Thanks Turab, Yes things are improving in India as well. But my main point in this article is about focusing on technical subjects that require math equations.
My argument is also not about west vs India, for example, the content that I got as part of CFA text is also available in BookShare, but the books in bookshare do not have math ML. Actually, bookshare books only have images in place of equations. I have asked bookshare about it, they say that they will do it, but the timing is not clear. This is the saddest part when material is available in math ML in one place but it is not available in another place which is supposed to have it. I am quite happy with bookshare regarding availability of books for non-technical subjects. As per last count bookshare now has 6.5 lakh books. It is high time that we make accessible material available for technical subjects. -----Original Message----- From: AccessIndia [mailto:accessindia-boun...@accessindia.org.in] On Behalf Of turab chimthanawala Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2018 9:45 PM To: AccessIndia: a list for discussing accessibility and issues concerning the disabled. <accessindia@accessindia.org.in> Subject: Re: [AI] Making education more inclusive for people with blindness: Learning from CFA Institute Hi Dinesh, Heartiest congratulations on clearing CFA! Your piece is well articulated. Agreed that India has a lot to learn from the West in terms of imparting accessible education for the disabled. But things are changing in some progressive institutes. I did my Masters in law from NALSAR Hyderabad. Happy to share that at NALSAR most of the course material is made available to the VI students in accessible soft copy by the administration itself and that to without major requests or representations. Also, could you share the overall experience with a scribe. Process for appointment, eligibility, coordination during the exam etc.? Best Turab On 9/2/18, George Abraham <geo...@eyeway.org> wrote: > Enjoyed reading your piece. Thanks for sharing. > > George > > -----Original Message----- > From: AccessIndia [mailto:accessindia-boun...@accessindia.org.in] On > Behalf Of Dinesh Kaushal > Sent: Saturday, September 1, 2018 8:24 PM > To: 'AccessIndia: a list for discussing accessibility and issues > concerning the disabled.' > Subject: [AI] Making education more inclusive for people with blindness: > Learning from CFA Institute > > Dear All, > > > > I have written an article about my experience with CFA institute's > practice regarding the accessibility of course curriculum. I hope our > institutes could learn a lot from CFA institute about how an > accessible course material empowers people experiencing disabilities. > > > > We could also learn a lot from CFA institute about conducting exams > for people experiencing disabilities. For example, CFA institute asked > one of my scribe to fly from Mumbai and made the scribes to stay in a > hotel to avoid any delay as exam starts at 6:30 AM. The exam is for > nearly 13 hours due to extra time. This is also something our > institutes could learn from international experience. All my > calculations suggest that CFA institute would have spent more than > what they would have charged me for the examination fee. Ajay Manocha > is also appearing for the same exam so he can attest what I am > suggesting. The following article is about the curriculum only. > > > > > Making education more inclusive for people with blindness: Learning > from CFA Institute > > > > > https://dineshkaushal.blogspot.com/2018/08/making-education-more-inclu > sive-f > or.html > > > > In August 2018, I got the news that I have passed Chartered Financial > Analyst (CFA) Level III exam. CFA is a very rigorous program > consisting of > 3 > very intense exams. The content for these exams is heavily > quantitative. It could be even more tough for a person with blindness > as a blind person has to get the curriculum material converted in a > suitable format. But CFA institute made the content accessible by > making curriculum available online and equations in math ML format. > Yes, you guessed it right, I am a person with blindness myself. > > > > To understand what I just said, it is important to know some background. > Technology has made a huge difference for people with blindness. There > is a special software that reads out information in computer or mobile devices. > This software is known as screen reader. You can see these screen > readers in mobile phones as Talkback in Android or Voiceover in > iPhone. This technology is somewhat similar to a navigation system > that informs the upcoming route. > > > > Before screen readers, blind persons had to depend on one to one help > such as a family member or friend who would either read the books or > record them. Some organizations working for people with blindness > would record commonly used material. But such material would be only > available for subjects that are studied widely, that too with great > difficulty. Some organizations would also convert books in Braille, > but since this is a laborious process, only limited books have been > available and they are bulky. > > > > Due to modern technology, blind persons can read electronic content, > but not any content. A content has to be made available in a proper > format. This format is known as e-Pub which is becoming more and more > popular among publishers. But just making books available in e-pub may > not solve the problem. For example, Some publishers might put images > in the e-pub, but images are not readable through screen readers. In > order to make it accessible, the material needs to be in plain text or > HTML. For technical subjects that have equations such as mathematics > and other math based subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, or > finance), a standard known as math ML should be used to specify > equations. Math ML can be embedded in e-pub books. > > > > The traditional methods such as recording or Braille books were not > scalable, so very few people could benefit from them. The few lucky > once were those who had support of a family or an organization. But if > we make mainstream course material more accessible just as CFA > institute did, we would be able to make many people with blindness > independent. This does not mean that such material would only be > available for someone with a screen reader only. The same accessible > content would be readable through Braille using a special device known > as Braille display which converts print to Braille instantly without > requiring huge infrastructure. People can also use Braille printer to > create Braille books from e-pub books. > > > > With earlier methods, I often struggled to get material. Whereas with > CFA material I didn't need any help as content was properly formatted > in text, and All the equations were also formatted in math ML. The > only help I needed was for understanding diagrams. It was easy to find > a solution Even for this, I could print them and request anyone > without any financial knowledge to trace the diagram with simple board > and pen. This would raise the diagram in reverse and I could > understand them. For this, I needed someone's help only for a percent or 2 of the time. > > > > Needless to say, CFA institute has shown a way forward for the > empowerment of persons with disabilities through accessible course > material. I wish other institutes could learn from CFA institute and become more inclusive. > > > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org > .in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking > of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its > veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the > mails sent through this mailing list.. > > > > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, > please visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org > .in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking > of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its > veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the > mails sent through this mailing list.. > Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list.. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
