produce a digital file of a book before bringing it out in print. This would obviate the entire cost, time and effort spent on conversion. Also, selling accessible e-versions to the print impaired could be a huge business opportunity for publishers, considering the large market for such books in India and globally. More information on this can be obtained from Accessible Book Consortium or by writing to BookShare.

We also need to ensure all digitization activities consider accessibility requirements and create resources that conform to accessibility standards.

We have the law, the technology, the books and the people, but need a concerted effort from multiple stakeholders... to bring all of these together.

On the technology front, an NGO-driven project over the past four years has now made text to speech available for several Indian languages using the open source text to speech engine e-Speak, which works with both laptops and Android phones. The government, with institutions like the IIT, is also driving initiatives to develop text to speech and optical character recognition (OCR) software for Indian languages. However, there is some way to go before these become available to end users.

To sum up, we have the law, we have the technology, the books and the people, but need a concerted effort from multiple stakeholders—the government, publishers, educational institutions and NGOs—to bring all of these together, so that every print-impaired person in India can enjoy the right to read.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/huffington-post-november-3-2016-nirmita-narasimhan-where-are-there-so-few-books-for-print-impaired

Web Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective

nirmita — 2012-09-25T05:33:25Z

G3ict and CIS are pleased to announce the publication of a new, improved edition of the Web Accessibility Policy Making: An International Perspective. The report published in cooperation with the Hans Foundation provides an updated synopsis of the many policies that governments have implemented around the world to ensure that the Internet and websites are accessible to persons with disabilities.

The report contains a Foreword by Axel Leblois, Founder and Executive Director of G3ict, an introduction and studies from countries like Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States, and the European Union. The report contains contributions from Prashanth Ramadas, Asma Tajuddin, G Aravind, Katie Reisner, Sucharita Narasimhan, Bama Balakrishnan and Nirmita Narasimhan. Axel Leblois, Donal Rice, Immaculada Placienca Porrero, Kevin Carey, Licia Sbattella and Sunil Abraham are the expert reviewers.

Foreword by Axel Leblois

This third edition of our joint report with CIS “WEB ACCESSIBILITY POLICY MAKING: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE” provides an updated synopsis of the many policies that governments have implemented around the world to ensure that the Internet and web sites are accessible to persons with disabilities. With 153 countries parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as of December 2011, an increasing number of governments are now in the midst of developing policies and programs to ensure that web sites and services under their jurisdictions are accessible.

Indeed, the Preamble of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes “the importance of accessibility to the physical, social, economic and cultural environment, to health and education and to information and communication, in enabling persons with disabilities to fully enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms”. Its article 9 stipulates that: “To enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life, States Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure to persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems” (1). It further specifies that “State Parties shall also take appropriate measures to … Promote access for persons with disabilities to new information and communications technologies and systems, including the Internet” (2.g).

There is therefore no doubt that all State Parties have an obligation to act upon those commitments. However, as this report demonstrates it clearly, web accessibility policies and their levels of enforcement vary considerably among countries with some common denominators such as the compliance with the W3C – WAI guidelines on web accessibility.

G3ict and CIS hope that this new, improved edition, which will now be available in print as well as in electronic format, will help accelerate the development of web accessibility policies and programs around the world. We want to express our sincere appreciation to Nirmita Narasimhan, programme manager at CIS and editor of the G3ict Publications and Reports for her dedication to this report which would not have been made possible without her incredible work and motivation as Disability Advocate.

Download a PDF of the Web Accessibility Policy Making here [335 KB]

Download the Daisy File [23412 KB]

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/web-accessibility-policy-making-an-international-perspective

We Tested 18 Government Apps, and Most are not Fully Accessible to the Disabled

nirmita — 2016-09-03T03:32:06Z

When you wake up in the morning, the odds are one of the first things you look at is your phone. You might check WhatsApp, review the news, look at the day’s schedule, and book a taxi to work.

The article was published in Factor Daily on August 31, 2016.

The government, too, is increasingly engaging with citizens through apps such as MyGov and the Swachh Bharat. At the national and local level, these promise to improve the government’s engagement with citizens and increase their access to information.

From electoral information to agricultural news to welfare schemes, these apps promise to streamline the functions of government and allow millions of people who would otherwise have difficulty accessing these services to use them freely.

But for millions of Indians with disabilities, the convenience offered by these apps is almost negligible.

The government has made electronic accessibility one of its priorities. The 2009 Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW) laid out a set of standards to which all official government websites were to conform, inheriting the global WCAG standard.

The National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility, which came into force in 2013, also mandates equality of access for persons with disabilities in all government electronic infrastructure.

But do these work for people with disabilities?

The Centre for Internet and Society, with the help of an independent researcher, has reviewed 18 most popular government Android apps, and found that almost all of them have inaccessibility and usability issues for people with visual impairment.

The tests were conducted by an Accessibility Evangelist who himself is visually impaired using TalkBack, a screen reading software for Android that gives voice output of the content on the screen. We found that all but a handful of the apps are at least partially inaccessible for visually impaired persons.

We also observed that the government has a directory of websites on its GOIdirectory website. The government offers a similar directory for its apps here.

However, there are no standards or guidelines for app development as in the case of GIGW, and the webpage-based apps often do not conform to GIGW standards.

These are the apps we looked at:

MyGov by Government of India:

What it does: A social media channel of the Indian government to let users access information on government activities and spread educational content to Indian citizens.

How accessible it is: It is a purely web-based app, but the web page it loads isn’t completely accessible. The graphics in particular are poorly labeled.

The animations they use are also inaccessible, and the banner that scrolls the new announcement is completely unusable for visually impaired persons.

2. EPathshala – NCERT

What it does: A platform for accessing eBooks through mobile platforms in multiple formats, and enabling users to download, store, browse and read books.

How accessible it is: The first screen that allows language selection is not labeled properly — only the Hindi and English buttons are correctly announced. Many of the options that are available on the screen are not labeled with text, only graphics.

Even if a visually impaired person managed to download the books, it is not possible to read them, as the screen reader does not support accessing the downloaded content. The books themselves are just PDF or JPEG images, which are completely unusable by any screen reading software. In addition, the reading mode available for the books is itself inaccessible for visually impaired persons.

3. Accessible India Campaign

What it does: A platform to report accessibility issues in public buildings and spaces and an information platform for the Accessible India Campaign.

How accessible it is: Fairly accessible, Good Work!.

4. Narendra Modi

What it does: The Prime Minister’s official app delivers information and messages from the Prime Minister’s Office.

How accessible it is: Completely inaccessible. The very first screen cannot be navigated by someone who is visually impaired. If one manages to get past that somehow the controls on the rest of the app are labeled in all caps, which makes using the screen reader difficult.

If one selects the feed option and follows a topic, the controls on the content screen are all simply labelled “Narendra Modi.”
However the text is presented using standard web controls, which means that once navigated to a page can be accessed using a screen reader.

5. LIC Mobile

What it does: Delivers information about various insurance policy schemes and allows users to submit an application online.

How accessible it is: The app is accessible until the point of login and account creation. The information in the customer policy credentials is not presented in an accessible format. The agent portal needs further testing as well. In addition, the use of graphical captchas is inaccessible for those with visual impairments. A captcha in a different format would have been more logical.

6. MyGov Move

What it does: Allows users to register and volunteer for various government initiatives in government-run elementary schools that lack resources.

How accessible it is: Except for the text heading, none of the controls are labeled. Some controls are accessible to persons with low vision as the text in the button graphics is quite large. However, they are still graphical and not text-based, and so cannot be used by the screen reader. The national symbol is also not labeled.

7. IFFCO Kisan Agriculture App

What it does: Allows farmers to access customized agricultural information and services including weather forecasts, agricultural advisory information, best practices and tips, and a platform for buying and selling goods.

How accessible it is: It is accessible not just in English but also in Hindi. There are some minor errors, such as Delhi not being listed as a state or certain buttons not being correctly labelled, as well as the list of languages lacking support in the native script of that language. However, overall it is one of the more accessible apps reviewed.

8. mPassport Seva

What it does: Allows citizens to access information, schedule appointments, and view updates related to all passport-related services.

How accessible it is: Decently accessible, except for the appointment scheduling function, which uses a captcha. The buttons in the app are also not labelled in an accessible format. Several text fields also use all capitals, which causes the screen reader to spell the word instead of pronouncing it.

9. IRCTC Connect

What it does: Lets users check train schedules, manage ticket booking and plan journeys.

How accessible it is: The very first screen that asks the user to select between various sub-services is completely inaccessible, with no text labeling available. However, once past that screen, most of the other services, such as ticket booking and PNR status checking, are fairly accessible. Many options still use all caps, which makes screen readers spell words rather than pronounce them.

Another issue is that selecting a particular option causes the displayed content to change, but the focus moves to the top of the screen, requiring another round of navigation when using a screen reader.

10. MyGov

What it does: A citizen participation platform that allows users to discuss their views on various issues and make suggestions directly to ministries and other government organisations.

How accessible it is: Some controls are labeled with text and can be used with screen readers, but several other buttons are labeled graphically or are difficult to navigate in accessible ways due to poor focus/tab order.

There are many videos available through the app but no transcripts of these talks are available.
The focus while navigating the app is highly inconsistent and makes its use very inconvenient. The main navigation menu is also inaccessible.

11. Swachh Bharat

What it does: Provides information and lists events relating to cleanliness drives across the country.

How accessible it is: The starting screen of this app is cluttered with controls and information, making it difficult to navigate with a screen reader. A few controls are labelled with text, but the majority are inaccessible.

12. Aadhaar Mobile

What it does: Enables users to download and share their details as they are stored in the UIDAI database.

How accessible it is: The first screen lacks alternate text for any of the controls and graphics. The user could not register their Aadhaar card in order to continue testing the app.

13. India Post Mobile Banking

What it does: Offers financial information and transaction services for India Post banking customers.

How accessible it is: The initial screen controls are accessible. However, the user was unable to successfully login to conduct further tests.

14. Swachh Delhi — Official App

What it does: Allows residents of Delhi to report waste and garbage dumps around the city.

How accessible it is: All major features of the app are accessible. However, the reporting function requires a user to use their phone’s camera app, which may be prohibitive for visually impaired persons. It would have been preferable to allow users to simply report a location without requiring a picture as well.

15. Swachhata: MoUD

What it does: Allows users to register complaints with the local municipal body about trash or waste in their neighbourhoods.

How accessible it is: A permissions error led to the user being unable to access the app.

16. All India Radio Live

What it does: Offers streaming of public service, entertainment and informational content in Hindi, Urdu and other major regional languages.

How accessible it is: The app is completely inaccessible. A user can select a channel, but further controls on the screen lack labels or consistent focus.

17. DD News

What it does: Provides live streaming, video feeds and news updates from DD-News in English and regional Indian languages.

How accessible it is: Minimal use of graphics and clear labelling mean that the app is generally easy to navigate. However, the videos available through the app do not have supplementary text descriptions.

18. AIIMS@Delhi

What it does: Allows patients of AIIMS to view and manage their medical history, book appointments, and contact medical professionals.

How accessible it is: The app is simple and uses standard controls, which are generally large and well labelled, making navigation and reading for visually impaired persons comfortable. User lacked the UHID necessary for further testing.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/factor-daily-august-31-2016-nirmita-narasimhan-we-tested-18-government-apps-most-are-not-fully-accessible-to-disabled

Universal Service for Persons with Disabilities: A Global Survey of Policy Interventions and Good Practices

nirmita — 2012-10-08T05:43:46Z

The Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies and the Centre for Internet and Societies in cooperation with the Hans Foundation have published the Universal Service for Persons with Disabilities: A Global Survey of Policy Interventions and Good Practices. The book consists of a Foreword by Axel Leblois, an Introduction and four chapters. Deepti Bharthur, Axel Leblois and Nirmita Narasimhan have contributed to the chapters.

Foreword

Universal Service definitions have been developed by 125 countries and are the foundation for policies and programs ensuring that telecommunications are available to all categories of population. Universal service funds are the main vehicle used to fund those programs, primarily addressing imbalances such as lack of availability of services in rural areas. While geographic coverage has vastly improved over the past decade with wireless infrastructure, the scope of Universal Service has expanded to include other categories of underserved populations.

Among those, persons with disabilities and senior citizens, who represent 15% of the world population[1] are an increasing concern for legislators and regulators. Basic accessibility features for public telephone booths, fixed line or wireless handsets, customer services in alternate formats such as Braille, or assistive services such as relay services for hard of hearing or deaf persons are in fact not implemented in a majority countries.[2]

To address those issues, several countries have expanded the scope of their national definition of Universal Service Obligation to include persons with disabilities allowing programs promoting the accessibility of information and communication technologies to be covered by Universal Service Funds.

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by over 150 countries since March 31st, 2007 will likely accelerate this trend: States Parties have an obligation to ensure that Information and Communication Technologies and Services are made accessible to persons with disabilities. This can be done by aligning the definition of Universal Service Obligation with article 9 of the Convention and expanding the charter of Universal Service Funds to cover programs promoting accessibility for persons with disabilities. This report is the first attempt to document how Universal Service definitions and related policies and programs have been implemented by various countries to ensure that persons with disabilities have full access, on an equal basis with others,to telecommunication services.G3ict would like to express its sincere appreciation to the Center for Internet and Society for its support of this project, to Nirmita Narasimhan for researching and editing this report;to the International Telecommunication Union for providing references and helping identify countries to be surveyed, and to the Hans Foundation for funding the print version of the report. Promoting universal service for persons with disabilities can affect positively the lives of millions of users around the world. We hope that this report may serve as a useful reference for policy makers, operators, organizations of persons with disabilities, and as a framework for good practice sharing among countries currently implementing the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Axel Leblois
Executive Director
G3ict – Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs

Introduction

The advent of the Internet and accessible information and communication technologies (ICT) has opened up exciting possibilities and opportunities for persons with disabilities.The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (the ‘UNCRPD’)3 has explicitly recognized the right of persons with disabilities to seek, receive and impart information on an equal basis with others4 and has placed specific obligations on member states to ensure that all ICT based facilities and services (which include telecommunications services) must be made available and accessible to all. To this end, member states are required to formulate and implement appropriate laws and policies at national, regional and global levels. In an age where almost all spheres of life are inextricably woven with and dependent on ICT, Article 9 of the UNCRPD on Accessibility is possibly one of the most powerful and critical tools in the hands of policy makers to ensure that persons with disabilities are assured of basic human rights such as education, health, employment and access to information and participation.While the lack of awareness amongst governments is undeniably a serious impediment to implementing accessible ICT in any country, an equally serious and perhaps more realistic problem is the lack of resources which is plaguing many countries, especially developing nations. The fact that governments are already struggling to ensure basic human rights for all citizens by judiciously dividing their limited resources for the whole gamut of needs makes it difficult for them to outlay separate and substantial budgets which may be required for implementing ICT accessibility. In such a scenario it becomes very important to look around and identify sources of funding, new or existing, which can be leveraged by governments to fulfill their obligation towards making all ICT based applications and services accessible and promoting assistive technologies for persons with disabilities.

This report aims to highlight the extreme suitability of leveraging the Universal Service Fund (USF) to implement accessibility and assistive technologies in telecommunications. It examines the evolution of the concept of USF, its minimum mandate and scope, funding sources, as well as project implementation mechanisms and showcases countries which are using the USF to fund accessibility projects through policies and programmes.

[1].WHO Global Report on Disability, June 2011 - http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/index.html

[2].CRPD Progress Report on ICT Accessibility – 2010 by G3ict - http://g3ict.org/resource_center/publications_and_reports

Click here for the Braille format
Download the Daisy version here
Download the book here PDF [302 KB]

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/universal-service-for-persons-with-disabilities

UNESCO Global Report: Opening New Avenues for Empowerment

nirmita — 2013-09-04T07:21:56Z

We prepared a report on higher education for persons with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific region for UNESCO some time back. The report has been compiled into a global report. Nirmita Narasimhan was the project coordinator from the Centre for Internet and Society.

Preface

(by Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO)

Over one billion people – approximately 15 percent of the world’s population – live with some form of disability. Facing a wide range of barriers, including access to information, education, health care and a lack of job opportunities, persons living with disabilities struggle every day to be integrated into society.

This is unacceptable, and UNESCO is taking a stand. To tackle these challenges, UNESCO has led a number of initiatives, including the 2013 Global Report, to empower persons with disabilities thanks to information and communication technologies. Our position is clear – information and communication technologies, along with associative technologies, can widen access to information and knowledge, so they must accessible to all.

Building on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Global Report addresses strong recommendations to all stakeholders – from decision-makers to educators, civil society and industry – on how concretely to advance the rights of people living with disabilities. These recommendations draw on extensive research and consultations. Studies launched in five regions have allowed UNESCO to understand more clearly the conditions and challenges faced by persons with disabilities around the world.

To empower persons with disabilities is to empower societies as a whole – but this calls for the right policies and legislation to make information and knowledge more accessible through information and communication technologies. It calls also for applying accessibility standards to the development of content, product and services. The successful application of such technologies can make classrooms more inclusive, physical environments more accessible, teaching and learning content and techniques more in tune with learners’ needs. We need the commitment of all Government and stakeholders to make this a reality for all persons living with disabilities. To build the inclusive knowledge societies we need for the century ahead, we cannot leave anyone aside. We must do everything to replace exclusion and discrimination with inclusion and empowerment – for this, we must harness the full power of information and communication technologies. This is our shared commitment, and this Global Report will help us move forward.

Forward

(by HE Mr. Miguel Angel Estrella, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador)

Communication and information are essential for the development of people and societies. It is thanks to the networks of connections which are established freely between individuals that a society is able to advance, as well as the personal development of individuals which makes it possible to increase the collective benefit of all those who form a society. In light of this, special attention should be paid and necessary products and services should be created for persons with disabilities. The more totalitarian and repressive societies are, the more restricted access to information and knowledge is, as well as the application of rights to self-expression and opinion. In addition, special services and attention for the common good of society are limited. However, when a society is free and respectful of human rights, individuals have more solidarity, are open to work together and share information. As a consequence of this free exchange of information and knowledge, it should be possible to build a more inclusive society which can fully participate in the social, cultural and economic life, intellectually and culturally rich, and where people with different
abilities, can take full advantage of Information and Communication Technologies.

Access to information and knowledge allows humans to contribute to social development where he or she can make better choices, and to share the richness with those around them. The conditions, special capacities and abilities of each individual to learn should never be an obstacle or an impediment to their individual development. On the contrary, it is the duty of all authorities to establish an enabling environment and provide special services to those who require them, keeping people with disabilities in mind. Such an inclusive society ensures that each person is valued as an equal human being.

I, therefore, warmly welcome UNESCO’s publication titled “Opening New Avenues for Empowerment: ICTs to Access Information and Knowledge for Persons with Disabilities” which not only makes a major contribution to our understanding of disability, but also highlights technological advancement and shares good practices that have already changed the lives of people with disabilities. The publication also makes concrete recommendations for action at the local, national and international levels, targeting policy and decision makers, educators, IT&T industry, civil society and certainly persons with disabilities, which, I hope, will receive your deserved attention!

Acknowledgements

This Global Report, Opening New Avenues for Empowerment: ICTs to Access Information and Knowledge for Persons with Disabilities, has been commissioned by the UNESCO Communication and Information Sector. It is a result of collaborative action among many researchers, public and private organizations, governmental bodies and civil society, and appreciation is extended to each of them.

The Report is based on the findings of five UNESCO regional studies carried out with the help of the following institutions and coordinating authors:

Africa: Mr Raymond Lang, Dr., the Leonard Cheshire Disability and Inclusive Development Centre, University College, London (UK);

Arab Region and North Africa: Mr Mohamed Jemni, Professor of ICT and Educational Technologies, Head of Research Laboratory UTIC, University of Tunis (Tunisia);

Asia Pacific: Ms Nirmita Narasimhan, Project Coordinator, Centre for Internet and Society (India);

Eastern Europe and Central Asia: International Consulting Agency- Mezhvuzkonsalt (Russian Federation);

South America, Central America and Mexico and the Caribbean: Ms Pilar Samaniego (South America);
Ms Sanna-Mari Laitamo and Ms Estela Valerio (Central America and Mexico); and Ms Cristina Francisco (The Caribbean).

The principal author of this global report is Mr Michael Blakemore, Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of Durham (UK), who is a UK’s Bologna Expert (Higher Education Reform and Innovation) with the European Commission.

The overall preparation of the world report, regional studies and coordination of the project were ensured by Ms Irmgarda Kasinskaite-Buddeberg and Mr Davide Storti from UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector.

UNESCO thanks the GAATES Foundation for its contributions and advice to the preparation of this report, particularly Ms Cynthia Waddell and Ms Betty Dion. Thanks also to Mr Jonathan Avila from SSB Bart Group

UNESCO wishes to acknowledge the many individual contributors, experts, and advocates, who assisted in the gathering of survey data and in the preparation of the regional studies.

All those contributing their expertise and time to the peer review also deserve recognition. They include: Axel Leblois (G3ict), Luis Gallegos (Ambassador of Ecuador to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland), David Andrés Rojas M. and Vanessa Ramirez (The Trust of America, TRUST ), Shadi Abou-Zahra (W3C/WAI), Bernhard Heinser (DAISY Consortium), Jan A. Monsbakken and Uma Tuli (Rehabilitation International, RI), Karsten Gerloff (Free Software Foundation Europe), Brian Nitz (Oracle), Kiran Kaja (Adobe), Katim S. Touray (Free Software Foundation for Africa), Sophie Gautier and Charles-H. Schulz (LibreOffice), Luiz M. Alves dos Santos (European Commission, EC), Arnoud van Wijk (Real-Time Task Force), Reinhard Weissinger (International Organization for Standardization, ISO), Kenneth Eklindh (UNESCO), Simon Ball (JISC TechDis).

The global summary report was edited by Ms Alison McKelvey.

Click to read the full report here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/opening-new-avenues-for-empowerment

Training of Malayalam eSpeak with NVDA

nirmita — 2015-07-20T15:19:35Z

NVDA team conducted a two days training on January 24 and 25, 2015 in Tiruvananthapuram. The programme was inaugurated by Dr. Veeramanikandan, Pro Vice Chancellor of the Kerala University and the eSpeak new version was launched by Suresh S, PSC member, who is an advocate for the blind in getting jobs in Kerala government.

Felicitation speeches were delivered by Prof. L. Unnikrishnan, Head of Department, Economics Department, SB College and Dr. Sindhu Nair, Professor at St. Michales College. Both colleges were running a DAISY resource centre for their students. The programme was chaired Er. N.T.Nair, vice chairman of Chakshumathi.

Chakshumathi’s main trainer Akhil M. took espeak Malayalam classes and Dr. Homiyar took classes on NVDA and accessible equipment. The participants were first given a round of training on reading with espeak and then given a through training on Malayalam keyboard layout and combinations.

Naufal T N, trainer of Chakshumathi gave an orientation to all participants on using mobile phones to read Malayalam newspapers and reading contents.

Closing ceremony on 25th was attended by Chakshumathi’s Chairman Prof. V.K. Damodaran, along with representatives IEEE SIGHT (Special Interest Group on Humanitarian Technologies) who are the partners of Chakshumathi’s accessible eyes free science projects. IEEE was represented by their Humanitarian technologies former global chair Dr. Amarnath Raja and Ms. Holly Schneider Brown, SIGHT staff lead from New York headquarters. She was on a journey to Tiruvananthapuram and provided an update on the SIGHT program, as well as SIGHT group activities from around the world. Ms. Holy Brown distributed the certificates to participants.

Chakshumathi is now planning to conduct regional workshops on espeak and NVDA at their resource centres at Calicut University and Kochi office for local participants.

List of Participants

Ali Mon
Sudheer S
Sreehari Narayanan
Ajith Kumar
Subhin H
Abin H
Rajith Kumar
Nandhu C S
Kannan C S
Reshma S
Divya S
Marina Damiyan
Mariyumma C P
Nabeela M
Meharuniza S
Sreeja V.K.
Vineesh Kumar
Chandra Babu
Raghavan
Albert
Safi Saif
Santhosh
Robinraj
Mubina M
Sabeena M
Anil Kumar
Lijin A
Ashok Kumar
Prof. L. Unnikrishnan
Akhil M (Chief Trainer)
Noufal T N (Asst. Trainer)

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

Training in eSpeak Marathi

nirmita — 2015-10-04T07:33:30Z

NVDA team conducted a training programme in Marathi language on August 22 and 23, 2015 at Atmadepam Society in Nagpur. Twenty-two participants attended. Harshad Jadhav was the trainer.

Atmadepam Society, Nagpur conducted a 1st of its kind workshop for the use of Espeak with Marathi at its campus from the 22nd to 23rd August 2015. This workshop was mostly attended by students pursuing higher studies in Marathi and Inn-Service Blind.

The workshop began with understanding the needs of the participants. Most of them expressed the need to learn Marathi typing to enhance their job prospects in the government sector.

This was followed by a session introducing different advantages of NVDA over other screen readers. Installation of NVDA was than demonstrated, followed by a hands-on session of the same for all the participants.

Post lunch the participants were guided for installing eSpeak for Indian Languages, which was followed by a detailed understanding of the Marathi keyboard layout.

Day 2 started with a revision of learnings from day 1, followed by extensive practice of the keyboard.

Post lunch, participants were given information about different sources of obtaining Accessible Reading materials. Bookshare and its benefits were introduced as a part of the reading solutions. This was followed by dissemination of information about the ADIP scheme of the Government of India.

The workshop ended with a session on feedback, where in students expressed their deep satisfaction after achieving their goal of Reading and writing in Marathi.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/training-in-espeak-marathi

Training in eSpeak Hindi

nirmita — 2015-09-03T14:41:13Z

NVDA team conducted a workshop at Jeevan Jyoti School for the Blind, Varanasi from August 26 to 28, 2015. Eighty five students and 13 teachers took part in the training programme.


Pictured above: Trainer is explaining the concepts of NVDA to the students

This workshop had special focus on training the teachers who teach the Blind students of Jeevan Jyoti School, Varanasi and Special Educators, who are being trained in the School for Special Educators at Jeevan Jyoti Institute, Varanasi. The workshop was also attended by senior students of the Jeevan Jyoti Blind school. It was observed that there was a lot of enthusiasm for learning amongst the students and staff. The students wanted to learn Hindi Reading and Writing for reading a lot of Hindi material, which is being produced at the School. The staff wanted to learn Hindi writing for creating documents for their blind students. The Jeevan Jyoti school has an integrated format, where in it caters to about 200 students, of whom about 80 are girls with visual impairment.

The event started with a welcome song by the senior girls, followed by an understanding of the needs of the participants. This was followed by detailed understanding of NVDA and its comparision to other screen readers. The participants were guided towards the steps for downloading the latest build of NVDA from its website. They were than given detailed instructions for installing NVDA. All the participants than installed NVDA onn their respective systems. This was followed by explanation of the different menus of NVDA. The participants were than encouraged to read hindi text. The initial reactions of the students was as expected. Some could understand the text spoken out by Espeak, and some found it difficult to comprehend.

On the 2nd day the participants were given detailed understanding of the Inscript keyboard. They were made to practice all the keys, followed by typing small words followed by short sentences. The participants were than updated about the different sources of reading, including Bookshare. They were guided as to how to become a member of Bookshare. Details were also given about DFI and the Common Catlogue on the DFI website. The participants were than given information about the different reading solutions, including the Android platform. They were also given information about the ADIP scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice. The ADIP forms were also given to the management, for them to fill up for all the blind students studying in Jeevan Jyoti.


Pictured above: Students operating their computers under guidance from the trainer

The 3rd day was dedicated to the teachers and students of the Special Educators school, where in they were updated about Modern Techniques for Teaching the Blind.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/training-in-e-speak-hindi

The Quest for Education – Persons with Disabilities, Severely Challenged

nirmita — 2016-11-30T15:38:55Z

Education is the fundamental building block of development; it leads to an improved quality of life, employment, social acceptance and inclusion, national development and intellectual growth.

Published in Your Story on November 24, 2016

The right to education and the current census figures

Over the past decade, multiple efforts and initiatives associated with policy and programme towards achieving the goal of education have taken place. However, there are still millions of children with disabilities and students who are struggling to access basic and higher education and for whom economic independence appears to be an elusive dream.

The 2011 census figures show that the literacy rates for persons with disabilities are much lower than that of the non-disabled population of the country and even within that, certain disabilities and women across disabilities have a lower percentage. The overall literacy rate for persons with disabilities is 59 percent compared to 74 percent for the general population. The literacy level of women with disabilities in urban areas is 61 percent, which is 9 percent lower than their male counterparts. While women with disabilities in rural areas are worse with a literacy rate of 38 percent, 20 percent lower than disabled males. And people with multiple disabilities fare the worst, with a 35.8 percent literacy rate. Their education needs in terms of content, technology, training and support remain unfulfilled.

Challenges faced by the disabled

The issues faced by children with different disabilities vary. For instance, in the case of children with print impairment, there is need for aggressive implementation of schemes to provide assistive technology since most disabled students do not have access to technologies in most states. Students who are blind are dependent upon Braille materials, which often do not reach them before half the school term is over. And this only supports the bare minimum need in terms of reading and not any extra knowledge building requirements. In some states, laptops are being distributed; however, these are unaccompanied by any training requirements, so it is unclear how many students are really able to use their devices. In places where these devices are available, they are mostly provided to students from the ninth standard.

Thus, in some states, laptops are being distributed; however, these are unaccompanied by any training requirements, so it is unclear how many students are really able to use their devices. In places where these devices are available, they are mostly provided to students from the ninth standard. Thus, transition becomes difficult and they find it hard to write their own exams. So while their sighted counterparts are experimenting with technology from a much earlier age, they are introduced to it at a much later stage, by which time their colleagues are far ahead of them.

Children with hearing impairments also face many challenges. They are isolated from mainstream communication as well; there are only around 250 sign language interpreters in India and sometimes one person has to cater to the requirements of an entire state. Hence, they grow and are educated in isolation without proper means of integration in inclusive schools. The physical environments in most schools also tend to be inaccessible for those with mobility impairments.

It is a rather dismal scenario content wise too. The course content put out by different boards is not in accessible formats, so organisations serving the blind have to convert them into an accessible format. There is a strain on resources. In the case of regional language content, the expense of typing out Telugu or Tamil is high and often increases the cost of the book 10-fold. Just converting the basic course syllabus for any one subject for a BA course can run into lakhs. Hence, there is very limited access to books.

The third challenge is the lack of trained manpower and resources to provide an enriching reading experience for a child with a disability. Children not only have to deal with restrictive resource conditions, but also difficult social conditions and stigma at school. Attitudinal changes need to occur and a lot of this begins at home and school. Consider this, in a rural setting; students in a class have access to a teacher full time during school hours. But there may be only one special needs teacher catering to students with multiple disabilities across several schools. So instead of having more support, a student with disability has to actually deal with severely limited support.

Often these teachers are ironically paid much lesser than other teachers, considering that they actually need more skills and patience to teach children with disabilities. Only in the field of disability does one encounter a situation where a specialisation is undervalued and under paid, whereas in all other genre of professions like medicines, one has to do a generalisation before a specialisation. What sort of prospects then do we offer children with disabilities? What we need is resource centres at each college and school, or if that is not possible, then at least resource centres at district level coordinating support in an appropriate manner with adequately paid and skilled teachers.

Promoting technology

Promoting use of technology and open source software and imparting training at an early age will go a long way in making students with disabilities self-sufficient and independent. And of course, the issue of content is of primary importance. All boards must embrace accessible standards such as EPUB 3.0 for publications and WCAG 2.0 for their websites and make course content available in accessible formats. Exemption of certain topics should be replaced by facilitating learning using innovative methods and tools. Importantly, there also needs to be focus on providing education targeted towards profession and gainful employment.

Clearly, there is a long way to go before we can talk of inclusive education for children with disabilities; there is a severe shortage of even exclusive or special education. To improve the situation, individual piecemeal efforts alone will not make a difference. It is essential to have a systemic approach to inclusive education, with sufficient implementation and infrastructural support, if we are to progress to a point where every child with disability is encouraged to learn and be prepared for a world of employment, independence and dignity.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/your-story-nirmita-narasimhan-november-24-2016-quest-for-education-persons-with-disabilities-severely-challenged

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