Access to information has been a major concern area for persons with sensory impairment like vision/hearing. The normal mode of accessing information has been through print. This medium is totally inaccessible for persons with vision impairment. Traditionally, there have been two alternatives to deal with this problem viz: Braille or Talking books. Materials in both these medium have to be specially prepared. Thus, the materials available in these medium were extremely limited and virtually non-existent especially in the less developed countries of the world.
The advent and use of IT as a prime medium for creation, dissemination and accessing information brought about a complete revolution. IT and its tools are highly flexible and provide scope of being used by persons with vision impairment directly. This meant that information available to the seeing world was now available in its entirety to the persons with vision impairment.
NAB, New Delhi branch established a computer training and technology centre in the year 1993.
The unit started as a result of participating as field tester in two different Research and Development Projects aimed at developing accessible computerized information system for blind persons. These projects were:
A regular computer training activity was started at NAB using the system developed by IISc. Since then, the computer unit of NAB has undertaken various related activities to harness the potential of this revolutionary technology.
In the year 1993 when NAB undertook the computer training project, neither the trainers nor the trainees knew which application programme could be used by persons with vision impairment. Initially it was thought that a blind person would use a computer just for word processing activities.
In the year 1994 NAB collaborated with the Department of Electronics to explore the possibilities to adopt the entire curriculum of the one-year foundation course for persons with blindness or low vision. Department of Electronics is a government education board which sets syllabus for computer education programmes and holds exams for the students of institutes which are accredited by this education board. NAB was also granted this accreditation in 1995. The objective of the one year training programme of Department of Electronics called the 'O' level is to lay the foundation for the career in computer programming. However, the average student with vision impairment in India took up humanities as their mainstream of education thus, most of the students did not have the pre-requisites to choose computer programming as a profession.
It was also realized that the computer would be much more effective as a basic tool for reading and writing. Its major advantage was to make a person with vision impairment independent in his educational, vocational, recreational and day to day activities no matter which profession they chose. Need was also felt to develop short term training modules. For this people with vision impairment got segregated into various sub categories. Training modules differing in duration, contents covered, course ware etc had to be designed in accordance to the these different categories which are:
Each of these categories had different requirements. More training modules had to be developed as every one could not fit into the set time schedules in terms of duration and time of the day when the training would be available. For example, Mr. S.R. Mittal who is working as Head of Department of Special Education in the Jamia Milia University or Mr. R. P. Rastogee who olds the post of Director of Vocational Rehabilitation Centre, could not think of attending regular 5 or 3 month training programmes which are conducted 5 days in a week. We make assessment of the need of the individual and develop a schedule which is convenient to the trainees and conduct the training in small batches. This flexibility helped us to provide computer literacy to any one and every one With blindness or low vision.
We also adopted a distance training module. In this module we start with just one week iniciation training. We then provide self training tutorials and support through various means like e-mail, telephone, help through xtrainees and one or two day visit back to the institute after a certain period of time. Mr. Rajiv Raturi worked as Marketting Manager in quate when he lost vision as a result of gun shot injoury during a robbary. He lost his job and came back to India and lived in a small town 250 kilometres away from Delhi. Through the computer literacy in distance educaion module he rehabilitated himself in the call centre industry on a managerial post.
Another important factor determining the objectives of training at NAB, was that it was a special computer training institute which provided only such training which was not available in the mainstream computer training programmes. It was decided to provide training to the vision impaired persons to prepare them to participate in any well recognized mainstream professional courses/training programmes. It was better that a person with vision impairment got a degree in computer programming from a well reputed mainstream computer training institute rather than a special computer training programme for the blind. However, the support services were put in place for persons who wished to pursue training programmes for advanced computer courses from mainstream institutes.
As a result a training programme was developed which was a 5 month extensive training in computer operation.
In the year 2000, the efforts of NAB received a major boost by entering into collaboration with Intel for pursuing its goals. Intel has been running an innovative computer education programme with several partners all over the world. However, this initiative was possibly unique since the target group for the first time was persons with disability.
The salient features and initiative undertaken at NAB-Intel Computer Training and Technology centre:
The NAB -Intel Computer Technology training centre has undertaken/supported several RandD projects for the development of software and hardware for the benefit of persons with vision impairment. This is an important role for Technology Unit to ensure the indigenous and affordable technology is developed. It is essential to provide user prospective to the researchers so that, the research conducted yields meaningful results. Some of the important major projects are:
a. Screen Reading Software and Configuration for making different application softwares accessible: - The screen reading softwares available in the market make the general purpose, application programmes like MS-Word, Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigation etc. accessible to person with blindness or low-vision. It does not provide accessibility or specific application programmes such as ticketing software at the railway station etc. However, the screen reading softwares provide tools to develop configuration files which make them compatible with a specific software.
NAB Technology Unit, undertakes the development of such configuration files to ensure that the trainees of the organization are able to work productibely in the job environment and are able to perform complete daily living activities. This activity helps in localization of the screen reading software, which is otherwise produced in the developed countries. An example of such an activity is the configuration file for Jaws made for Resume Manager Software used and developed at the Call Centre in GE Capital. This resulted in placement of two persons at the company.
Many of the trainees, who joined the Computer Training Programme atNAB, hope to find a gainful employment as the result of the training. Their capability to perform in the job situation increases many folds, as a result of acquiring the computer operation skills. NAB currently does not have any placement cell, however, it becomes essential for the training unit to create awareness about the enhanced capabilities of the persons with blindness or low-vision who are computer literate. As of now, NAB establishes contact with HR departments of Public and Govt. Sector establishments and appraise them about this new development. This helps in placement of persons with blindness in these establishments.
A large number of already employed blind persons in the govt. sector are not being assigned appropriate work due to changed office environment. For example, a typist who can work only on manual typewriter sits without work since his seniors prefer work being done on the computer. To ensure that fresh recruitments do not stop, it is essential that the already employed work force remain productive. NAB - Intel Technology Computer Training Centre pay special attention in re-training of the employed work force of the persons with blindness to ensure that the doors of employment remains open for the fresh candidates.
As access technology hardware and software is uncommon, therefore, the normal computer hardware and software suppliers and software developers at the establishment of the employers of the blind persons are not aware of them. In such circumstances, we took the responsibility to provide support to the employers for acquiring access technology and to configure the access technology with the systems used at the establishment of the employer and provide solutions to any problem faced by the employee in use of access technology.
There can be two distinctive objectives of providing computer training to the blind persons:
The second objective, has a very wide application since information technology has become an essential tool in almost every profession. The use of this tool is even more important for persons with blindness in any profession that they adopt. Since this allows them to do basic reading and writing activity for which, there is no other alternative. Even, in the developing countries computer literacy has become essential for employability in any profession may it be management, secretarial services, administration, law, teaching, public relation or tourism. To cater to such needs we provide computer-training modules which suit specific professions and make persons with blindness employable in modern IT age.
Computer Education, has added many new dimensions for students with blindness or low vision. Its capacity to provide complete solution for reading and writing. Needs of students, is unlimited and unparalleled. In the developing countries even the normal textbooks are often not available in Braille or audio format. And the amount of materials available for university students is negligible. The computer literacy in such circumstances offers a big relief. Students can read print books directly using a scanner. There is a large store of information and books through sources like Internet. The biggest advantage here is that the content is not reproduced. A newspaper, which is posted on website, is accessible to a blind person without any conversion or reproduction. This has bridged the gap between the information available to seeing and non-seeing world. The computer literate students not only read the textbooks but also get a change to read novels and other recreational and knowledge based books. A few distinct examples of availability of important reading materials are:
Considering the above advantages NAB Computer Training Unit paid special attention to provide computer literacy to students of schools and university. Apart from running various training modules for students the Technology Unit of NAB provided several support services for students.
To identify configuration of the PC which would be most suitable for any specific access technology tool becomes a specialized task. More so considering different needs of persons with low or no-vision the NAB-Intel Technology Unit not only provides training but also provides counselling on what would be the most cost effective solution in terms of the hardware and software solution for the trainees. For example, Mr. Madhav Chand Dakua working as lower division clerk in a government office wanted to purchase a computer for reading and daily living activities at home. After an analysis of his requirement the unit helped to acquire a second hand PC which costed around 220 USD where as at the same time new PC would have costed him 600 USD. We are motivated to start this activity because we found lot of persons with vision impairment could not get information about what to buy and what not to buy anywhere in the general market. Many spent money on software and hardware which did not serve their purpose or had features which they would never used.
Learning about a computer is a non-ending process. Sharing problems, finding most convenient ways of performing tasks etc. are things which can only be learned through discussions among peers in a corporative learning mode. Identifying this mean the NAB Computer Training Centre initiated regular meetings of vision impaired computer users. This group became a very strong resource on how the I.T. can be used most effectively by persons with blindness or low-vision. Many important decisions on the future directions of Computer Training and Technology Unit were taken in these group meetings. Many members of the group developed specialization in the fields such as programming in a specific environment like Visual Basic, I.T. in law, I.T. in Economics, I.T. in Accounts etc. Group members provide support to each other and also provided guidance and support to anyone who needed. The group started with 6 members in 1995. Currently, there are 45 members who participate actively in different activities. Many of the members are not active participants but remain available to the group whenever needed.
The cost of the computers and access technology tool is the biggest hurdle in its use by persons with blindness or low-vision. To tackle this problem the NAB-Intel Technology Unit started a scheme of interest free loan to the trainees. This scheme was started with the help of HPS Social Welfare Foundation who provided Rs. 10 lakhs for this scheme. Loan upto Rs. 50,000 can be taken under this scheme which is to be return in maximum of 18 equal installments. In this scheme preference is given to persons who wish to start their own small business or the one who get employment if they had their own assistive technology tools.
The information technology has the revolutionary consequences in providing abilities and skills to persons with blindness which are hard to dream for persons who have not seen it happening. It is essential to cerate awareness on what I.T. enabled blind persons can do so that appropriate opportunities for a gainful employment are created. Many of the educated vision impaired person who have immense potentials do not get appropriate opportunities just because they are not aware about the power of the latest assistive technology. The NAB-Intel Technology Training Centre has undertaken many steps of awareness about this technology.
The NAB developed a centre with a wide variety of assistive technologies. Any person who has vision impairment can have hands on experience in the use of this technology. This helps a g 16:56 25/7/2546reat deal in identification of right tools for them. Before the development of this centre it was difficult for even the most effluent blind persons to take benefit of the technology. Since the decision regarding its purchase could not be arrived at easily just by looking at catalogues and reading the description.
The NAB Computer Training Technology Centre was the first Computer Training Unit of the country for blind persons. Very few organizations believed in the potential of this technology. By establishing this unit and developing various training modules and also exploring the applicability we develop the resource which then could be duplicated easily at different parts of the country. The International Organizations like ICEVI and the Indian Organizations like the Rehabilitation Council of India recognized this fact. NAB along with the above mentioned agencies organizes workshops and training programmes which covers topics like use of I.T. on various professional, educational and recreational needs established a training unit in depth knowledge on various assistive tools etc. We also provides support in establishment of any computer-training unit by the participatory organizations.
NAB organizes Lectures on current trends in the employment market and areas of interest for visually impaired people to explore job opportunities. It has invited professionals who are doing well in their chosen streams to speak and educate the visually impaired about opportunities available.
The faculty of Computer Training Unit write articles, which are published in disability related magazines. The unit has also attracted print and electronic media coverage which has helped in spreading awareness on this issue.
The key feature of the programme had been an effective collaboration between anNGO and corporate. The NGO ensured participation of user group in the programme and development of the programme in the right direction where as the partner from the corporate world provided the economic stability to the programme it also provided professional management systems and ensured that benefit reached much larger number of persons and also to weaker sections of the society. From 1994 to the year 2000, NAB trained 200 persons where as after the collaboration, 120 trainees received training just in one year.
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