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Assistive technology (AT) is a term for assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities and the elderly. Disabled people often have difficulty performing activities of daily living (ADLs) independently, or even with assistance. ADLs are self-care activities that include toileting, mobility (ambulation), eating, bathing, dressing, grooming, and personal device care. Assistive technology can ameliorate the effects of disabilities that limit the ability to perform ADLs. Assistive technology promotes greater independence by enabling people to perform tasks they were formerly unable to accomplish, or had great difficulty accomplishing, by providing enhancements to, or changing methods of interacting with, the technology needed to accomplish such tasks. For example, wheelchairs provide independent mobility for those who cannot walk, while assistive eating devices can enable people who cannot feed themselves to do so. Due to assistive technology, disabled people have an opportunity of a more positive and easygoing lifestyle, with an increase in "social participation," "security and control," and a greater chance to "reduce institutional costs without significantly increasing household expenses." In schools, assistive technology can be critical in allowing students with disabilities access the general education curriculum. Students who experience challenges writing or keyboarding, for example, can use voice recognition software instead. Assistive technologies assist people who are recovering from strokes and people who have abstained injuries that effect their daily tasks.
Perkins School for the Blind, in Watertown, Massachusetts, was founded in 1829 and is the oldest school for the blind in the United States. It has also been known as the Perkins Institution for the Blind.
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's assistive technology.
Computer accessibility refers to the accessibility of a computer system to all people, regardless of disability type or severity of impairment. The term accessibility is most often used in reference to specialized hardware or software, or a combination of both, designed to enable the use of a computer by a person with a disability or impairment. Computer accessibility often has direct positive effects on people with disabilities.
Digital accessible information system (DAISY) is a technical standard for digital audiobooks, periodicals, and computerized text. DAISY is designed to be a complete audio substitute for print material and is specifically designed for use by people with "print disabilities", including blindness, impaired vision, and dyslexia. Based on the MP3 and XML formats, the DAISY format has advanced features in addition to those of a traditional audio book. Users can search, place bookmarks, precisely navigate line by line, and regulate the speaking speed without distortion. DAISY also provides aurally accessible tables, references, and additional information. As a result, DAISY allows visually impaired listeners to navigate something as complex as an encyclopedia or textbook, otherwise impossible using conventional audio recordings.
Alampur Saibaba Goud is an Indian ophthalmologist and founder-chairman of the Devnar Foundation for the Blind. He is also a social entrepreneur, and active in the voluntary organization at Secunderabad in Andhra Pradesh, a state of India. He works in the field of providing aid to visually challenged and visually disabled children in India.
Bookshare is an online library of accessible ebooks for people with print disabilities, such as visual impairment, severe dyslexia, and cerebral palsy. An initiative of Benetech, a social enterprise organization based in Palo Alto, California, it was founded in 2001 by Jim Fruchterman. Bookshare provides books in DAISY, EPUB, BRF, MP3, and Microsoft Word document formats. Books have been contributed by volunteers, authors, libraries, universities, and publishers. By 2010 more than half of books had been contributed by publishers and by 2020 more than 900 publishers had partnered with Bookshare, contributing to its library of more than 900,000 books.
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Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Divyanga University (JRDU), formerly Jagadguru Rambhadracharya Handicapped University, is a private university in Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, Bharat. It was established in 2001 by Jagadguru Rambhadracharya for disabled people. It was the only university in the world exclusively for disabled people until the establishment of Dr. Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University at Lucknow.
Mitra Jyothi established in 1990, is a charitable trust registered under Indian Trust Act based in Bangalore. Its aims to support the visually impaired through various programs it offers. These programs include Talking Book Library, Computer Training Center, Independent Living Skills, Braille Transcription Center and Job Placement. It received State Award in 2010 from the Directorate of Disabled Welfare and Senior Citizens, Government of Karnataka for its exemplary service for persons with disabilities. Mitra Jyothi is also a member of the DAISY Forum of India (DFI). DFI is a forum of Not for profit organizations from India who are involved in production of books and reading materials in accessible formats for persons who cannot read normal print.
The Ukrainian Association of the Blind, known by the acronym UTOS (УТОС), is a Ukrainian public organization for the visually impaired. The UTOS was founded on 4 June 1933, by the All-Ukrainian Central Executive Committee, and the Council of People's Commissars of the Ukrainian SSR, to establish a Ukrainian society for the blind. Now various companies produce a UASB range of household goods and garden equipment from polymers, as well as low-voltage electrical products and equipment for production and engineering facilities.
DAISY Forum of India is a not for profit organisation involved in the production of books and other reading materials for persons with print disabilities including blindness. It is a network of more than 80 organisations working in different parts of India for the welfare of visually impaired people. The members of the Forum are categorised into different classes: Primary Members, Associate Members, Development Partners, Friends of the Society, Supporters of the Society and Partners in Governance. All categories of members, except Partners in Governance, have to pay a fixed amount to be eligible to become members. There are different committees like Technology Committee, Awareness Committee, Capacity Building Committee, and Policy and Regulations Intervention Committee to deal with various different activities of the organisation.
A print-disabled person is "a person who cannot effectively read print because of a visual, physical, perceptual, developmental, cognitive, or learning disability". A print disability prevents a person from gaining information from printed material in the standard way, and requires them to utilize alternative methods to access that information. Print disabilities include visual impairments, learning disabilities, or physical disabilities that impede the ability to manipulate a book. The term was coined by George Kerscher, a pioneer in digital talking books. DAISY is used by libraries as a means of making complex books accessible via audio.
The National Institute of Speech and Hearing (NISH) is an institute devoted to the education and rehabilitation of individuals with speech-language and hearing impairments located in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city in the Indian state of Kerala. It was established in 1997 on the initiative of the state of Kerala and is a self-financing affiliate college of the University of Kerala. Academics at NISH is unique in the sense that NISH has an integrated campus where students with hearing impairment and students with normal hearing share the same campus. Bachelor's level courses exclusively for students with hearing impairment include Degree courses in Fine Arts, Computer Science and Commerce affiliated to University of Kerala. On the other hand, NISH also provides RCI approved professional courses at undergraduate level and graduate level in Audiology and Speech Language Pathology as well as diploma courses affiliated to Kerala Health University (KUHS)
Alternative formats include audio, braille, electronic or large print versions of standard print such as educational material, textbooks, information leaflets, and even people's personal bills and letters. Alternative formats are created to help people who are blind or visually impaired to gain access to information either by sight, by hearing (audio) or by touch (braille).
Jawahar Lal Kaul is an Indian social worker and the founder of the All India Conference of the Blind, an NGO working towards the rehabilitation of the blind. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2014, which bestowed on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his services to the field of arts.
Tiffany Brar is an Indian community service worker who became blind as an infant due to oxygen toxicity. Brar is the founder of the Jyothirgamaya Foundation, a non-profit organization that teaches life skills to blind people of all ages. She is a trainer, a campaigner for disability awareness and an advocates for an inclusive society.
Jyothirgamaya Foundation is a nonprofit organization, based in Thiruvananthapuram Kerala which is actively involved in the empowerment of persons with visual impairment founded in 2015 by Tiffany Brar. The project started as a mobile blind school in 2012. Tiffany Brar herself, traveled through rural areas in public transport in search of blind people of all ages in rural areas in India, with the aim of bringing out of the four walls of their house, to which they are confined, and brings a new light to their eyes, which has nothing to do with their eyesight. Jyothirgamaya Foundation holds Special consultative status with United Nations.
Ashwini Angadi is a global ambassador and advocate of disability rights. She is known for making education accessible to the underprivileged and disabled in India.
The Accessible Books Consortium (ABC) is a public-private partnership which was launched in 2014 by the World Intellectual Property Organization. The ABC was created with the intent of being "one possible initiative, amongst others, to implement the aims of the Marrakesh VIP Treaty at a practical level." ABC's goal is "to increase the number of books worldwide in accessible formats - such as braille, audio, e-text, and large print and to make them available to people who are blind, have low vision or are otherwise print disabled."
References
- ↑ "Chakshumathi: Introduction". Archived from the original on 16 October 2013. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
- ↑ Sangeetha Nair (1 October 2013). "Chakshumathi's braille/computer vidhyarambam". The Times of India . Archived from the original on 16 October 2013.
- 1 2 3 "Visually challenged students, NGOs hail FM Sitharaman's announcements on development of special e-content". in.news.yahoo.com. 17 May 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- ↑ "Workshop on Assistive Technology for Blind and Visually Impaired". Oneway.org. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
- 1 2 3 Pradeep, K. (7 September 2011). "Soulful music". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- 1 2 "Kerala NGO launches online programme for visually impaired". The New Indian Express. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2021.
- 1 2 "Thiruvananthapuram: Dispelling 'blind' myth on science". Deccan Chronicle. 27 April 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2021.